Appointments are available Monday to Friday.
PLEASE NOTE: Ruth offers phone and video sessions only.​
Appointments are available Monday to Friday.
PLEASE NOTE: Ruth offers phone and video sessions only.​
What Is Trauma?
Trauma happens when an experience exceeds your capacity to cope in the moment. It leaves your nervous system flooded and your sense of safety disrupted. Trauma can follow a serious accident, a medical emergency, violence or abuse, sudden loss, or other events that force your body into survival mode.
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Trauma is common. About 4 out of 5 Canadians will experience at least one traumatic event in their lifetime. For many people, the emotional impact eases with time. For others, it does not.
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Psychotherapy is a well-established and effective treatment for trauma. Trauma-informed therapy helps calm the nervous system, reduce symptoms, and change how overwhelming experiences are stored in the brain. Over time, the past begins to feel settled rather than immediate. Your life no longer has to revolve around staying safe.
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Trauma does not take a single form. The way it affects you depends on what happened, how long it lasted, and when it occurred. The sections below describe the most common types of trauma we see in therapy.​​​
Single-Incident Trauma
One overwhelming event—an accident, assault, sudden loss, or medical emergency. The memory can feel stuck in time, replaying without warning, keeping your body on high alert even when you're safe.
Complex/Developmental Trauma
Repeated experiences of harm or neglect, often starting in childhood—abuse, abandonment, living in chaos, or growing up around addiction or violence. This kind of trauma shapes how you see yourself, others, and the world.
Relationship Trauma
Betrayal, emotional abuse, or chronic criticism from someone you trusted. When the person who was supposed to be safe becomes the source of harm, it can make you question your worth and reshape how you relate to others.
Medical/Health Trauma
Serious illness, painful procedures, or feeling helpless during medical treatment—traumatic childbirth, ICU stays, or receiving a frightening diagnosis. The body remembers, and medical settings can trigger intense reactions years later.
Vicarious/Secondary Trauma
Witnessing or absorbing others' pain, such as accidents, violence, medical emergencies, or exposure to graphic news and social media content. Anything that overwhelms you can stay with you for years, even without you being aware.
Intergenerational Trauma
Pain passed down through families—parents or grandparents who survived war, displacement, discrimination, or loss. The impact ripples through generations, even when the original events aren't talked about.
Signs Trauma May Be Affecting Your Life
Many people come to therapy thinking they need help with anxiety, anger, or relationship problems. What they often discover is unresolved trauma. You might not even connect current difficulties to past experiences, especially if those experiences happened years ago or didn't seem "traumatic enough" to matter.
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You might be carrying unresolved trauma if you experience:
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Avoidance tendencies: You stay away from people, places, or conversations that make you uncomfortable. You've pulled back from activities you used to enjoy. You use work, alcohol, or staying busy to avoid sitting with how you feel.
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Intrusive memories: Unwanted thoughts, images, or dreams keep showing up. Sometimes certain moments replay in your mind, or you get pulled back into feelings from the past even though you're safe now.
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Distorted thinking: You assume people will hurt or disappoint you. You see yourself as somehow less than others. The world feels unsafe or unpredictable in ways that keep you on edge.
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Physical tension: You're easily startled, always on guard, struggling to sleep or relax. Your heart races, your chest tightens, or your body reacts intensely to certain situations or reminders.
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Emotional Dysregulation: You feel numb and disconnected—going through the motions—or your emotions erupt suddenly with anger, tears, or panic that feels overwhelming and confusing.
If any of these sound familiar, they are not character flaws or things you should be able to "get over".
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They are signs that your mind and body are still responding to past experiences. Trauma therapy helps you understand these reactions, reduce their intensity so that they have less influence over you, so that you can face daily challenges with more clarity, resilience and confidence.
How Therapy Can Help With Trauma
Trauma can leave you feeling overwhelmed by anxiety, intrusive thoughts, intense emotions, or stress you can’t manage. It can make relationships harder, create patterns of behavior you can’t break, and make daily life feel more challenging than it should be. Even if you don’t recognize it as trauma, these struggles are often connected to past experiences.
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How Trauma Therapy Works
Trauma-informed therapy provides a safe, non-judgmental space to process experiences and reduce trauma symptoms. It helps rewire how the brain stores traumatic memories, giving you practical strategies to respond differently, make healthier choices, and manage difficult situations more effectively.​​​
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Manage intense emotions and reactions more effectively
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Reduce anxiety, intrusive thoughts, and overreactions to triggers
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Improve communication and relationships with others
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Break unhealthy patterns and develop healthier habits
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Make decisions with confidence in daily life
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Practical Outcomes
Through trauma therapy, you can:​​​
The Goal
We believe that trauma doesn't need to define our lives, and that post-traumatic growth is possible.
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Beyond healing, we've seen how therapy can help people feel more secure in their relationships,
more confident in their decision making,
and more free to live a more satisfying and joyful life.
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Types of Trauma Treatment
We use evidence-based approaches, tailored to your needs and preference.
Sessions are structured, collaborative, and focused on helping you feel
more resilient in your day-to-day life.
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Therapy (CBT)
In trauma-focused CBT sessions, you use techniques combining CBT with trauma-sensitive methods to process traumatic memories, manage difficult emotions, and build practical coping skills. You learn strategies to reframe negative thoughts and gradually work through the trauma narrative, so you can handle triggers more easily, worry less, and feel more confident managing everyday challenges.
In EMDR sessions, you briefly bring a memory, image, or body sensation to mind while following simple eye movements or gentle tapping guided by the therapist. People often notice that memories start to feel less intense and less upsetting over time. Triggers tend to lose their grip, and the memory feels more like something that happened rather than something that is happening now.
Somatic therapy focuses on how stress and trauma show up in the body. Sessions may involve noticing physical cues, practicing grounding exercises, and learning techniques to help your body settle when it feels on edge. This approach can be especially effective when talking alone does not provide relief, helping the nervous system release tension, restore balance, and regain a lasting sense of safety and regulation.
ACT helps you see how thoughts and feelings shape your choices. In sessions, you learn to notice difficult emotions and thoughts without getting stuck in them. You practice taking small, realistic steps toward living a life in line with your values, even while healing is ongoing. The goal is not to eliminate unwanted thoughts or feelings, but to learn how to make room for them so they no longer control your choices.
Taking The Next Step
​​No matter what you’ve been through, we believe that you can experience safe and secure relationships,
and build a meaningful, joyful and satisfying life that trauma has kept out of reach.
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When you contact us, our client care team will learn about your situation and
help match you with a therapist trained in trauma work who fits your needs and preferences.
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From there, your therapist will work with you at your pace.
You’ll get practical strategies and support tailored to your situation,
helping you manage stress, reduce worry, and navigate life more confidently.
You don’t have to carry this alone. Let’s work together.
Frequently Asked Questions
Q. What are the signs I might benefit from trauma therapy?
A. You might notice strong emotional reactions, flashbacks, persistent stress, tension in your body, or changes in how you relate to others. Trauma therapy helps you understand these patterns and respond in ways that give you more control over your daily life.
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Q. Can trauma therapy help if I haven’t experienced “major” trauma?
A. Yes. Trauma therapy supports anyone whose past experiences continue to affect emotions, relationships, or daily functioning, regardless of how extreme the event seemed.
Q. How do I choose a trauma-informed therapist?
A. Look for a therapist trained in trauma-focused approaches such as EMDR, trauma-focused CBT, somatic therapy, or narrative therapy. You should feel safe, heard, and supported. You can also contact our client care team, and we’ll help match you with a therapist who fits your needs and goals.
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Q. Do I have to talk about everything that happened?
A. No. Therapy works with the ways past experiences affect your emotions, thoughts, and body. You decide what to share, and some approaches allow healing without recounting every detail.
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Q. What happens in the first few sessions of trauma therapy?
A. Early sessions focus on understanding your experiences, your goals, and developing coping strategies. These sessions create safety and skills for handling strong feelings before addressing deeper patterns.
Q. How long does trauma therapy take?
A. It varies. Some people notice improvement in a few weeks, while others work on deeper patterns over months. Therapy is measured by your ability to manage stress, emotions, and relationships more effectively, not by session count.
Q. Will trauma therapy feel overwhelming?
A. Sometimes, when talking about difficult experiences, emotions can feel intense. A trauma-informed therapist will guide you through them so you can work with these feelings in the moment, helping your mind and body process them and, over time, reducing the hold they have over you.
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Q. Can trauma therapy help with anxiety, depression, or anger?
A. Yes. Trauma often influences these responses. Therapy helps you understand triggers, manage emotional reactions, and develop skills to respond in calmer, more effective ways.
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Q. Can trauma therapy improve my relationships and trust?
A. Absolutely. Understanding how past experiences shape your reactions can help you communicate more clearly, set boundaries, and respond to others intentionally rather than automatically.
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Q. What trauma therapy techniques are most effective?
A. Research supports EMDR, trauma-focused CBT, somatic therapy, and Acceptance and Commitment Therapy. Each approach targets different aspects of trauma, one may be better suited for you than another. Together, you and your therapist can decide which approach best fits your needs.
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Q. How will I know if trauma therapy is working?
A. You may notice you feel less keyed up during stressful moments, react less on autopilot and more thoughtfully, sleep better, and handle daily challenges with more ease. Therapy gives practical skills that make a real difference in how you relate to others and yourself. Instead of snapping, withdrawing, or overthinking, you’ll be able to pause, think clearly, and act in ways that move you towards your values and goals and keep your life on track.
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