Man pulling up another man from a cliff edge and healing trauma.

Psychological trauma is the result of a traumatic event that causes an individual to respond with extreme stress. Every individual will experience events differently and therefore not every person who is involved in a traumatic event will experience long-lasting psychological trauma or Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD).

Typically these events include the exposure to threat of life or serious injury to self or others. The event often leads the individual to respond with intense fear and a feeling of helplessness.

Trauma begins to impact us when we attempt to structure life to avoid similar events or experiences in our present. We may experience nightmares and flashbacks of the event that create additional stress.

Trauma affects how we perceive the world and can have negative impacts on self-esteem and prevent us from moving on due to the fear associated with the trauma. Counselling focuses on understanding trauma and processing the past through understanding our emotions and thoughts associated with the trauma.

Strategies including relaxation, changing negative thoughts, emotion regulation and hypnotherapy.

Some symptoms of Trauma/PTSD:

  • Avoidance of thoughts, activities, feelings about event
  • Feeling detached from others
  • Difficulty with sleep
  • Hypervigilance
  • Recurrent negative thoughts/dreams about event
  • Inability to recall aspects of traumatic event
  • Re-experiencing the event

Additional Resources on Trauma and Post Traumatic Stress Disorder

*Please note that I cannot be responsible for the content, claims or representations of the listed sites.