Complex Trauma Therapy
Complex Trauma Therapy is designed to help individuals heal from long-term, repeated trauma, often stemming from chronic experiences such as childhood abuse, domestic violence, or neglect. Unlike single-event trauma, complex trauma has lasting effects on emotional, psychological, and physical well-being. This therapeutic approach focuses on helping you process and recover from these deep-rooted trauma patterns, allowing for a gradual restoration of emotional health and resilience.
What is Complex Trauma Therapy?
Complex Trauma Therapy addresses the profound and lasting effects of repeated trauma over time. Complex trauma can lead to difficulties in emotional regulation, forming healthy relationships, and maintaining a sense of safety. Through this therapy, we work to restore your emotional balance, helping you develop coping mechanisms and heal from the long-term impact of these experiences.
Therapy often includes techniques aimed at reprocessing trauma while fostering emotional stability and safety, allowing you to regain control over your emotional world and your life.
For more information on the effects of complex trauma, explore the resources provided by the UK Trauma Council.
How Complex Trauma Therapy Works
In Complex Trauma Therapy, the focus is on creating a safe and trusting environment where you can explore the traumatic experiences that have impacted your life. This process is typically approached in phases to ensure you feel secure throughout the journey:
- Stabilisation: We focus on building safety and emotional regulation, using grounding techniques and coping strategies to manage symptoms.
- Trauma Processing: Once stabilised, we gently work through traumatic memories using approaches like Somatic Therapy, Cognitive Behavioural Therapy (CBT), or other trauma-informed methods.
- Reintegration: In the final phase, we focus on helping you reintegrate the progress made into your everyday life, improving relationships and personal growth.
Benefits of Complex Trauma Therapy
Complex Trauma Therapy helps individuals address and recover from the pervasive effects of prolonged trauma. It is particularly beneficial for those struggling with symptoms of PTSD, emotional dysregulation, and difficulty forming relationships. By guiding you through the healing process step by step, this therapy helps restore emotional resilience, improve coping mechanisms, and foster a stronger sense of self.
Why Choose Restorative Counselling for Complex Trauma Therapy?
At Restorative Counselling, I provide a compassionate, safe space for you to begin healing from the effects of complex trauma. Using a structured and supportive approach, I guide you through the phases of Complex Trauma Therapy at a pace that feels right for you. My aim is to help you rebuild a sense of safety, trust, and emotional well-being, empowering you to move forward with your life.
If you’re ready to start healing from complex trauma, contact me today to learn more about how Complex Trauma Therapy can support your journey towards recovery and emotional health. Together, we can work towards lasting healing and resilience.
FAQs
Counselling works best when you recognise that you’re struggling and can no longer continue as you are, and you want to make changes in your life but don’t know how. Sometimes, it may feel almost impossible to know what these changes should be. Often, the insights that arise are created during sessions through deep discussions and are developed between sessions.
Counselling can be challenging, as it may bring old memories, feelings, and past hurts to the surface. However, sharing these thoughts and feelings will give you a clearer understanding of why they still cause you pain, an ability to reduce that pain, and even help you find healing from those experiences.
I offer a Humanistic Integrative approach in a person-centred way. This means that we focus on you as an individual, working with your agenda, allowing you to explore those difficult memories and feelings. I use a combination of approaches to suit your individual needs because I believe one size does not fit all. We are all unique.
This is entirely up to you and something we can discuss during our initial consultation. Sometimes, starting with six sessions can be beneficial, and during these sessions, we can review whether you would like to continue or terminate them. Short-term counselling can be helpful during an immediate crisis to support you through it.
Long-term counselling allows for a deeper exploration of your problems, helping you understand how they affect you and where they stem from. We can start with weekly sessions and later move to fortnightly or every three weeks, depending on the situation and what would benefit you. Remember, this is your decision. At the end, we can have a final review and look at ways to help you move forward in your life, making the transition as safe and comfortable as possible.
Often, you will know when your counselling is nearing its end. You will feel more confident and at peace within yourself, and the memories will not cause you as much pain. You will be able to reflect on them in a way that no longer distresses you. We will discuss how you would like to conclude the counselling process.
We can have a final review a few weeks after counselling ends to see how you have been coping and how you’ve incorporated these changes into your daily life.
I currently charge £50 per session. I also offer concessions for those in need and will try to match your income, as I understand that affording regular counselling can be challenging.
For students studying for their Diploma or another qualification who need hours towards their personal counselling, I also offer a concession if needed.
Your first appointment may seem daunting, but it’s an opportunity for us to meet and get to know each other. We can then discuss how we can best work together and how I may be able to help you.
I also offer a free 20-minute phone call to briefly discuss the therapy and how we can begin.
