Therapy Services

 

Trauma isn’t just about what happened, it’s about how those experiences live on inside you. It can show up as an unnamed fear in your body, the silence in your voice, the roles you learned to play to feel safe or loved.  At its core, trauma is the body’s and mind’s response to an experience that feels threatening, overwhelming, or deeply unsettling. It can happen in a single moment, or over time. When we’re faced with a threat, real or perceived, our nervous system kicks in to protect us through instinctive responses: fight, flight, freeze, and more recently acknowledged, fawn, where we appease or please others to stay safe. These responses are not conscious choices. They’re biological survival strategies that all humans share. 

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Types of Trauma: The Big and the Small

 

Trauma isn’t just about catastrophes like war, accidents, or abuse, though these can absolutely leave deep and lasting wounds. This is often referred to as “big T” trauma.

 

But trauma can also come from less obvious experiences: a painful breakup, betrayal, bullying, job loss, neglect, or financial stress. These are examples of “small t” trauma and they matter just as much. When ignored or minimized, they can quietly shape our self-worth, our relationships, and our sense of safety in the world.

 

Some people recover from trauma over time. For others, the nervous system remains stuck in survival mode. If symptoms linger beyond a few weeks and start to interfere with your daily life, it may point to Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) or a related condition. But even without a formal diagnosis, the impact of trauma can be profound.

 

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Common Signs of Unresolved Trauma

 

Here are a few ways unresolved trauma may show up in everyday life. These aren’t failures or flaws, they are simply signs your nervous system is asking for attention and healing.

 

1. Emotional Reactivity

 

You might find yourself overreacting to small things, snapping at loved ones, or feeling constantly on edge. If this feels familiar, it may be because you’re carrying unresolved pain just below the surface. When our emotional thresholds are low, even minor stressors can feel like major threats.

 

2. Shame and Self-Blame

 

After trauma, it’s common to revisit the event again and again, wondering what you could have done differently. This is often a way to try and regain a sense of control. But replaying the past with a critical eye can deepen shame and guilt, especially when the truth is, you did the best you could with the resources you had at the time.

 

3. Zoning Out or Dissociating

 

If you find yourself feeling disconnected, mentally foggy, or emotionally numb, this might be your mind’s way of protecting you. Dissociation is a survival mechanism, a habit of mind that you may have developed to avoid feeling overwhelmed. But over time, it can make life feel distant, hollow, or numb.

 

4. Struggles in Relationships

 

Trauma often isolates. You might find yourself withdrawing, building emotional walls, or using substances to cope. The pain becomes layered, not just from the trauma itself, but from the disconnection it creates in your closest relationships. You may long for connection, while also fearing it.

 

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Healing Trauma: A Journey of Reconnection

 

There is no single path to healing, but healing is possible. Trauma may shape who we are, but it does not have to define us. Working with a trained therapist can be a powerful step forward. Therapists trained in trauma-informed care understand how the nervous system works and how trauma embeds itself in the body, thoughts, and emotions. Modalities such as:

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    •    Cognitive Behavioural Therapy (CBT)

    •    Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing (EMDR)

    •    Somatic therapies

    •    Attachment-focused therapy

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​The goal isn’t to “erase” the trauma but to reprocess it. To help your nervous system find safety again. To build resilience, strengthen self-awareness, and reconnect with your full emotional range. 

 

Our trauma therapy is designed to support you through a gradual, intentional process of healing. In the early stages, we focus on helping you regulate overwhelming emotions and restore a sense of internal safety. Drawing from trauma-informed practices and physiological regulation techniques, we work together to stabilize your mood, and expand your window of tolerance. Our therapists draw on evidence-based modalities, including EMDR, Internal Family Systems (IFS), somatic therapy, cognitive behaviour therapy, we help you process traumatic memories, reconnect with the parts of yourself that had to hide or adapt and shift long-held patterns. Central to our work is restoring a sense of power, connection, and authenticity. While healing may not erase all traces of trauma, it can profoundly change your relationship to it so that your story no longer defines you.

 

EMDR Therapy (Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing) is a structured, evidence-based psychotherapy developed to help people heal from traumatic experiences and emotional distress. It is particularly effective for treating post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), but is also used for anxiety, depression, phobias, and other emotional difficulties linked to disturbing life events.

 

At the core of EMDR is the idea that the brain has a natural way of healing from trauma, much like the body heals from physical injury. However, when a traumatic event overwhelms the brain’s processing system, memories can become “stuck,” causing distressing symptoms and emotional reactivity long after the event is over.

 

EMDR helps clients reprocess these distressing memories so they can be integrated in a healthier, less disturbing way. During therapy, the client briefly recalls a traumatic memory while simultaneously engaging in bilateral stimulation, most commonly, guided eye movements, but sometimes tapping or auditory tones. This dual attention process appears to help the brain reprocess the memory, reducing its emotional charge and enabling new, more adaptive perspectives to emerge.

 

EMDR is an eight-phase approach that includes:

    1.    History taking and treatment planning

    2.    Preparation and building coping skills

    3.    Assessment of target memories

    4.    Desensitization using bilateral stimulation

    5.    Installation of positive beliefs

    6.    Body scan to identify residual tension

    7.    Closure

    8.    Re-evaluation in future sessions

 

Clients do not need to talk extensively about their trauma for EMDR to be effective, making it especially appealing to those who may find verbal recounting of events overwhelming. Research shows that EMDR can bring significant relief in a shorter time frame than traditional talk therapy.

 

In summary, EMDR therapy facilitates the brain’s natural healing process, enabling people to move beyond painful memories and regain emotional resilience.

 

Anxiety can be a natural response to stress. Your body’s built-in alarm system is designed to help you respond to perceived danger or challenge. In manageable doses, anxiety sharpens focus, increases alertness, and prepares you to act. You might notice a racing heart, quickened breath, or that familiar flutter in your stomach—like what you feel before a big presentation or the first day of a new job.

 

However, when anxiety becomes prolonged or overwhelming, it can start to interfere with daily life. Chronic anxiety can manifest through a range of distressing physical symptoms such as dizziness, nausea, chest tightness, dry mouth, or chills. In some cases, it can escalate into panic attacks, which are sudden episodes of intense fear accompanied by symptoms so severe that they may be mistaken for heart attacks.

 

Anxiety can also arise from trauma. Flashbacks in post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) are one way unresolved trauma continues to echo in the nervous system. Social anxiety, meanwhile, can lead to isolation and avoidance, limiting both personal and professional life.

 

Psychotherapists are trained in a variety of evidence-based approaches and may use one or more of the following therapeutic modalities to support your healing:

    •    Attachment-Based Therapies – Focus on early relationships and how they shape current emotional patterns.

    •    Trauma-Informed Therapies – Acknowledge the impact of trauma.

    •    Cognitive Behavioural Therapies (CBT) – Help identify and change thoughts and behaviours that contribute to anxiety.

    •    Experiential and Humanistic Therapies – Emphasize personal growth, authenticity, and emotional expression.

    •    Psychodynamic Therapies – Explore unconscious patterns and past experiences to gain self-awareness.

    •    Somatic Therapies – Integrate body awareness into healing emotional wounds.

    •    Systemic and Collaborative Therapies – Address relationship dynamics, often involving families or couples.

 

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Working With a Therapist

 

Psychotherapy is one of the most effective treatments for managing symptoms of anxiety and emotional distress. After a comprehensive assessment, your therapist will develop a personalized treatment plan based on your unique needs and goals.

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Relationships are central to our well-being but they can also be a source of deep stress, confusion, and emotional pain. Whether you’re working to strengthen your connection, address recurring conflicts, or navigate the complexities of separation or divorce, counselling offers a supportive space to gain clarity and direction.

 

We work with individuals to explore the patterns, dynamics, and emotional histories that shape how you relate to yourself and others. You may be struggling with communication breakdowns, trust issues, unmet needs, or feelings of disconnection. You may also be at a crossroads, unsure whether to stay, leave, or redefine the relationship altogether.

 

Therapy can help you:

    •    Develop healthier communication and conflict-resolution skills

    •    Deepen emotional intimacy and understanding

    •    Clarify your values, boundaries, and relational needs

    •    Process grief, anger, or fear related to separation or divorce

    •    Cope with changes in identity, parenting, or lifestyle following a relationship transition

 

Whether you’re seeking repair or closure, counselling supports you in making empowered, thoughtful choices. Our goal is not to prescribe one outcome, but to help you move forward with greater self-awareness, relational insight, and emotional resilience, so that your next chapter, together or apart, is guided by clarity and care.