Trauma Therapy
Trauma Effects More Than Your Thoughts.
Trauma therapy isn’t about erasing memories or forgetting about the past. It’s about being able to store the memories of your trauma experience in a way that won’t interfere with your thoughts, emotions, relationships or physical well-being. When you live with PTSD or traumatic memories, you can become stuck in the past even if the threat no longer exists in your present day experience.
Trauma affects not just your thoughts but your whole body. Triggers often do not come the image of the memory itself but from the memory of what you were experiencing in your body at the time. This can often occur for people who are experiencing symptoms of PTSD.
Trauma-focused Therapy
Trauma-focused therapy is rooted in understanding that your past experiences impact your present day life and functioning. Trauma responses can occur following an exposure to a major event, such as death, accident or illness, or from chronic exposure to distressing experiences like bullying or neglect. Anyone could be affected by trauma at some point during their life and would benefit from a trauma-focused approach.
All of our counsellors are trained in trauma therapy approaches that have been proven to be effective. We invite you to learn a little bit more about some of the therapies that we integrate into our counselling practice below.
Types of Trauma Therapy
Select an image below to learn more about each type of therapy.
Polyvagal Theory
Structural Dissociation
Acceptance & Commitment Therapy
Narrative Therapy
Dialectical Behavioral Therapy
Art Therapy
Does Trauma ever really go away?
The emotions associated with a traumatic memory may never go away; however, with therapy, it is possible to help the memory become stored more appropriately so it no longer feels as though it is happening at the present time. Trauma therapy helps your brain make the distinction between the past and the present so that memories can be recalled without experiencing the distress associated with it.
You may already be familiar with some trauma-focused approaches or you may have landed on our website in your search for something new. We will highlight a few of the approaches that our team often uses. This is not an exhaustive list and is continuously growing as we learn more about other proven and effective interventions.