We carry our trauma with us – but YOU CAN
put down that burden
Is your past negatively impacting your present?
Past experiences, especially traumatic ones, can significantly affect your life in the present. If you’ve experienced an acute trauma, such as violence, a car accident, assault, or even the death of a family member or a close friend, you can feel the echoes of these events even many years later. Those who experience ongoing forms of trauma such as childhood abuse, neglect, exposure to violence or conflict, and moral injury (as experienced often by first responders) can also struggle with feeling safe, secure, or grounded in the present.
People who have experienced trauma – whether this be related to a single event or a series of experiences – often struggle with flashbacks, sadness, panic attacks, anxiety, mood issues, anger, irritability, and sleep-related issues.
Our body’s trauma responses, such as the fight, flight, or freeze response, may be activated in situations where there is no visible threat, and this can contribute to feelings of being out of control and cause further anxiety around when this reaction might surface.
If any of these resonates with you, there is help. Trauma responses can become deeply rooted in our nervous systems, and this may not resolve through time alone. Our systems can become “stuck” and need assistance to integrate our experiences and feel safe again.
In other words, even if you are trying to forget what happened, your mind and body will continue to remember. We can work together to process and reintegrate your past.
You can process past trauma
experiences and regain balance
Trauma therapy will help you integrate and process past events that continue to negatively impact your present. Thanks to therapeutic support and specific, trauma-informed approaches, you will be able to learn how your body tries to keep you safe, how and why it might be “stuck” responding to threats that are no longer there, and how to heal your nervous system so it can once again adaptively work for you. As a result, you will regain peace of mind and retake control over your life.
When working with clients who have experienced past traumatic experiences, I frequently use Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing (EMDR) (but also other therapeutic approaches and techniques as there is no one-size-fits-all approach). EMDR is a technique with proven effectiveness (many studies demonstrate its efficacy with helping to work through trauma). EMDR is based on “bilateral stimulation.”
This technique uses rhythmic stimulation of the brain (typically via eye movement or bilateral tapping), which mimics the body’s natural neurological processing mechanism done during REM sleep (only with EMDR can we choose what we process!). One benefit of EMDR is that it does not require the traumatic event (or events) to be relived in therapy through recounting the event in detail.
It is not necessary for me to know the details of the traumatic experience, only a few key moments so we can figure out what to process – but of course, if sharing additional details feels helpful for you, I am always here to listen.
Let me help you unburden from past trauma
Trauma therapy services in Ontario
Hello, I’m Megan. I’m glad you’re here.
If your past dictates how you feel today or how you react to certain situations, it’s time to change it. Many trauma clients think that their past will haunt them forever because it cannot be changed, but it doesn’t have to be that way. While we cannot travel back in time and change previous events – we can change our relationship with those past events and how they impact our present.
Carrying the weight of past traumas can make everyday life so much more challenging. Processing these past experiences can help you to feel lighter, as well as more present and engaged in your life and what matters to you today. It’s not about sweeping past trauma under the rug or forgetting about it, but rather changing how these experiences impact you today.
If this sounds like something that could benefit you, I am here to help. Let’s start with a free initial consultation to see if we are a good fit.
Book trauma therapy in Ontario today
Start with a free 15-minute consultation
If your past traumatic experiences are still making you feel overwhelmed or affect your life in any other way, you are not alone. You can reach out for help, and there is always hope! For clients interested in trauma therapy, I offer free initial consultations, and you can schedule one by emailing me or booking directly through the link below.
During this short and friendly video call or phone call, you can ask all of your therapy-related questions and get to know me a bit better. I will also tell you a bit more about trauma therapy and how it helps you cope with your past. This call is non-committal, so you are not obliged to start therapy afterwards (and I can promise you will not get a sales pitch!).
If you want to book your first consultation, please go to my online calendar through the purple button.
If you want to ask some questions before you book, you can always get in touch with me first through the Get in Touch button.
I’m looking forward to meeting you!
-Megan Strachan