Post-traumatic Stress Disorder

PTSD is a clinical condition that is diagnosed when a person experiences a traumatic stressor that meets specific criteria as well as symptoms in several areas (Intrusion, Avoidance, Negative Mood/Cognition, Arousal/Reactivity). These symptoms need to last for over a month and cause impairment in a person's functioning. The symptoms of PTSD are very challenging for people to live with. Trauma focused treatment for PTSD is often required as this condition does not tend to remit without intervention.

If you are looking for relief from the symptoms of PTSD and are ready to reclaim the areas of your life that trauma has taken from you, please reach out. I have advanced training in several trauma specific therapy models that have shown to be effective in clinical studies to be effective in treating PTSD. One area that I have extensive experience in is with people who have experienced sexual violence as children and/or in adulthood.

Childhood Trauma, Abuse & Neglect

For some people seeking therapy it is not only about what has happened to them, but also about what didn't happen for them in early life that links to present day difficulties - particularly in adult interpersonal relationships and functioning. Sometimes people with these histories this is also referred to as having "complex developmental trauma".

Early experiences and the quality of our early attachments (relationships) form the basis of what we belief about ourselves, others, and the world. In our early life we need to feel safe, loved, worthy and protected. We also need to have reliable care, love, and protection so that we can develop adaptive beliefs that others are safe and trustworthy and that the world is a safe place to be in. Our early experiences also help us to learn how to soothe and comfort ourselves and determine how we experience love, value and how we feel cared for as adults.

People who grow up with their fundamental needs consistently met by their caregivers are likely to develop a lot of adaptive internal information about themselves, others, and the world. These people have good internal access to positive experiences and memories being loved, safe, protected and nurtured outside of traumatic experiences. They can form healthy, stable relationships with others and are able to recover well from stressful and traumatic events as they move through life.

Many people who have experienced difficult childhoods are often impacted at every stage of their development. From birth, infancy, toddlerhood, early childhood, and adolescence, you may not have had healthy positive experiences given your circumstances. If your childhood did not provide you with adaptive internal beliefs about yourself, others, and the world, it results in internal vulnerabilities. People with difficult childhoods may be more vulnerable to further exploitation, trauma, and abuse experiences. They may have difficulty managing their emotions and soothing themselves. They may have problematic relationship patterns and may have difficulties recovering from life events that are stressful or traumatic.