Trauma Counselling

Trauma questions our ability to cope with life. It can be distressing and disturbing. Trauma counselling offers a safe space to explore your distress and start the process of healing. I can help. As a qualified counsellor, I will help you talk about what has happened at your pace, so you can start to recover.

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What is trauma? Does counselling help?

Trauma is not what happens to us. Trauma is what happens inside us – Gabor Maté

Trauma happens when a person experiences a distressing event which was not anticipated. Each of us will react and cope differently to trauma depending on our experiences and the type of event itself.

Traumas may be obvious or not so obvious, but what is important is your experience of trauma and how it makes or made you feel. This is unique to you. 

Following a traumatic event, your brain responses may become heightened and everyday routines can be difficult to contend with. It can be challenging to return to normal and hard to know what to do with yourself.

You may experience nightmares, flashbacks or be triggered by different senses such as smell or touch. Hyper-vigilance and living ‘on edge’ can be experienced which may feel very frightening at times.

Many people will store their traumatic memory in their body without necessarily realising it. We may not be able to recall the event, but our body somehow remembers it.

Counselling for trauma helps you to heal, as often, you can feel numb and disconnected from others. Furthermore, this may lead to deep feelings of anguish and isolation.

What are the causes of trauma?

There are many different reasons why trauma occurs. Each traumatic event can be experienced with differing levels of suffering depending on the individual. 

Abuse and neglect

Refers to emotional, physical, sexual, verbal abuse or neglect which can be a single event or a recurring form. Sometimes abuse or neglect is plain to see. But sometimes it can be more insidious and subtle. If the sufferer feels violated or neglected in some way, then this may cause a trauma response. 

Accidents

This could be a road traffic accident, accidentally harming another person or a fall. You do not have to be physically harmed yourself in an accident to experience trauma, so being a witness could affect you psychologically too.

Bereavement

When someone close to you dies, whether suddenly or after illness, it can have an intensely traumatic effect on you where you are full of grief and feel a deep loss.

Catastrophic events

Related to man-made events such as bombings and war or natural disasters such as flooding, earthquakes and hurricanes. Involvement in these events may test our mortality and induce traumatic responses.

Military Service

Returning from military service, it’s normal for your mind and body to be in shock, but for some military veterans, symptoms become extreme and difficult to manage.

Physical injury

A life-changing injury such as limb amputation may produce a traumatic response. A person may need emotional support in order to come to terms with their loss and new disability.

Racial Trauma

Racial trauma affects people of colour and indigenous populations. Someone may experience racism directly or witness such harm. Both can be traumatic and can pervade all aspects of a person’s life.

Terminal illness

A diagnosis of a terminal illness can often produce traumatic symptoms. This may affect you deeply, whether diagnosed yourself or a person close to you.

Violence

You often feel traumatised when you experience physical violence. Furthermore, it can happen whether you are threatened with violence or witness a violent act.

FAQs including Fees

Build trust after trauma

I offer a safe and secure environment where I use our counselling relationship to build trust. Such distressing experiences can destroy your assumptions of trust, so it is important that I encourage a trusting environment for you to feel able to discuss your problems.

Therapeutic space for healing

As an experienced counsellor with trauma-informed training, I allow you the space to talk about the traumatic event(s). I attentively listen to your disturbing experiences and how they were for you. Providing acceptance and understanding which can help you to heal.

Furthermore, as your therapist, I help you to process and evaluate your thoughts and feelings about the trauma you have experienced. This supports your recovery. You can start to come to terms with what has happened to you.

Creative approaches

Traumatised people may find using writing, art, poetry or stones as a helpful way to experience their difficult feelings. These methods can be useful so a client does not become overwhelmed.

Also, these methods allow us to come away from words and our ‘thinking minds’, perhaps accessing body memory through creativity. 

Clients can feel empowered to explore their trauma safely, in a different way rather than talking. If you would like to work creatively, please feel free to mention this in our initial discussions.