Trauma Recovery Coaching

Trauma Recovery Coaches are rigorously trained mental health professionals certified through the International Association of Trauma Recovery Coaching. Coaches adhere to a stringent Code of Ethics for professional conduct in their field.

We work with trauma survivors as peers, mentors, guides, and educators with the goal of supporting clients as they seek to understand the recovery process and reconnect with themselves and the world while using their strengths to build a life they love living.

Categories of Trauma or Abuse

  • Abandonment

  • Domestic Violence

  • Intimate Partner Violence

  • Psychological

  • Emotional Abuse

  • Emotional Neglect

  • Physical Violence

  • Sexual Abuse & Grooming Behavior

  • Pre-Natal or Birth Trauma

  • Traumatic Death

  • Spiritual and/or Religious Abuse

  • Military, War, or Combat

  • Medical/Surgeries

  • Chronic/Debilitating Illness

  • Racial or Ethnic Abuse

  • Gender-Based Violence

  • Financial or Economic Abuse

  • History of Assaults

  • Homelessness

  • Immigration/Refugee Status

  • Separation or Loss from Loved Ones

  • Any other event with persistent, overwhelming impacts on your life

What is Trauma?

An event may be traumatic to an individual if it meets the following three criteria:

  1. The individual feels that they are powerless to control the circumstance or event

  2. The circumstance/event is EITHER intensely frightening to the individual AND/OR is perceived as a moral injury (note: moral injuries are defined as events that deeply violate an individual’s moral values - particularly around values surrounding welfare, justice, rights and fairness.) This could also be described as damage to a person resulting from a violent contradiction of deeply held moral expectations (William P. Nash, DeploymentPsychology.org)

  3. The circumstance or event changes the individual’s beliefs about themselves, the world and their interactions with the world.

Trauma is subjective and is defined from the perspective of the individual. A circumstance or event that might be traumatic for one individual might not be for another. Temperament, prior experience with trauma, and resiliency all play a significant role in someone's individual response to a potentially traumatic event or circumstance.

Trauma Recovery Coaching:
12 Principles That Guide Our Work

  1. Trauma coaches work with clients as equals and peers, not as superiors.

  2. Coaches function as guides, mentors, and teachers.

  3. Coaches are listeners and ask insightful questions.

  4. Trauma coaches provide endless amounts of compassion and validation to clients.

  5. Coaches do not operate on a traditional medical model. They do not see their clients as broken or in need of fixing. They approach their client as an individual having a normal reaction to an abnormal experience.

  6. Coaches operate from a strength-based model and believe that their client has the capacity to direct their own healing when provided with the necessary support and encouragement.

  7. Trauma coaches focus on helping clients build their strengths, healthy beliefs, and positive coping strategies rather than extinguishing “negative” behaviors and beliefs.

  8. Coaches provide education about trauma to their clients to help them understand and normalize their experiences.

  9. Coaches recognize that interpersonal trauma causes individuals to disconnect from themselves, the world, and other human beings. They help their client find safe ways to reconnect.

  10. Trauma coaches help their clients see the system of beliefs that their abusers groomed them to adopt as their own. They help their client learn the truth about themselves, their relationships, and the world.

  11. Coaches model healthy behaviors and beliefs with their clients. They also model healthy relationship skills so that clients learn how to relate to others and themselves.

  12. Trauma coaches help clients set their recovery goals and together with their clients they set a path to reaching those goals.

Frequently Asked Questions

What is the difference between therapy and trauma recovery coaching?

Here is a blog article that explains how coaching differs from therapy.

Choosing Between a Trauma Recovery Coach or Therapist?

Most clients we work with have both professionals on their healthcare team!
Schedule a complimentary 30-minute consultation. It's an opportunity to explore your needs and preferences, guiding you toward the most suitable path for healing and recovery at this point in your journey.

Kind Words from Our Clients

  • Rebecca comes to sessions with warm energy, kind eyes, and remarkable strength. She flows at my pace. She more than hears, she is able to pull core meaning from my sometimes confused expressions. She remains fully present through our sessions, which allows me to relax and do the work I’m with her to do. I am grateful to experience her gifts and talents in my life.

    Aden D. | Portland, OR

Find a Place of Rest

Would you like to experience a sense of connection, understanding, or even peace after significant trauma or irreplaceable losses? We’ll provide support and a proven strategy that gives you the tools and help you connect with your deepest feelings and choose a path forward, so you can continue to live a life you love.

Studio Saudade will give you the tools, education, and support you need to connect, heal, and start building a life you love.

Feeling frustrated and stressed because you need help understanding your emotions? Want to “let go” or “move forward” but have no idea how, or where to start?

Our trauma coaching can help get you there.

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