Trauma Therapy & PTSD Treatment in Fairfax, VA
EMDR-Certified Therapy for Trauma, PTSD, and Complex Trauma
I’m Jacob Clark, MS, LPC, an EMDR-trained therapist providing trauma therapy and PTSD treatment in Fairfax, VA and online throughout VA, DC, and CO. I work with adults, teens, veterans, and service members affected by trauma, including distressing memories, emotional overwhelm, and patterns that no longer feel manageable.
EMDR Certified · Licensed Professional Counselor · Published Research on ACEs & Secondary Traumatic Stress
Psychological trauma occurs acutely and chronically.
The word, “trauma” is taken directly from the Ancient Greek word, “τραῦμα” pronounced “trauma” and refers to a piercing or rubbing wound inflicted upon the body. Significantly, the act of piercing occurs in an instant while a rubbing injury occurs chronically and over time.
When the Past Still Shows Up in the Present
Trauma does not always stay in the past just because an event is over. It can show up in the body, in your relationships, in sleep, in the way you react under pressure, or in the strategies that once helped you get through something difficult but now seem to keep you stuck. I work with people who are trying to make sense of that. We do not have to force your story into one label before we can begin. We start with what is happening in your life now, what feels difficult to carry, and what you want to understand or change.
Some ways trauma shows up for people:
Distressing memories, dreams, or flashbacks
Experiences from the past can feel intrusive, unwanted, or unexpectedly close.
Avoidance or feeling shut down
You might avoid places, conversations, sensations, or memories connected to what happened.
Sleep, concentration, or emotional regulation difficulties
Trauma-related distress can affect rest, attention, irritability, mood, and the ability to feel settled.
Feeling on edge or overwhelmed
Some people describe being watchful, easily startled, tense, numb, or difficulty controlling emotions.
Trauma Can Be Sudden, Chronic, or Hard to Recognize
For some people, trauma is connected to one event that changed how they experience the world. For others, it is connected to experiences that were repeated, prolonged, or woven into earlier relationships and development. Childhood trauma, complex trauma, loss, violence, abuse, accidents, military experiences, and other overwhelming events can affect people differently.The point is not to decide whether your experience was “bad enough.” The point is to understand its impact. A diagnosis can be useful, but it is not the whole story of who you are or what you need.
Research on adverse childhood experiences, often called ACEs, has found that cumulative childhood adversity is associated with higher risks for a range of later health and well-being outcomes (Hughes et al., 2017). That research matters. It does not, however, tell the full story of any one person, predict an individual’s future, or decide what their therapy needs to look like. I do not use an ACE score to reduce someone to a number. I use the conversation, your history, your current life, and what you need now to understand where we might begin.
EMDR for PTSD and Trauma
EMDR, or Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing, is a structured psychotherapy approach that may be part of trauma treatment. In EMDR, the work includes attention to a distressing memory while using bilateral stimulation, such as guided eye movements, within a planned therapeutic process.EMDR is not a shortcut or a one-size-fits-all answer. Before deciding whether it makes sense, we talk about what you are dealing with, how you have been coping, what feels manageable, and what you want from therapy.
The 2023 VA/DoD Clinical Practice Guideline identifies EMDR, Cognitive Processing Therapy, and Prolonged Exposure as trauma-focused psychotherapies with the strongest evidence for PTSD (VA & DoD, 2023). Choosing among approaches should be collaborative and based on the individual, their preferences, and what is clinically appropriate.
Trauma Therapy for Veterans
and Service Members
Military service can shape a person’s life in many ways, but it does not explain every concern that brings someone to therapy. I work with veterans and service members without assuming that combat, deployment, or a particular diagnosis is the whole story.
My early clinical work included leading a group for service members dealing with alcohol and drug-related concerns. That work reinforced something I still believe: people need room to talk about what is actually happening in their lives, not to be placed into a story before they have had the chance to tell it themselves.
Whether you are dealing with PTSD symptoms, difficult experiences from service, a transition, relationships, sleep, substance use, pressure to perform, or something that does not fit neatly into a category, therapy can begin with the concern that brought you here.
Ready to heal from trauma?
Let’s connect to talk more about your goals and see if this feels like a good fit.