tending old wounds
therapy for trauma and abuse survivors
at mindfulness for life
therapy for trauma and abuse
You may feel that something in your past experience needs attention, or old emotion is stuck in your body, but you don’t know how to approach it without being overwhelmed.
Sometimes the cause of trauma is a major event that ruptured your sense of yourself and your world. Sometimes it is the complex cumulative experience of a difficult childhood, controlling relationships, or the crushing impact of injustices like discrimination or moral injury.
Trauma therapists specialize in helping you safely move through the big feelings while keeping your balance.
therapy for trauma
When we survive or witness a life-threatening or deeply disturbing experience, our bodies and brains undergo changes designed to keep us safe. Unfortunately, the changes that evolved to protect us have troubling side effects. They leave us anxious and easily “triggered” into acting out or shutting down.
We experience unwanted intrusive thoughts, images and feelings. We may avoid activities and relationships and have difficulty connecting with ourselves and with others.
It can feel incredibly isolating to be a survivor, thinking that no one will want to hear about your experience, or be able to understand it. You may feel shame about it, or frustrated that you can’t seem to “get over it and move on.”
You might feel ready to grow, to feel more at home in your body, to feel closer to other people again – but unsure about how to open up and move through the pain.
symptoms of trauma you may be experiencing
- triggers
- overwhelm
- numbness
- freeze reactions
- panic
- exhaustion
- isolation
- shame
- emotion disregulation
- relationship issues
- unable to trust
- repeating negative patterns
- not able to feel your body
- unhealthy coping
therapy for trauma survivors
Recovery from trauma involves gently working with your automatic reactions. When we pause, slow down and bring warmth, we gradually retrain the body and mind to feel safety and trust.
A trauma therapist helps you cope with the effects, and target the trauma that often underlies other issues including depression, anxiety, self-esteem or relationship problems.
In the face of racialized, discriminatory or sexual traumas, it is revolutionary to embody joy.
psychotherapy approaches that work with trauma
Somatic Psychotherapy
Trauma is understood to be an injury to our nervous system, affecting automatic body reactions to events that are related to a trauma. To work more directly with the nervous system, Somatic Psychotherapy invites the body into psychotherapy. Somatic therapy involves skills and actions you can do in the here and now which create change in how you are feeling and gradually re-pattern how you react to triggers.
Sensorimotor Psychotherapy and Somatic Experiencing use body awareness to slow down and allow automatic trauma reactions to process and integrate with safety, empowerment and connection in the therapy space.
Polyvagal Therapy uses an understanding of how our nervous system works to help us recognize states and use tools to shift nervous system out of chronic survival modes
Hakomi is an active, experiential approach where therapist and client use mindful awareness of body sensations, emotions and reactions to recognize unconscious automatic responses and experience new possibilities.
EMDR is a highly structured somatic therapy using bi-lateral stimulation (side to side visual, audio or tactile cues) while staying with a triggering memory until the level of distress associated with the memory is reduced.
psychodynamic therapy and psychoanalytic psychotherapy
Psychodynamic therapies are particularly strong in understanding the impact of adverse childhood experiences and the attachment relationships in our families that shaped us.
Some of the traumas of childhood are painfully clear, while others may be harder to understand – based in neglect, narcissistic personalities of parents, family systems affected by addiction or intergenerational traumas. Psychodyamic therapies help develop insight and self-compassion about where we come from and how to care for the wounded parts of us in the present.
IFS and Parts-Work
Several psychotherapies including IFS and Gestalt therapies use the technique of approaching ourselves as having “parts” that may hold old injuries and survival strategies, dissociated and conflicting feelings and vulnerability – parts which trauma tends to leave more reactive and fractured. The parts-work process cultivates a wise mind Self that can increasingly witness, integrate and care for the dissociative or over-reactive traumatized ‘parts’ within us.
compassion-focused therapy (CFT)
CFT draws from neuroscience, evolutionary biology and traditional mindfulness practices to support feelings of warmth, ease and emotional well-being. CFT was developed especially to help people who experience a lot of shame and self-criticism.
relational psychotherapy
Relational psychotherapy understands that our emotional injuries usually occurred in relationships, and therefore healing most powerfully happens in restoring connection with others – working with attachment reactions to recover the ability to feel connected and build trust.
narrative psychotherapy
Narrative therapy helps people notice the stories they tell about themselves, and find new ways to uplift, integrate and empower that story. In the context of trauma that can leave us feeling disintegrated and powerless, narrative therapy aims to help you see and experience the continuity of who you are with all your strengths, humanity, values and understanding.
feminist psychotherapy
Feminist and postmodern psychotherapies apply critical thinking to the social forces that influence the problems we face. This includes how sexism, racism, exploitative financial systems and others structures of power may be limiting our access to safe relationships, living spaces, social roles and self-expression, leading to many forms of trauma. A feminist approach identifies that many of the things we interpret as evidence of personal failure can instead be seen as forms of coping – or acts of resistance – to the traumatizing aspects of our culture. Rather than shame ourselves, we can claim the power to tell a different story and to respond creatively to obstacles.
how to work safely with trauma
- GET GROUNDED: we start with skills and tools to help you feel more stable in the here and now
- BUILD TRUST: gradually grow a relationship with a therapist that feels strong and safe
- TAKE IT SLOW: we go at the right pace for you, not pushing too much too soon, nor too little too late
- IT'S YOUR CHOICE: we can talk about what happened in the past, or we can stay with what comes up in the present
- TAKE CARE: therapy can open big feelings, but your therapist will help you return to a grounded place before the session ends
therapists working with trauma and abuse survivors at mindfulness for life
Oona: “it’s such a meaningful part of my work to help survivors of trauma and abuse come to feel at home with themselves and reclaim their sense of well-being”
Approaches: Somatic, Compassion, Parts, Psychodynamic, Feminist
Leonora: “I am particularly passionate about working with relational traumas and people looking to make sense of their difficult childhoods.
Approaches: Psychodynamic, Relational, Compassion
Shonnaugh: “We often need more than an understanding of what happened to heal from trauma. Not only does it isolate us from others, it isolates us from ourselves. Together we can slow down and notice what our bodies are doing in the moment: heart rate, tension, breath.”
Approaches: Narrative, Feminist, Compassion, Parts, Somatic
Benjamin: “When something terrible happens, what comes after can feel even harder. Your body and mind are working hard to digest difficult experience and keep you safe. Let’s support your system in doing its good work.”
Approaches: Relational, Psychodynamic, Somatic, Compassion
Sarah and Natasha are offering low cost trauma-informed therapy through our affordable therapy program
trauma therapy F.A.Q.
What does trauma therapy cost? Is is covered by insurance?
Our therapists charge between $170-$200 for a 50-minute appointment. We also have an affordable therapy program, offering a reduced fee of $60 to those who would not be able to access therapy without this support.
Psychotherapy is not covered by OHIP, but is covered by most private insurance plans. You must check with your individual provider to find out the details of your coverage.
Where are you located? Do I have to come in person?
Our warm and welcoming in-person therapy office is located in Toronto in the Roncesvalles and High Park neighbourhood, at the intersection of Bloor St. and Dundas West. We are right on the subway line at Dundas West Station and the Bloor UP/GO station.
We can offer online therapy appointments to people anywhere in Ontario.
Many people find that meeting with their therapist in person allows them to experience greater focus and depth, but this is not true for everybody. Online therapy appointments can help you make time for yourself in ways you wouldn’t be able to otherwise.
How long does therapy for trauma take?
The length of time you spend in therapy will be a collaborative decision with your therapist, and varies person to person. Let your therapist know what’s important to you about how long and how frequently you want to work together.
According to psychotherapy research, many people will find new perspectives and skills in the first 6-12 meetings that make a significant difference in their lives. When people are able to do long term therapy work over the course of a year or more, they can find they are able to experience a deeper and sustained process of change and personal growth.
What kinds of therapy are used to treat trauma?
Therapists in our clinic are trained in a variety of trauma therapy modalities, such as Sensorimotor Psychotherapy, EMDR, Somatic Experiencing, and IFS.
Somatic therapies are often part of how therapists address trauma, directly working with regulating the nervous system.
See the individual profiles of our therapists and book a free introductory call to learn more.
Do I have to talk about what happened?
There are many ways to work with and heal from traumatic experiences. Talking to a therapist about what happened can be an important and powerful experience if and when you feel ready.
We can also effectively work with the emotions and patterns of trauma while keeping our focus on here and now experiences. It is not necessary to talk about the past to experience real change in the present.
Part of a trauma therapist’s job is to help you go to the scary places that you want to address, in small enough, gentle ways, so you don’t get overwhelmed in the process.