Trauma Counselling: Growth Through Embodied Practices
At Safe Harbour Counselling, Sarah understands that trauma can profoundly impact your life. Our dedicated trauma counselling services are designed to help you navigate the complexities of your experiences, fostering healing and resilience.
Trauma, Anxiety & Depression – Are You Looking For Answers?
We want answers. When you’re overwhelmed, anxious, depressed, numb, afraid, confused, sad, guilty and/or ashamed you wonder;
Why do I feel this way?
Why can’t I be more like other people?
Why doesn’t anyone listen to me?
What is wrong with me?
Why can’t I just do this?
Will I ever be good enough?
Answers to the Endless Questions
There is a reason you feel and behave the way that you do. When you have all the pieces of the puzzle it can make sense, but you are missing pieces of that information. Those pieces are hidden in:
How our experiences growing up created patterns in our adult life that no longer serve us.
Our emotions and sensations in the body.
Our beliefs about ourselves, other people and the world.
Our thoughts.
What is Trauma?
Psychological trauma occurs when we experience a distressing event. Trauma is often the result of an overwhelming amount of stress that exceeds one’s ability to cope and integrate the emotions involved with that experience. When we are children, we can experience an event as traumatic even though as an adult that event may seem insignificant.
Trauma can arise from various experiences, whether they are single incidents or prolonged exposure to distressing situations. It affects not only your mental health but also your physical well-being. Our trauma counselling focuses on addressing these deep-seated issues through the compassionate, embodied techniques offered by Peter Levine’s Somatic Experiencing™ counselling approach.
What is Complex Trauma?
Complex trauma refers to the enduring effects of multiple, chronic, and often interpersonal traumatic experiences, typically occurring in childhood. Unlike single-incident trauma, complex trauma often stems from situations such as prolonged abuse, neglect, or exposure to domestic violence, leading to profound emotional and psychological challenges. Individuals with complex trauma may struggle with issues such as difficulty in regulating emotions, disrupted relationships, and a fragmented sense of self. The pervasive nature of these experiences can hinder their ability to trust others and create a stable sense of safety in their lives. Effective treatment often involves an approach like NARM™ therapy offers: trauma-informed approaches that prioritize safety, strengths, empowerment, and the development of healthy coping mechanisms.
Trauma – more common than you think. Some obvious and less obvious examples:
Systemic Oppression
Neglect
Physical Abuse
Pressure to be perfect
No boundaries or rules
Embarrassment or humiliation
Never measuring up to a certain standard
Feeling alone – not having friends, or having friends and losing them and not knowing why
Being ignored
Sexual Abuse
Poverty
Psychological abuse
Being compared
Harassment
Rejection and abandonment
Witnessing violence
Natural disasters
Feeling stupid and having that reinforced as true by parents, teachers or kids at school
Symptoms of trauma, anxiety and depression:
Low mood/depression
Hopelessness
Low self-esteem
Rapid mood changes/mood swings
Extreme/unexplained anger and/or sadness
Sleep problems and/or nightmares
Emotional detachment or numbness
Persistent and/or intrusive thoughts
Flashbacks or upsetting memories
Appetite changes
Hypervigilance
Anxiety
Suicidal thoughts
Aversion to activities
Relationship difficulty – arguments, lack of connection, difficulties being intimate
Panic, fear and/or uneasiness
Feeling hard to breathe/breathlessness
Difficulty concentrating
Sabotaging your success
Disturbing thoughts or feelings
“If you trade your authenticity for safety, you may experience the following: anxiety, depression, eating disorders, addiction, rage, blame, resentment, and inexplicable grief.” — Brené Brown
The Importance of Embodied Trauma Therapy
Embodied approaches in trauma counselling emphasize the connection between the mind and body. We recognize that trauma is stored in the body, and through specialized techniques, we help you release these held emotions and sensations. This holistic approach promotes greater self-awareness, emotional regulation, and a sense of safety within yourself.
Our Trauma Counselling Services
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- Individual Sessions: Tailored one-on-one counselling sessions focus on your unique experiences and healing journey.
- Embodied Practices: Incorporate mindfulness, Somatic Experiencing™ counselling, NARM™ therapy and other techniques to help you process trauma on a physical and emotional level. The mind and body are connected, and using an embodied approach is critical in trauma recovery.
- Trauma-informed Care: Means assuming your unwanted behaviours make sense when you understand the traumatic injury that caused you to respond in a certain way.
- Oppression and Privilege: Rather than pathologizing you for the experiences of oppression, societal and environmental failures are named and your experience is validated.
- Holistic Approach: Our focus on embodied practices ensures a comprehensive approach to trauma recovery.
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Begin Your Embodied Journey
If you’re ready to take the first step toward healing from trauma, our compassionate counsellor, Sarah Brooks is here to support you. Contact us today to schedule a consultation and discover how our trauma counselling services can empower you to reclaim your life.
Contact Us
For more information on our trauma counselling services and to learn how embodied practices can facilitate your healing, reach out to Safe Harbour Counselling to help you navigate your journey toward recovery and wholeness.
Book a Free 15-min Consult to see your next step
“If we can share our story with someone who responds with empathy and understanding, shame can’t survive.” — Brené Brown
Safe Harbour Counselling is located on the traditional, ancestral, and unceded territory of the Syilx Okanagan Nation, which comprises seven member communities: Okanagan Indian Band, Osoyoos Indian Band, Penticton Indian Band, Upper Nicola Band, Upper and Lower Similkameen Indian Bands, and Westbank First Nation, as well as the Colville Confederated Tribes in Northern Washington State. Sarah honours their deep connection to this land and pays her respects to their elders, past and present.
As a second-generation settler with ancestors from England and Ireland, Sarah recognizes that England was a colonial power that contributed to the foundation of Canada through the genocide of Indigenous peoples. Sarah is committed to continuously unlearning the colonial principles she has inherited. Sarah acknowledges her unearned privileges as a white settler, cisgender, heterosexual, non-disabled, neurotypical, financially stable, educated, and female individual.
Book a Free 15-min Consult to see your next step
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