Trauma

Traumatic experiences can have a deep and enduring impact on us. The effects can be wide-ranging including intrusive thoughts and memories, anxiety, hyper-vigilance, difficulties in personal relationships, nightmares and insomnia, feeling numb or unreal, feeling fearful, angry or ashamed, being unable to experience joy, and being easily startled.

Trauma can result not only from experiencing the threat of death or serious harm directly, but also from witnessing or hearing about others being harmed. Trauma events can be acute, one-off incidents or can occur repeatedly, as is often the case in domestic violence or child abuse. The effects of trauma can be felt immediately but can also take weeks, months or even years to be felt.

Much is now known about trauma, its effects and its treatment, and this knowledge informs evidence-based practice in effective trauma therapy and treatment. As a trauma therapist, I use evidence based cognitive behavioural therapy for work with children, adolescents and adults.