Areas of Focus
You’re not a problem to be fixed. You’re a person to be understood.
TRAUMA COUNSELLING
Has Trauma Negatively Impacted Your Life and Relationships?
Do you find yourself repeatedly reliving a traumatic event? Are you experiencing depression and/or anxiety in its aftermath? Do you often feel overwhelmed or on edge? Trauma comes in many different forms, including negative childhood experiences, traumatic grief/loss, chronic/acute trauma, infertility/birth trauma, and so much more.
Trauma Symptoms Can Be Long-Lasting
You may feel persistent anger, irritation, sadness or a general sense of overwhelm due to a recent or past traumatic event.
You might also experience other common signs of trauma, such as:
Intrusive memories, trouble sleeping, or nightmares
Feelings of fear, anxiety, and insecurity
Difficulty concentrating
A sense of disconnection from yourself and others
Feelings of shame and self-blame
Regardless of your specific symptoms or experiences with trauma, not knowing how to overcome its effects can leave you feeling helpless.
Treatment
Trauma counseling is a specialized form of therapy that helps individuals heal from the emotional and psychological effects of traumatic experiences. This process involves several key components designed to support recovery and promote overall well-being:
Safe and Supportive Environment: Trauma counselling provides a confidential and non-judgmental space where individuals feel safe to express their thoughts and emotions.
Assessment and Understanding: The therapist will begin by understanding the individual’s history and the specific traumatic events they have experienced. This includes assessing the impact of the trauma on their mental, emotional, and physical health.
Psychoeducation: Clients are educated about trauma and its effects on the brain and body. Understanding how trauma affects them helps clients make sense of their symptoms and experiences.
Coping Strategies: Therapists teach practical techniques to manage symptoms such as anxiety, depression, and hyperarousal. These may include mindfulness, relaxation exercises, grounding techniques, and stress management skills.
Processing the Trauma: Therapists use evidence-based techniques such as Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT), Inner child work, Parts work, Reparenting and Somatic therapies to help individuals process and integrate traumatic memories. This can involve talking about the traumatic event, challenging unhelpful beliefs, and learning to reframe negative thoughts.
Building Resilience: Counselling helps individuals develop resilience by strengthening their ability to cope with stress, enhancing self-esteem, and fostering a sense of empowerment and control over their lives.
Reconnecting with Self and Others: Trauma can lead to feelings of disconnection and isolation. Therapy aims to help individuals rebuild a sense of connection with themselves and others, fostering healthier relationships and social support networks.
Ongoing Support and Maintenance: Trauma recovery is an ongoing process. Therapists provide continued support and help individuals develop a long-term plan for maintaining their progress and preventing relapse.
This work is tailored to the unique needs of each individual, recognizing that healing is a personal journey. The ultimate goal is to help individuals move beyond their trauma, regain control of their lives, and achieve a sense of peace and well-being.
Stress, Anxiety & coping skills
Whether you're dealing with everyday stressors from work, relationships, or challenging life transitions, we can support you in navigating these barriers. Together, we will explore coping skills and strategies to make difficult situations more manageable. Anxiety is a common symptom of various mental health conditions and can sometimes feel overwhelming. By using evidence-based strategies, we can change how we relate to anxious thoughts and feelings, helping them feel lighter and more feasible.
Therapy can be highly effective in managing anxiety and stress by providing a range of tools, techniques, and supportive interactions that help individuals understand and alleviate their symptoms. Here’s how therapy helps:
Identifying Triggers: Therapy helps individuals identify the specific situations, thoughts, or behaviours that trigger their anxiety and stress. Understanding these triggers is the first step toward managing them effectively.
Evidence based approaches: Cognitive Behavioural Therapy (CBT) and Acceptance and Commitment Therapy (ACT) are commonly used to treat anxiety and stress. CBT involves identifying and challenging negative thought patterns and beliefs, and replacing them with more realistic and positive ones. This helps reduce anxiety and improve coping mechanisms. ACT focuses on helping individuals accept their anxious thoughts and feelings rather than trying to avoid or eliminate them.
Mindfulness and Relaxation Techniques: I often teach mindfulness practices and relaxation techniques, such as deep breathing, progressive muscle relaxation, and guided imagery. These practices help individuals stay present, reduce physical tension, and manage stress more effectively.
Developing Coping Skills: Therapy provides individuals with practical coping strategies to manage anxiety and stress in everyday situations. These skills might include time management, problem-solving, and assertiveness training.
Emotional Regulation: Therapy helps individuals understand and regulate their emotions. Techniques such as Dialectical Behaviour Therapy (DBT) teach skills like distress tolerance and emotional regulation, which are crucial for managing anxiety and stress.
Exposure Therapy: For certain types of anxiety, such as phobias or social anxiety, exposure therapy can be effective. This involves gradually and safely exposing individuals to the situations they fear, helping them build confidence and reduce avoidance behaviours.
Supportive Environment: Therapy provides a safe, confidential space where individuals can express their fears, worries, and stressors without judgment. This supportive environment can be therapeutic in itself, offering validation and understanding.
Building Resilience: Therapy helps individuals build resilience by enhancing their ability to cope with future stressors and setbacks. This includes fostering a sense of self-efficacy and teaching strategies for maintaining mental well-being.
Lifestyle Changes: I help to guide individuals in making lifestyle changes that support mental health, such as improving sleep hygiene, increasing physical activity, implementing a solid self care routine and developing healthy eating habits.
By addressing the underlying causes of anxiety and stress and equipping individuals with effective coping mechanisms, therapy can significantly improve quality of life and overall mental health.
Relationship with self and others
As social beings, relationships are central to our lives, and when they are troubled, they often cause stress and tension. Many of us had challenging upbringings that led to resentments and wounds in our current relationships with our parents, necessitating certain boundaries. However, these boundaries are not always respected, which can lead to further frustration and hurt. Some people have lost significant relationships and need support in grieving these losses. We may also grieve the loss of a relationship we never had but wish we did.
Our relationship with ourselves is equally important. The way we think and talk about ourselves forms distinct pathways in the brain, which can sometimes be negative and cause us to feel poorly about ourselves and the world around us. By addressing the inner critic and cultivating self-compassion, we can develop self-acceptance and, ultimately, self-love.
Working on relationships with oneself and others in therapy involves several strategies and techniques.
1. Relationship with Self
Self-Awareness
Journaling: I encourage clients to write about their thoughts and feelings. This can help them become more aware of their internal dialogue and emotional states.
Mindfulness Practices: Use mindfulness exercises to help clients stay present and observe their thoughts without judgment.
Cognitive Restructuring
Challenging Negative Thoughts: Help clients identify and challenge negative thought patterns. This can be done through cognitive-behavioural techniques that encourage questioning the validity of negative beliefs.
Affirmations: Encourage the use of positive affirmations to counteract negative self-talk.
Self-Compassion
Self-Compassion Exercises: Teaches clients practices from self-compassion therapy, such as treating themselves with the same kindness they would offer a friend.
Mindful Self-Compassion Programs: Introduce structured programs that focus on developing self-compassion.
Emotional Regulation
Emotion Identification and Expression: Help clients identify and express their emotions in a healthy way.
Regulation Techniques: Teach techniques such as deep breathing, progressive muscle relaxation, or guided imagery.
2. Relationship with Others
Communication Skills
Assertiveness Training: Teach clients how to express their needs and feelings assertively without being passive or aggressive.
Active Listening: Encourage active listening skills to improve understanding and empathy in relationships.
Boundaries
Setting Boundaries: Help clients understand the importance of boundaries and how to set them in a respectful and effective way.
Enforcing Boundaries: Discuss strategies for maintaining and enforcing boundaries when they are challenged.
Conflict Resolution
Problem-Solving Skills: Teach clients structured problem-solving techniques to address conflicts constructively.
Negotiation and Compromise: Encourage negotiation and finding compromises in relationships.
Attachment Styles
Understanding Attachment: Help clients understand their attachment styles and how these impact their relationships.
Attachment-Based Therapy: I sometimes use approaches like Emotionally Focused Therapy (EFT) to address attachment issues in relationships.
Building Trust and Intimacy
Trust-Building Exercises: Engage clients in activities that build trust and deepen intimacy in their relationships.
Vulnerability: Encourage healthy vulnerability, allowing clients to open up and share their authentic selves.