Psychotherapy after traumatic experience

What may bring you to therapy

Sometimes the experience itself is clear. Sometimes what is clearest is what remains: anxiety, low mood, shame, bodily pain or numbness, difficulty trusting, wanting to withdraw, or never quite feeling safe. You do not need to arrive with a complete account of what happened.

Some experiences become traumatic partly because they happened within a relationship, family, community or institution that was meant to provide safety. Therapy may therefore concern not only what happened, but what it did to trust, judgement, belonging and the possibility of depending upon others.

How I work

My approach is Gestalt and trauma-informed. The work involves finding ways to approach difficult experience without forcing it, while also noticing how fear, overwhelm or self-protection may limit what feels possible.

In sessions, we may attend to thoughts, feelings, bodily sensations, patterns of protection, and what happens as difficult material comes closer. There is no requirement to recount everything in detail.

I aim to offer a steady therapeutic relationship in which difficult experience can be met at a pace we establish together, without pressure and without turning away when the work becomes painful or complex.

The pace need not always be slow. At times, a more direct approach may feel right, and this can be worked out carefully together.

Religion and spiritual life

Religious belief, spiritual experience, doubt, conflict, or harm connected with a religious setting may be explored when it matters to you. No belief or disbelief is assumed, and psychotherapy is not spiritual direction or religious formation.

Beginning

The first session gives us time to speak about what brings you, what you are looking for, and how I work. We can then consider whether continuing together feels useful. There is no obligation to arrange another session.

Fees, confidentiality and professional standing →