BEING AND BECOMING COUNSELLING AND WELLNESS SERVICES

Trauma Therapy

Compassionate support to help you heal from past experiences and regain your life.

Trauma Therapy can help you:

GAIN A SENSE OF SAFETY & PEACE

RECONNECT WITH YOURSELF

FEEL IN CONTROL OF YOUR EMOTIONS

FEEL IN

When you’re stuck in survival mode.

When you’ve been through a traumatic experience, everything can feel like it’s been turned upside down. Your system may feel stuck on high alert, continually sounding the alarm, or you may feel completely shut down and unable to feel anything.

You don’t have to face this alone.

The way you are feeling is a normal response to an abnormal situation.

Trauma Therapy May Help When You Are:

  • Living in fear or anxiety

  • Unable to relax or feel at ease

  • Struggling with anger, sadness or feelings of overwhelm

  • Stuck in patterns of reactivity

  • Feeling isolated and alone

  • Experiencing distressing memories, flashbacks or nightmares

  • Feeling numb or detached

  • Having difficulty trusting others

What is Trauma?

Trauma refers to what happens in your body during, and after, an event, rather than the event itself. Events that are experienced as traumatic are typically characterized by an inability to take the necessary actions to protect yourself, a loss of choice and a feeling of powerlessness. Experiencing trauma can negatively impact your sense of safety and sense of self, as well as your ability to regulate your emotions, navigate relationships, or function in daily life.

“Trauma is in the nervous system, not in the event.”

— Peter Levine

  • Mental reactions to trauma may include:

    • Reduced focus, concentration and memory

    • Intrusive thoughts about the event

    • Repeatedly replaying parts of the event over in your mind

    • Nightmares

    • Flashbacks

    • Confusion or disorientation

  • Emotional reactions to trauma may include:

    • Fear, anxiety and panic

    • Anger or rage

    • Feeling overwhelmed

    • Feeling shocked, confused or disoriented

    • Sadness or feelings of depression

    • Feeling numb and detached

    • Not wanting to be around others

    • Loss of interest in activities

    • Mood swings

    • Difficulty regulating emotions

  • Physiological reactions to trauma may include:

    • Feeling constantly on edge or on guard

    • Inability to relax or feel safe

    • Exaggerated startle reflex

    • Agitation

    • Fatigue or exhaustion

    • Feeling shut down, dissociated or numb

    • Changes in appetite

    • Difficulty sleeping

    • Nausea, vomiting and dizziness

    • Headaches

    • Changes in heart rate or breathing

  • Behavioural reactions to trauma may include:

    • Avoiding reminders of the event

    • Inability to stop focusing on what happened

    • Being very reactive

    • Changes to eating (i.e., eating more or less)

    • Substauce use (i.e., alcohol, cigarettes, prescription medication, drug use)

    • Withdrawing socially

    • Difficulty engaging in daily tasks (i.e., at work, home, in daily life)

    • Limiting where you go and what you do

Common Reactions to Trauma

Dealing with trauma can be incredibly difficult. You don’t have to do it alone. Help is available.

TRAUMA THERAPY IN BURNABY

What is Trauma Therapy and How Does it Work?

Trauma can come from many sources—abuse, accidents, assaults, natural disasters, the sudden loss of someone close to you, or being the recipient of discrimination or oppression. Each of us experiences and responds to trauma differently. You might find yourself reliving the traumatic experience(s) through vivid flashbacks or being overtaken by intense emotions like fear, anxiety or rage. Alternatively, you might feel detached, numb or disconnected from yourself and those around you. Trauma doesn’t always manifest immediately; sometimes its impact surfaces years later, affecting your emotional, mental and physical health.

If the impacts of trauma are making it hard to live your life, maintain relationships, or feel like yourself, therapy can be a courageous step toward healing. Trauma therapy provides a safe and supportive environment to learn how to cope with the symptoms of trauma and process the experiences you have had to endure. At Being and Becoming Counselling and Wellness Services, we are here to walk with you on this journey. We will help you understand your response to trauma, learn to manage your symptoms and guide you toward healing and reclaiming your life.

Through personalized and compassionate care, we will help you rediscover your inner strength and rebuild your life with a renewed sense of hope, resilience and empowerment.

Modalities offered for Trauma Therapy

  • EMDR is a therapy approach that was specifically developed to address trauma and has been shown to be very effective in the treatment of trauma. EMDR does not require talking in detail about traumatic experiences, and instead uses bilateral stimulation to resolve unprocessed traumatic memories in the brain.

  • IFS therapy maintains that everyone has different parts (e.g., an inner critic, a perfectionist part, a procrastinator part) as well as a Self. Some parts carry trauma or painful emotions and other parts try to protect these wounded parts. Protector parts can get stuck in extreme roles that have adverse consequences. IFS aims to heal parts from the traumas they have experienced or the burdens they carry so that the system can come into balance and the individual can be more Self-led.Early research suggests IFS is as effective as other evidence-based approaches in the treatment of depression).

  • SP is a therapy approach that was developed to address trauma and attachment issues. It draws on somatic therapies, neuroscience, attachment theories, mindfulness, and cognitive approaches. SP views the body as an incredible resource and works directly with the body and nervous system in the processing of trauma.

  • While Polyvagal Theory is not a therapy approach, its principles can be very helpful in the treatment of trauma. Polyvagal Theory is a way of understanding how our nervous system responds to different situations, like stress, danger or safety.

    Polyvagal-informed therapy can help us track and re-pattern the nervous systems of clients who have experienced trauma.

  • ACT helps clients accept their traumatic experiences and related symptoms while committing to actions that align with their values. This approach promotes psychological flexibility and resilience.

  • TCTSY is an empirically validated, yoga-based clinical intervention for complex trauma and treatment-resistant PTSD. TCTSY has foundations in trauma theory, attachment theory, neuroscience, and hatha yoga. The central aims of TCTSY are to empower participants and foster opportunities for embodiment and reclamation of one’s body.

What you can expect to get out of Trauma Therapy

Each person’s journey to recovering from trauma will be different, but in time you may notice that you have:

  • Greater self-understanding and self-compassion

  • Greater ability to feel at ease

  • Greater emotional regulation

  • Increased emotional resilience

  • Increased presence and engagement in your life

  • Improved relationships

  • Heightened sense of empowerment

  • Increased feelings of hope about the future

  • Greater confidence in your ability to handle whatever life throws your way

Therapists Offering Trauma Therapy

  • Dr. Jan Klimas

    RCC & Applicant for Registration as a Psychologist

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  • Semhar Ghedela

    Canadian Certified Counsellor & Canadian Certified Supervisor

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  • Dr. Margaret Brennan

    Registered Psychologist

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