Trauma Counselling Vancouver

Trauma is the lasting emotional response that often results from an individual living through a distressing event. Experiencing a traumatic event can harm a person’s sense of safety, sense of self, and ability to regulate emotions and navigate relationships. While most individuals may initially struggle to adjust after a traumatic event, time and self-care often lead to improvement. If symptoms worsen, persist over months or even years, and interfere with daily functioning, you may have Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD).

Traumatic events can be difficult to define because the same event may be more traumatic for some people than for others. However, traumatic events experienced early in life, such as abuse, neglect and disrupted attachment, can often be devastating. Equally challenging can be later-life experiences that are out of one’s control, such as a serious accident, being the victim of violence, living through a natural disaster or war, or sudden unexpected loss.

When thoughts and memories of the traumatic event don’t go away or get worse, they may lead to PTSD which can seriously disrupt a person’s ability to regulate their emotions and maintain healthy relationships.

Traumatic events range from recent single incidents such as a car crash, to past occurrences that were either single incidents or long-term patterns, like physical abuse. PTSD can manifest as simple or complex—single traumatic events more likely leading to the former, while chronic trauma may result in the latter, impacting the ability to form healthy relationships. Complex trauma in children is usually referred to as “developmental trauma.” Seeking support and trauma counseling can play a vital role in navigating the emotional aftermath and fostering healing.

Trauma Therapy Training

I have specialized training in the two common approaches to trauma therapy, Cognitive Behavioural Therapy (CBT), and Eye Movement and Desensitization Reprocessing (EMDR). More generally, people experiencing PTSD often benefit greatly from ‘trauma-informed’ approaches. Trauma informed care refers to therapeutic approaches that validate and are tailored to the unique experience of a person coping with PTSD. It means that I understand the symptoms of trauma to be coping strategies that have developed in reaction to a traumatic experience. Non-judgmentally, it recognizes that a person with PTSD may have behavioural, emotional or physical adaptations that have developed in specific response to overwhelming stressors.