Today we’d like to introduce you to Paula Johnson, LCSW, CCTP, CFTP.
Paula, we appreciate you taking the time to share your story with us today. Where does your story begin?
Hi, I’m Paula.
I believe therapy is a collaborative journey where you can feel heard, supported, and empowered to create meaningful change. Before becoming a therapist, I spent more than 25 years leading and mentoring others in the corporate world. While I valued helping people grow professionally, I felt called to support individuals in a deeper, more personal way.
That calling became clear while volunteering at a crisis center, where I witnessed the profound impact compassionate mental health care can have during life’s most difficult moments. It confirmed my passion for helping others heal.
As both a trauma survivor, thriver and a therapist, I understand the courage it takes to begin the healing process. My lived experience, combined with clinical training and professional expertise, allows me to provide compassionate, trauma-informed care grounded in empathy, respect, and hope.
My goal is to create a safe, supportive space where you feel understood and empowered as you move toward healing and lasting change.
Can you talk to us a bit about the challenges and lessons you’ve learned along the way. Looking back would you say it’s been easy or smooth in retrospect?
Growing up in a single-parent household marked by domestic violence, neglect, abuse, and substance use presented many challenges. From an early age, I learned to believe that my voice and opinions did not matter. Eager to escape that environment, I married young and moved out of the state where I was raised. Unfortunately, because I had never experienced healthy relationships, I unknowingly married someone who was just as abusive as the home I had left behind.
Throughout my twenties and into my early thirties, I coped with my circumstances through drinking and partying because I did not know a healthier way to deal with my pain. Eventually, I reached a turning point and decided I wanted a different life. I divorced my first husband, began rebuilding my life, and later met my second husband. Together, we married and welcomed our son.
While volunteering in my community, I discovered a passion for helping and mentoring others. When my son was just 18 months old, I made the life-changing decision to return to school. While working full-time, volunteering, and completing internships, I earned both my bachelor’s degree and my Master of Social Work.
Returning to school was not easy. As a child, I had struggled academically and never considered myself a strong student. Writing papers and completing assignments were significant challenges, but I refused to let my past define my future. Through determination, perseverance, and hard work, I graduated with my MSW and became a licensed clinical social worker.
Early in my career, I worked in difficult environments that tested my resilience. Eventually, I found an exceptional supervisor who believed in my abilities and encouraged my professional growth. After earning my independent license, that supervisor encouraged me to start my own private practice.
Today, I have successfully owned and operated my private practice for the past four years, helping individuals heal and overcome their own challenges. I have also fulfilled another lifelong goal by becoming a published author. Looking back, my journey has been defined not by the adversity I experienced, but by the resilience, determination, and purpose I found in transforming my own struggles into opportunities to help others.
Thanks for sharing that. So, maybe next you can tell us a bit more about your business?
At Encouraging Hand Trauma Counseling, our mission is to create a safe, supportive, and compassionate environment where every client feels heard, understood, and empowered as they work toward healing and lasting change.
We specialize in individual counseling for people who have participated in therapy before but still feel unresolved, misunderstood, or unable to move forward. Our practice focuses on treating complex trauma, post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), anxiety, panic attacks, depression, low self-esteem, empowerment challenges, and the unique needs of high-achieving professionals, first responders, medical professionals, and many other individuals facing emotional and psychological challenges.
Our approach is grounded in person-centered therapy. We believe that each client is the expert on their own life, and our role is to provide guidance, support, and evidence-based treatment that helps them heal, rediscover their strengths, and become the healthiest version of themselves.
What sets Encouraging Hand Trauma Counseling apart is the level of care and connection we provide. With more than 25 years of mentoring and supporting others, I strive to welcome every client with the same warmth and compassion I would offer someone entering my own home. I want each person to feel safe, valued, respected, and genuinely heard. My goal is to listen without judgment, validate their experiences, and provide the encouragement and clinical expertise they need to move beyond the challenges they are facing.
I also recognize that there is no one-size-fits-all approach to healing. Every person’s experiences are unique, and their treatment should be as well. I am trained and certified in several state-of-the-art, evidence-based, and holistic therapeutic approaches, allowing me to tailor treatment to each client’s individual needs.
My work is guided by a neurological understanding of trauma and mental health. I recognize that what happens in the brain also affects the body, and lasting healing requires addressing both. By integrating mind-body approaches with proven therapeutic techniques, I help clients process trauma, regulate their nervous systems, and create meaningful, lasting change.
So maybe we end on discussing what matters most to you and why?
My greatest passion is helping people heal and move forward. Having experienced PTSD, complex trauma, depression, and anxiety myself, I understand what it feels like to believe you are stuck and that life may never change. That personal journey has become the foundation of my purpose.
I want every person who walks through my door to know that healing is possible. No matter how overwhelming the past may feel, there is hope, and no one has to remain defined or limited by their experiences.
My goal is to help clients recognize the strength and resilience they already possess, even when they cannot yet see it themselves. As they heal, I want them to rediscover hope, regain confidence, and believe in their ability to create a fulfilling and meaningful future. Witnessing clients transform from merely surviving to truly thriving is the most rewarding part of the work I do.
Contact Info:
- Website: https://ehtraumacounseling.com
