Trauma and Stress

Trauma can stem from any situation that makes a person feel endangered, with its effects often unnoticed. Experiences like accidents, prolonged illness, or emotionally taxing situations can cause trauma. It can manifest in feeling unsafe, misunderstood, or lacking connection, impacting the nervous system and potentially leading to PTSD and other mental health issues. Trauma may influence emotional hypersensitivity, hypervigilance, and struggles with regulating thoughts and emotions.

Adult challenges often have roots in childhood experiences. In such cases, people do not simply outgrow childhood trauma and may constantly seek relief with substance use, self-harm, food or exercise, workaholism, or other addictive behaviour.

In trauma-informed therapy, our goal is safety first, then healing and growth to move forward.

Memory re-consolidation, and mindfulness approaches are all techniques that can be used to address trauma and complex trauma.

• Somatic art refers to the use of creative and expressive arts techniques to support individuals in accessing and processing unresolved trauma-related physical and emotional experiences.

• Memory re-consolidation is a neurobiological process that occurs when a memory is retrieved and updated with new information, which can help reduce the emotional impact of traumatic memories.

• Mindfulness approaches involve teaching individuals to pay attention to the present moment, which can help them develop greater self-awareness and regulate their emotional responses to traumatic experiences.

These approaches can be used individually or in combination to help individuals heal from the effects of trauma and complex trauma.