Trauma Therapy
Depth-Oriented, Somatic & Attachment-Informed Trauma Therapy
Online sessions across BC, Alberta, Ontario, Nova Scotia & The Yukon
Trauma doesn't always look like what people expect.
It isn't always the result of a single catastrophic event.
It doesn't require a diagnosis.
It doesn't have to be dramatic or visible to anyone else.
Sometimes trauma is the accumulated weight of years spent adapting.
Learning to make yourself small.
Growing up without feeling consistently safe, seen, or understood.
Relationships that left invisible marks.
A nervous system that learned to survive through vigilance, perfectionism, shutdown, people-pleasing, or disconnection.
You might not even call it trauma.
You simply know that something has been shaping your life for a long time. And despite understanding it, it still hasn't fully shifted.
What Is Trauma?
Trauma isn't defined only by what happened.
It's also shaped by how our nervous system adapted in response to experiences that felt overwhelming, frightening, or impossible to navigate.
Those adaptations are intelligent.
They helped you survive.
But sometimes they continue long after they're needed, influencing how you experience yourself, your relationships, and the world around you.
This can look like:
Constant vigilance or anxiety
Emotional numbness or shutdown
People-pleasing, perfectionism, or chronic over-functioning
Shame or a persistent sense that something is wrong with you
Difficulty trusting yourself or others
Feeling disconnected from your own life despite functioning well on the outside
Trauma therapy isn't about convincing you that you're broken.
It's about helping your nervous system discover that it no longer has to organize itself around surviving the past.
Types of Trauma I Work With
Developmental & Attachment Trauma
Early experiences that shaped your developing nervous system, sense of self, and expectations of love, safety, and connection. This may include neglect, emotional misattunement, abandonment, criticism, inconsistent caregiving, or growing up believing your needs were too much.
Complex Trauma
Repeated or chronic overwhelming experiences—often within important relationships—that required you to adapt in order to survive. This may include emotional abuse, family violence, coercion, prolonged relational stress, or ongoing experiences of fear and unpredictability.
Acute (Shock) Trauma
A single overwhelming event, such as an accident, medical emergency, assault, sudden loss, or witnessing violence, that continues to feel emotionally or physically unresolved.
Intergenerational & Historical Trauma
The emotional, relational, and nervous system impacts of trauma passed through families, communities, or cultures across generations. This may include inherited patterns of fear, silence, survival, or experiences related to colonization, war, displacement, or systemic oppression.
Chronic Stress & "Small t" Trauma
Not all trauma comes from one catastrophic event. Sometimes it's the accumulation of experiences—persistent criticism, bullying, caregiving, divorce, medical challenges, workplace burnout, or years of feeling unseen or overwhelmed—that gradually reshapes the nervous system and sense of self.
How I Work With Trauma
Trauma therapy in my practice is somatic, relational, and depth-oriented.
That means we're not simply talking about what happened.
We're paying attention to how your nervous system responds in the present, how protective patterns developed, and how those patterns continue to shape your life today.
Safety comes first.
We build resources before approaching difficult material.
We move at the pace your nervous system can genuinely integrate—not the pace dictated by urgency or pressure.
Depending on what your system needs, I may draw from:
Somatic Therapy — working with nervous system patterns and embodied experience
IFS (Internal Family Systems) — understanding and supporting protective parts
NARM — exploring developmental trauma and identity
EMDR — helping emotionally charged memories become integrated
Attachment Theory — understanding how early relationships shaped your expectations of safety, connection, and self-worth
These approaches aren't used as a protocol.
They're woven together responsively, guided by your readiness and what emerges in the room.
What Trauma Therapy Is Not
Trauma therapy isn't about reliving every painful experience.
It isn't about forcing memories, pushing through overwhelm, or repeatedly telling your story.
Healing doesn't happen by overwhelming your nervous system again.
It happens by creating enough safety, support, and new experiences that your system gradually learns it no longer has to protect you in the same ways.
What Becomes Possible
Healing doesn't erase the past. But it can change your relationship to it.
Over time, many people notice:
A nervous system that feels less reactive and more settled.
Greater freedom from patterns that once felt automatic.
More trust in themselves, their emotions, and their relationships.
Less energy spent surviving and more available for living.
A growing sense of choice where there once only felt like reaction.
Do You Need a Trauma Diagnosis?
No.
Many people living with the long-term effects of trauma don't identify as traumatized, and don't need a diagnosis to benefit from this work.
If you recognize yourself anywhere on this page, that's enough.
You adapted for good reasons.
Healing isn't about becoming someone different.
It's about discovering that your nervous system no longer has to work so hard to keep you safe.