“Is Talk Therapy Enough?” Signs You Might Need a Trauma Therapist
by Leah Aguirre Barnes, LCSW
The Benefits of Talk Therapy
I love talk therapy.
Talk therapy provides a valuable outlet to externalize and process emotions, work through major life transitions, and develop skills to manage stressors in our relationships and daily lives. It can also help us examine and challenge irrational or maladaptive thoughts and narratives, and shift unhelpful behavior patterns.
That said, while I deeply appreciate the value and benefits of traditional talk therapy, it sometimes has its limitations—especially when it comes to trauma.
How Trauma Affects Us
When we have unhealed or unprocessed trauma—distressing life experiences that threatened our safety or sense of well-being—these past events often continue to affect us in the present, usually outside of conscious awareness.
This happens because trauma causes literal changes in our neurobiology and nervous system. These changes influence how we perceive and respond to everyday situations and stressors. They also shape our core beliefs—the foundational ideas we hold about ourselves, others, and the world around us.
Signs Talk Therapy Alone May Not Be Enough
You’re experiencing acute stress, such as a recent traumatic event.
Your nervous system is chronically dysregulated, which may look like:
Feeling jumpy or easily startled
Intrusive thoughts, feelings, or memories
Regular dissociation or zoning out
Difficulty concentrating or focusing
You logically understand a belief is irrational, but your body still reacts as if it’s true.
Why Trauma Can’t Always Be Talked Through
Traditional talk therapy primarily engages the prefrontal cortex—the thinking, reasoning part of the brain. But trauma lives in the body and deeper brain regions that can’t be fully accessed through verbal processing alone.
This is why talk therapy, while powerful, may not always reach the parts of us that need healing the most.
Going Deeper with Trauma-Informed Approaches
Trauma-informed and somatic-based therapies—like EMDR (Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing), IFS (Internal Family Systems or Parts Work Therapy), and Somatic Experiencing—are designed to reach and heal those deeper levels. These modalities help:
Regulate the nervous system
Reconnect the mind and body
Process and release unresolved trauma
Create lasting pathways to emotional safety and resilience
When It’s Time to Go Deeper
So, if you’ve been in therapy for years but still aren’t seeing the changes you hoped for, there’s a good chance it’s not because you're doing something wrong. It may simply mean that it’s time to go a little deeper—into the body, into the nervous system, and into the parts of your experience that talking alone can’t reach.
You deserve healing that touches every part of you—not just your thoughts, but your body, your heart, and your story.
