Together, we’ll work to create a sense of safety and control in your daily life. Our trauma counseling sessions will help you build resilience, identify triggers, and develop tools to calm your mind and body when stress feels overwhelming.
Let’s find calm amid the storm together
Through practical strategies and a compassionate approach, we’ll guide you in reclaiming a sense of stability and confidence in your ability to face life’s challenges. Step by step, you’ll work toward breaking free from the grip of trauma and rediscovering what it means to feel grounded and empowered.
Our occupational therapists help adults work through trauma using practical, hands-on approaches. We offer home visits, community-based sessions, and virtual therapy across SE Portland and the Belmont District.
Our therapists focus on mental health and trauma using occupational therapy. That means we work with you where you actually live … at home, in your daily routines, in situations that feel hard.
We don’t just talk about what happened. We help you practice managing triggers, build routines that feel safe, and work through situations that feel overwhelming.
We serve SE Portland, including the Belmont District and Inner Southeast.
Sunnyside, Hosford-Abernethy, Kerns, Laurelhurst, Richmond, Brooklyn, and Mt. Tabor.
We’re near SE Belmont St and SE 20th Ave, close to Stumptown Coffee and Laughing Planet. You can reach us via TriMet Lines 15 and 70.
It’s important to find the right kind of therapist. So let’s start by thinking about what you actually need. Do you want someone who just listens, or someone who helps you figure out how to get through your day when everything feels heavy?
Think about accessibility. You want someone close by who can be there when you need support. Occupational therapy for trauma focuses on rebuilding routines, managing overwhelm, and feeling steady again.
At Holistic Community Therapy, we work with clients across SE Portland, Belmont, and Sunnyside neighborhoods. We’re here to support you so you can move through daily life with more ease.
The best therapist for trauma is someone who understands how it affects your whole life, not just your thoughts. Trauma doesn’t stay in the past. It shows up in how you sleep, how you relate to others, or how you handle everyday stress.
We don’t just talk about trauma. We help you build skills to manage it. That means creating routines that feel safe, learning grounding techniques you can actually use, and practicing real-world situations with support.
The best therapist is the one who meets you where you are. If you need help getting through your day, managing triggers, or rebuilding routines, occupational therapy might be the right fit. Learn more about our Portland trauma therapists and their approach to trauma recovery.
There is no such thing as “best” therapy for trauma because everyone’s experience is different. What helps one person might not help another. The most effective approach is the one that fits your needs and helps you move through daily life with ease.
Therapy approaches for trauma that focus on real-world skills help you manage triggers as they happen. You learn grounding techniques, build routines that create safety, and practice navigating situations that feel overwhelming.
The best therapy is the one you’ll actually use. If you need concrete tools and hands-on support, occupational therapy offers a practical path forward in Portland.
A trauma therapist has specific training in how trauma affects the brain, body, and daily life. They understand that trauma isn’t just about what happened … it’s about how your nervous system learned to protect you, even when you’re safe now.
General therapists are trained in many areas, but they might not have the specialized knowledge to work with trauma responses. They might focus on thoughts and feelings without addressing how trauma shows up in your body and daily routines.
Therapists trained in trauma who use an occupational therapy approach focus on function. We help you rebuild the ability to do the things trauma has made difficult, whether that’s going to work, sleeping through the night, or feeling safe in your own home.
A trauma therapist or counselor is someone trained to help people recover from traumatic experiences. But trauma therapy isn’t just about talking through what happened. It’s about helping your nervous system learn that you’re safe now and rebuilding the skills trauma has disrupted.
Trauma can make everyday tasks feel overwhelming. Getting out of bed, going to the store, being around other people, these can all become difficult when your nervous system is stuck in survival mode.
At Holistic Community Therapy, we focus on helping you reclaim your daily life. We work on the practical skills that trauma has made hard to live with. We will build confidence by practicing in real-world situations. So that you can reclaim your calm and peace.
Trauma doesn’t just live in memories. It shows up every day in ways that might not seem connected to what happened. You might feel exhausted all the time, struggle to concentrate at work, or avoid situations that feel overwhelming.
Simple tasks can feel impossible. Getting ready in the morning might take all your energy. Social situations might feel threatening. Work might be overwhelming because you can’t focus.
Occupational therapy helps you rebuild these skills. We work on creating morning routines that feel manageable, developing strategies for work stress, and practicing social situations in safe ways. This is what we do at Holistic Community Therapy throughout Portland.
Occupational therapy for trauma focuses on helping you do the things trauma has made difficult. Instead of just talking about what happened, we work on the practical skills you need to move through daily life.
We might practice going to the grocery store if social situations feel overwhelming. We might work on morning routines if getting started feels impossible. We might develop strategies for managing triggers at work.
This isn’t just talk therapy. We work in your actual environment at home, in the community, or virtually, helping you build skills where you need them most across SE Portland, Belmont, and surrounding neighborhoods. Learn more about our individual therapy for trauma approach.
Yes. Occupational therapy can be very helpful for PTSD because it focuses on how trauma affects your ability to do everyday things. PTSD isn’t just flashbacks and nightmares. It’s the way your nervous system stays stuck in survival mode, making normal life feel impossible.
We don’t start by processing traumatic memories. We start by building safety in your daily life. Once you have tools to manage triggers and regulate your nervous system, the other work becomes possible.
You learn how to notice when you’re getting triggered and what to do about it. You practice being in situations that feel overwhelming. You rebuild confidence through hands-on support at your own pace.
The first session is about understanding where you are and what you need. We won’t ask you to relive traumatic experiences or dive into painful memories. We start by getting to know you and how trauma is affecting your daily life.
Before we work on anything else, we make sure you feel safe. That means going at your pace, respecting your boundaries, and creating a plan that feels manageable.
After the first session, we’ll work together to build practical skills. That might mean creating morning routines, learning grounding techniques, or practicing situations that feel overwhelming. We move step by step.
At Holistic Community Therapy, we meet you where you are, at home, in the community, or virtually across Portland.
There’s no set timeline for trauma therapy. Some people start feeling more stable in a few months. Others need longer. It depends on what you’ve experienced, what you’re working on, and what feels like progress to you.
Many people notice small changes within the first few weeks—sleeping a bit better, feeling slightly less on edge, managing one trigger more effectively. These small shifts build over time.
Recovery isn’t linear. Some weeks will feel easier, others harder. The goal isn’t to make trauma disappear. It’s to help you live your life without trauma controlling it.
We work at your pace at Holistic Community Therapy, whether that’s weekly sessions or less frequent check-ins across SE Portland and surrounding areas.
Trauma doesn’t always look the way people expect. It’s not just big events. Sometimes it’s years of small wounds that add up. Sometimes it’s one moment that changed everything. Sometimes it’s the absence of safety when you need it most.
At Holistic Community Therapy, we work with all types of trauma because we understand that what matters isn’t how your trauma compares to someone else’s—it’s how it’s affecting your life right now. Occupational therapy helps you rebuild the daily skills and routines that trauma has disrupted, no matter where that trauma came from.
Childhood trauma includes experiences like abuse, neglect, witnessing violence, or growing up in an unpredictable or unsafe environment. When trauma happens during development, it shapes how you see yourself, relate to others, and navigate the world.
Relationship trauma comes from betrayal, emotional abuse, domestic violence, or repeated experiences where someone you trusted hurt you. This type of trauma affects how you connect with others, set boundaries, and trust your own perceptions.
Traumatic grief happens when you lose someone suddenly, violently, or without the chance to prepare. It can also come from complicated losses, relationships that ended badly, estrangement from family, or losing parts of yourself through illness or life changes.
Complex trauma comes from repeated, prolonged experiences—childhood abuse that lasted years, ongoing domestic violence, long-term emotional neglect, or multiple traumatic events over time. It’s different from single-event trauma because it affects your sense of self, your relationships, and your ability to function in fundamental ways.
Trauma affects more than just your memories; it shows up in how you move through each day. Here are practical strategies occupational therapy teaches you to manage trauma responses as they happen:
These strategies become more natural with practice and support. At Holistic Community Therapy, we work with you to develop these skills in your actual environment, whether that’s at home, in the community, or through virtual sessions throughout SE Portland and surrounding areas.
Trauma therapy in Portland doesn’t have to mean reliving painful experiences. It can mean learning practical skills that help you feel safer, steadier, and more present in your daily life. If you’re ready to work on rebuilding what trauma has disrupted, we’re here to support you with hands-on, practical care.
Choosing a virtual trauma therapist is similar to finding any therapist, but there are a few extra things to consider. You want someone who understands trauma and knows how to create safety, even through a screen.
Some people find virtual sessions feel safer, especially at first. You’re in your own space. You can end the session and stay somewhere familiar. And if you’re working on things like building routines or managing triggers at home, virtual therapy lets you practice in real time.
The most important thing is finding someone you feel comfortable with. Most therapists offer a free consultation, so you can see if the connection works before committing to sessions.
At Holistic Community Therapy, we offer virtual trauma therapy across Oregon for clients who prefer meeting online.
Reach Out Now
For Doctors & Providers:
If you would like to refer a client to us, please click here.
You belong here. ♡
Our Community Partners
© Holistic Community Therapy | Privacy Policy | Terms & Conditions | HIPAA Policy | Good Faith Estimate | Articles
Therapist Website Design by Goodman Creatives
Please note – we only offer home, community-based, and virtual sessions. We do not provide in-office services.
