Are you finding it hard to live with something that has happened to you?

Many traumatic experiences, such as an assault, a serious accident, or physical, sexual or emotional abuse, can leave you with difficult and distressing symptoms. You may experience distressing and intrusive memories and thoughts, have difficulties with sleep and feel constantly on edge. It is common to experience a range of difficult emotions in response to traumatic experiences such as anxiety, fear, anger and sadness. Sometimes people perceive that they are to blame or feel shame and guilt in relation to their experiences and reactions. You may feel like you are continually re-living the event, having nightmares about it, and avoiding reminders of it. You may also feel disconnected or “zoned out” from other people and the world around you. If you identify with these experiences, you may be suffering from Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD). Even if you don’t meet diagnostic criteria for PTSD, you may still be in distress about your experiences.

These kinds of experiences can be extremely difficult to cope with and can leave you feeling overwhelmed and isolated. However, it is possible to learn a range of psychological skills to help you manage and get relief from these difficulties, to process memories so that they do not feel so frightening, and ultimately to live a more fulfilling life. We are very experienced in working with people who have had traumatic experiences. We understand how difficult it can be to talk about these issues and how important it is to have a place of safety to work through them.

We use evidence-based trauma interventions, such as EMDR and trauma focussed CBT to process traumatic memories. We will also help you to understand how the brain and body react to trauma and how patterns of thinking and behaviours may be preventing your symptoms from improving. All our treatment plans are highly personalised and attuned to your individual needs.

We also offer interventions that target deeply held beliefs that can be the result of traumatic experiences in childhood. People who have experienced physical, sexual and/or emotional abuse, or very difficult relationships with caregivers, can experience chronic feelings of worthlessness, difficulties managing emotions and are often very self-critical. We offer additional interventions such as Compassion Focussed Therapy and Schema Therapy for these types of trauma related difficulties where indicated.