Trauma, addiction, and religious trauma therapy in Nashville and Franklin
Trauma rarely arrives as one clean event. People often come with several threads at once: what happened, what helped them survive it, and what they were taught about themselves. Each section below follows one of them.
Which trauma and recovery concerns can therapy help with?
Three areas, and often more than one at a time. Each section below explains what the experience can look like, what therapy aims to change, and who here works with it.
Trauma
What happened, and the ways the body still responds to it: being on guard, flashbacks, numbness, or a startle that never came back down.
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Addiction and recovery
Drinking, using, or another behavior that started as relief and now takes up more of the day than you intended.
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Religious trauma and spiritual deconstruction
Leaving a belief system you were raised in, and the grief, guilt, and family strain that can follow it.
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What does trauma feel like?
Trauma is less about the event than about what the body did with it. Two people can live through the same thing and carry it very differently, which is why the work starts with what stayed with you rather than with a label.
What it can look like
Being braced for something that is not happening, going numb, avoiding anything that resembles it, flashbacks, or a startle response that never settled.
What therapy aims to change
Not forgetting. A nervous system that is no longer organized around the event, so the past can be remembered without being lived through again.
How it is usually worked with
Approaches such as EMDR, somatic therapy, or AEDP, at a pace you set. You will know what the work involves before it starts, and you can slow it down at any point.
How does therapy help with addiction and recovery?
Most people arrive at a complicated relationship with something that once worked: a drink that took the edge off, a behavior that quieted the noise. Therapy is not only about stopping. It is also about what the behavior was holding.
What it can look like
Drinking or using more than intended, hiding it, promising to stop and not managing it, or a behavior that has quietly replaced everything else.
What therapy aims to change
Understanding what the behavior has been doing for you, building a life that asks less of it, and repairing what was damaged along the way.
How it is usually worked with
Therapy usually sits alongside whatever else is already in place, such as a recovery program or medical care, and your clinician will ask what that looks like. Approaches such as IFS and AEDP are used to work with the part of you that reaches for it.
What is religious trauma or spiritual deconstruction?
Leaving a belief system you were raised in is not only an intellectual shift. It can cost you your community, your family's approval, and the framework you used to tell right from wrong, and the loss is rarely acknowledged by anyone else.
What it can look like
Guilt that arrives without a reason, fear of punishment, a body that braces at familiar language, or grief for a community you no longer belong to.
What therapy aims to change
Not replacing one set of beliefs with another. Sorting what is yours from what was handed to you, including the shame that often travels with it.
How it is usually worked with
Often with IFS or AEDP, which work with the internal voices that still carry the old rules, at a pace that does not ask you to argue with them first.
Which therapists work with trauma and recovery?
Six clinicians work across these areas at both offices, in person and online. Trauma work depends on trust, so the manner matters as much as the training. Read until one sounds like someone you could sit with.
Franklin
Colleen Barrett
LCSW · Franklin · Children, teens and families
Franklin
Daniel Okafor
LMFT · Franklin · Adults and couples
Franklin
Erin Castellanos
LMFT · Franklin · Adults and couples
Nashville
Jordan Whitfield
LPC · Nashville · Adults
Nashville
Maya Ellison
LPC-MHSP · Nashville · Adults
Nashville
Priya Raghunathan
PhD · Nashville · Teens and adults
What do people ask about trauma and recovery?
The questions that come up most often before a first appointment, answered directly.
Do I have to describe what happened to start therapy?
No. You can begin with how things are now and what you would like to be different. The details can come later, or not at all if they are not needed.
Can trauma be worked on without going into detail?
Sometimes, yes. Approaches including EMDR and somatic therapy do not always require a full account of the event. Your clinician will explain what the work involves before you begin, so you can decide.
Can therapy help if I am still drinking or using?
It can, and waiting for a perfect stopping point often delays the work. Tell us what is happening so we can match you with someone who works with it, including alongside other support you already have.
Is religious trauma only about leaving a religion?
Not only. It can also be about staying while something in you has changed, or about what you were taught regarding yourself, your body, or who you are allowed to be.
How long does trauma therapy take?
There is no standard length. It depends on what happened, what support is around you, and what you want to change. Your clinician will review progress with you rather than leave the end point open.
What if I do not want to talk about the past at all?
Then the work starts with the present. Therapy can focus on patterns, relationships, and what you want now, and revisit the past only if it becomes useful to you.
How do I start therapy for trauma?
Request an appointment and we will arrange a free 15 minute phone call. You can say as much or as little as you like about what happened, ask who would be a good fit, and decide afterwards whether to book. Sessions start at $150 an hour and insurance is accepted.