Trauma-Sensitive Care

I provide trauma-sensitive care to people who have suffered from traumatic adverse experiences. All services are offered with non-judgement and great compassion and informed by practice-based research as well as my own direct experiences of healing after adversity. 

No matter what you've been through, or how it compares to others, you matter. 

I am trained and experienced in working with adults and young people in domestic abuse refuges, parents suffering with child bereavement, and survivors of multiple intimate partner violence (whether coercive control, sexual, emotional or physical abuse), medical malpractice, childhood and workplace bullying, human rights abuses, and child neglect. I also developed specialist experience in supporting highly-vulnerable, LGBTQIA+ asylum seekers and refugees during  international, online clinical placements. All of my clients are in some way also coming to terms with cumulative traumas, including collective trauma of the coronavirus pandemic, war, and ancestral trauma passed down through genetics from parents to children. 

Trauma is what happens when the bodymind feels overwhelmed by a distressing experience, or an accumulation of distressing experiences, so much so that stable and resilient functioning of the nervous system is interrupted. Memories and consciousness fragment meaning that perceptions and emotions become frozen and stuck in the nervous system, unable to move freely. Trauma creates a wide range of post-traumatic stress symptoms, for example sudden, unexplained overwhelm, flashbacks, zoning out, panic, numbness and even physical health conditions. Trauma may be healed if there is appropriate support available. (If you're unsure whether you may be affected by trauma and post-traumatic stress, then you may wish to complete a trauma questionnaire with the support of a friend or relative, or someone you trust. This can give you an indication of whether or not you may be suffering from post-traumatic stress.)

Trauma and post-traumatic stress are extremely common, and often what we perceive to be normal human suffering, is actually just the profoundly widespread nature of traumatic stress. The psychological scars of trauma often appear as inauthenticity, disempowerment, self-sabotage, victimhood, aggression, blame, feeling stuck or feeling like a child.  Because of the deep feelings shame often experienced from trauma, it's important to remember that what happened was not your fault, and also have faith that you can recover.

Post-traumatic stress is not permanent, and it is possible to grow after trauma. (You can use an inventory to assess how you may have grown after suffering from adverse experiences.) How we grow from our traumas, is how we adapt and become even more resilient and anti-fragile as human beings. In therapy, we do not focus on the story of what happened in the past, instead we focus on facilitating a felt-sense of connection and self-regulation in the here-and-now.  We may process fragmented feelings, perceptions and memories caused by the trauma so that any unhealed emotions can be released so your body and mind can function more healthily. It is typical that most people recovering from trauma may need more than one course of therapy in their lives, working at appropriate levels of depth for where you are at now; there's no rush to heal everything all at one because your bodymind needs time to process and integrate.  Therapy may support your growth toward greater authenticity, empowerment, maturity, self-love and freedom.

Therapy sessions may be funded via charitable organisations or self-funded. I reserve limited concessionary spaces.