“I know what happened to me. I want help changing what is still happening because of it.”
Trauma may be one overwhelming event, or many difficult experiences that went on for a long time.
Over the course of my career I have worked with people experiencing trauma and PTSD, anxiety, depression, OCD, eating disorders, grief, burnout, addiction, relationship difficulties, major life transitions, stress-related difficulties and other complex psychological presentations.
Stress and trauma that haven’t been adequately processed can remain active in the nervous system, manifesting in a wide range of emotional, psychological and physical symptoms. These may include anxiety, panic attacks, fears, phobias, flashbacks, nightmares, dissociation, sleeplessness, irritability, hypervigilance, addictive behaviours, overwhelm, exhaustion, digestive difficulties, persistent pain, and other physical symptoms that are difficult to explain medically or that have been identified as potentially stress-related.
Try as we may to “work through” and “talk about” our issues and trauma they often remain embedded in our system and talking about them just doesn't help.
So we start to avoid anything that reminds us of that event and/or we adjust our life to accommodate our symptoms.
How I work with trauma
My interest is not only in understanding the story cognitively, but in what is still operating underneath it: in the nervous system, body, learned adaptations, family dynamics, trauma responses and deeper ways of relating to yourself and the world.
Depending on the person and what emerges, I draw from psychological, somatic, trauma informed, relational, systemic and experiential approaches.
Both EMDR (Eye Movement Desensitisation and Reprocessing) and TRE® (Tension & Trauma Releasing Exercises) are approaches to trauma that work beyond cognitive understanding and traditional talk therapy.
Although EMDR requires history-taking and preparation, the processing itself does not rely on repeatedly talking about or recounting the traumatic experience in order for healing to occur. Similarly, TRE® works through the body rather than through verbal processing of traumatic events.
We go at a pace your system can manage, and we pay attention to when to explore and when to slow down.
What if I don’t want to tell my whole story all over again?
You don’t have to.
I understand that many people have told their history repeatedly and are tired of starting again with every new therapist.
Trauma is an important part of my clinical experience, but you do not need to identify as traumatised to work with me.