If you’re struggling with PTSD symptoms — sleeplessness, panic, emotional numbness, hypervigilance — you may have heard some version of:
“My therapist is really supportive.”
“They’re so kind, I feel safe with them.”
“They get me.”
And that matters. You deserve warmth. You deserve compassion. You deserve to feel safe.
But here’s the truth I wish more women across Massachusetts, Virginia, Illinois, Vermont, and Florida were told:
Feeling safe is essential — but it is not the same thing as getting treated.
Many clients spend years in “supportive therapy” with someone who is trauma-informed… but never trauma-competent.
Support is not the same as help.
Here is the metaphor I use to explain the difference to my clients:
You keep walking into walls and bumping your toes. You’re going to the podiatrist to get your feet looked at – but what you really need to do is go to an Ophthalmologist to get your eyes fixed so you don’t keep walking into those walls.
Trauma is that wall. And Trauma-Focused Therapy will give you the glasses you need to see more clearly.
Today, I want to explain the difference — so you can recognize whether your therapist is trained to actually help you heal, or simply to keep you comfortable.
1. The Terminology Problem: “Everyone Is Trauma-Informed Now”
We live in the age of buzzwords. Yoga studios are trauma-informed. Massage therapists are trauma-informed. Workplaces are trauma-informed. Even HR departments have adopted the term.
And that’s great — for making environments safer.
But here’s where the confusion begins: Trauma-informed does NOT mean trauma-trained.
It does not mean someone can diagnose PTSD. It does not mean someone can treat traumatic memories. It does not mean someone is trained in the therapies designed to treat trauma, which are CPT, EMDR, or PE.
Many clients I see have spent years with therapists who meant well, cared deeply, and created a safe space… but their PTSD symptoms never budged.
Not because the therapist failed — but because they were never trained to treat trauma in the first place.
2. TIC (The Lens): Safety, Trust, and Choice
Let’s define this clearly.
Trauma-Informed Care (TIC) This is a lens — a way of relating to clients that ensures safety and reduces the risk of retraumatization.
TIC is:
- Understanding trauma’s impact
- Prioritizing choice and collaboration
- Using grounding language
- Avoiding power struggles
- Ensuring emotional safety
- Asking “What happened to you?” instead of “What’s wrong with you?”
Look at it like this: The word trauma essentially means wound. If your wound was left untreated, it might get infected and require a surgery. PTSD is that infection.
TIC is the sterile operating room. It keeps you safe. It prevents infection. But the sterile room does not fix the broken bone.You still need the surgery – and the properly trained surgeon.
3. TFC (The Treatment): The Surgical Tools
Trauma-Focused Care (TFC) This is treatment. It’s where healing happens.
TFC includes evidence-based therapies such as:
- CPT (Cognitive Processing Therapy)
- EMDR (Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing)
- PE (Prolonged Exposure)
These aren’t “talk about your trauma” approaches. These are structured, research-backed, time-limited interventions designed to help you process traumatic memories and change how your brain stores them.
In Our Analogy: TFC is the surgery. You can have the cleanest operating room in the world — but without the surgical tools, the wound never heals.
4. Why “Nice” Isn’t Enough: Competence Over Intent
Here’s the part many clients whisper, ashamed:“I love my therapist… but I’m not getting better.”
I hear this constantly. And it is not your fault — or your therapist’s. A supportive, kind, empathic therapist is necessary — but not sufficient.
The risk of supportive-only therapy for trauma:
- You may “vent” without processing
- You may recount memories without structure
- You may get flooded emotionally
- You may avoid the traumatic material entirely
- You may deepen neural pathways without healing them
Good intentions don’t resolve PTSD. Competence does.
Trauma work requires specialized training, applied supervision, ongoing consultation, understanding of dissociation, knowledge of pacing, and ethical scope clarity.
“Telling your story” is not trauma therapy. “Feeling safe” is not trauma therapy. Only evidence-based trauma treatment is trauma therapy.
5. Clarity Is Trauma-Informed
A trauma-competent therapist will not tiptoe around your symptoms. They will not avoid naming PTSD. They will not let fear of upsetting you dictate the plan.
They will say things like:
“This sounds like PTSD. Let me explain why.”
“Here is the structure we’ll follow to help you heal.”
“Here is the evidence-based treatment that fits your symptoms.”
Healing requires gentle confrontation. Avoidance is a trauma symptom — not a preference. A therapist who avoids hard topics with you is unintentionally reinforcing your trauma, not treating it.
Directness is compassion. Clarity is safety. Competence is care.
If You’re Wondering Whether Talk Therapy Is Enough…
If you’ve been in therapy for months or years and your symptoms remain:
- Flashbacks
- Hypervigilance
- Nightmares
- Emotional numbing
- Startle response
- Avoidance
- Shutdown
- Severe anxiety or irritability
…you may not need more coping skills. You may need treatment — not talk.
For Clients in MA, VA, IL, VT, or FL:
If you love your therapist but your symptoms aren’t improving, it doesn’t mean you’re failing. It means you need more than support — you need a trauma specialist who can treat the root, not just soothe the symptoms.
Make sure you’re getting the level of care you need to actually recover. If you’re ready for evidence-based treatment — not just support — let’s talk.
References:
- JWL Therapy: Trauma-Informed Treatment vs. Trauma-Focused Treatment. Link: Trauma-Informed vs. Trauma-Focused
- Fullbrook Center: Trauma-Informed Care vs. Trauma Treatment. Link: TIC vs. Trauma Treatment
- Spruce View Therapy: Trauma-Informed vs. Trauma-Focused Therapy. Link: TIC vs. Focused Therapy
- Connections Family Center: Trauma-Informed Care versus Trauma Treatment: What’s the Difference? Link: TIC vs. Trauma Treatment
