Trauma Therapy in Ontario
Too much, too fast, too soon or too little, too late, not enough
Sometimes we know exactly what happened. Sometimes we don't. You may simply know that you're anxious, overwhelmed, exhausted, disconnected, or stuck in patterns you can't seem to change—even though you understand them intellectually.
Trauma therapy can help you understand why these patterns developed and create more choice in how you respond to yourself, your relationships, and your life.
What is trauma therapy?
Trauma therapy helps you understand how past experiences may still affect your mind, body, relationships, and sense of self, while developing greater safety, self-awareness, and choice in the present.
Trauma therapy isn't about forcing yourself to revisit painful experiences or spending every session talking about the past. Instead, we pay attention to how your experiences may still be showing up now—in your thoughts, emotions, body, relationships, and ways of coping.
Trauma can show up as anxiety, emotional overwhelm, shutdown, people-pleasing, perfectionism, difficulty setting boundaries, chronic stress, relationship patterns, or feeling like your nervous system is constantly “on.”
Sometimes you know exactly what happened. Other times, you simply know that something feels difficult without understanding why.
Therapy provides a space to become curious about these patterns without judgment. Rather than trying to make yourself stop feeling a certain way, we work together to understand what your mind and body may be communicating and develop greater capacity to respond with intention rather than automatically reacting from old patterns.
Do I Need to Have Experienced Trauma?
You don't need to have one particular story or a formal trauma diagnosis to explore how past experiences may be affecting you.
Trauma can include experiences that were overwhelming, frightening, unpredictable, or simply more than you had the capacity to process at the time. It can also develop through repeated experiences such as chronic stress, emotional neglect, difficult relationships, or growing up without having your emotional needs consistently met.
You may not even think of yourself as someone who has experienced trauma. You may simply recognize that you have developed ways of coping that once helped you get through something, but aren't serving you as well anymore.
Therapy can help you understand those patterns without needing to label or pathologize yourself.
How I work with trauma
My approach integrates Internal Family Systems (IFS) and Somatic Experiencing (SE) with relational and trauma-informed psychotherapy.
Internal Family Systems
IFS offers a way of understanding ourselves as having different “parts”—a part that overthinks, a part that tries to keep everyone happy, a part that pushes you to achieve, or a part that wants to withdraw when things feel overwhelming.
Rather than seeing these responses as problems to get rid of, IFS invites us to become curious about what these parts are trying to protect and what they may need from us now.
Somatic Experiencing
Somatic Experiencing brings attention to the body's responses to stress and trauma.
Rather than relying solely on talking about what happened, we may gently notice sensations, impulses, tension, movement, or shifts in your nervous system as they arise. The goal isn't to force your body to relax. It's to build greater awareness, capacity, and choice while staying within a manageable window of experience.
An Integrated Approach
Together, these approaches create a trauma therapy process that is mindful, embodied, and collaborative.
We can explore your history when it feels useful while also paying attention to what is happening in the present moment. You remain an active participant in the process, and we move at a pace that respects your boundaries, capacity, and readiness.
You don't have to relive everything that happened in order to heal.
Together, these approaches create a trauma therapy process that is mindful, embodied, and collaborative. We can explore your history when it feels useful while also paying attention to what is happening in the present moment. You remain an active participant in the process, and we move at a pace that respects your boundaries and capacity.
What can trauma therapy help with?
Trauma-informed therapy may be helpful if you're experiencing:
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Anxiety or chronic worry
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Feeling constantly “on” or overwhelmed
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Emotional reactivity or shutting down
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Burnout and exhaustion
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People-pleasing or difficulty setting boundaries
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Perfectionism or overfunctioning
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Relationship and attachment patterns
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Difficulty resting or feeling safe
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Shame or harsh self-criticism
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Feeling disconnected from yourself
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Parenting stress
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The effects of neurodivergence alongside chronic stress or overwhelm
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The lingering effects of difficult or overwhelming experiences
Trauma Therapy Online in Ontario
I offer virtual trauma therapy to adults across Ontario. Sessions are collaborative and individualized, with the pace and focus shaped around your needs.You don't have to know exactly what's wrong before reaching out. You don't need to have the right words for your experience.
Book a free 20-minute consultation to see if working together feels right for you.