Trauma
Counselling

Trauma "informed" is a term you may have heard as this is spokenly about more openly than even 10 years ago, especially in health services. Trauma can take a variety of forms. It can be a specific event that has cause you extensive physical and/or emotional harm. It may be something relating to your childhood, or a relationship that has had a life long impact on you. 
 

When to get help?

When to get help and what type of help is very dependent on the individual and their circumstances. If you have experienced something traumatic, you may have already reached out for help in the form of physical treatment, medication, counselling or support from a psychologist or a combination of these. You may have found this unhelpful or partially helpful which is why every experience is unique. You may have found it helpful at the time, but something recently has unsettled you and you want to explore this in a therapeutic setting. It may be that you realise you are struggling with feeling on edge, or experiencing vivid reminders like you are experiencing it again and again. Coversely, it may be that life feels stable and you feel that now is the right time to look at something painful from your past. 

What would trauma work look like in Counselling? 

The most important first step in trauma work is ensuring that I am the right service and right Counsellor for you. We assess this in an initial phone call to determine what support you are looking for and what services (if any) currently support you. Then on our first session, we will complete an assessment which looks at your reaons for counselling in more detail, what support you have or are receiving, any risks to your safety and those around you and anything else we need to be aware of when we are working together. Paramount to our work together is your safety and working together at a pace that works for you. Our brains are very clever at locking away distressing and traumatic memories so that we can survive and I often refer to this as our own "Security Guard". We will explore what feels safe and what helps you feel calmer throughout our work together.

What do I mean by trauma?

Trauma is defined by a distressing harmful event that leaves you feeling unable to cope or feel safe. This may be one frightening event or many distressing events that are repeated and leave a permanent impact on how you manage day to day. You may have a specific event that has left you with a sense of fear, anxiety, flashbacks or distressing images that you may be unable to "forget" or "shake off". Conversely, you may have experienced a particularly challenging childhood around certain family members or your relationships as an adult. Whether you have a diagnosis (such as PTSD or cPTSD) or struggle with always feeling on edge, flashbacks and problems sleeping, counselling can help you explore how to make sense or these memories and reduce the distressing and painful things you are experiencing.