Our Therapy Services

Trauma is a state in which a person's abilities to cope are overwhelmed. In the physical sense, this may lead to broken skin, tissues, and bones. With mental trauma, we often observe disintegration, dissociation, and discontinuity. It causes a break in the fabric of who we are, how we feel and respond to stimuli, how we relate to others, and how we perceive time.

With a physical injury we focus on stabilising the person first, then realigning the body and putting support measures in place for the body to heal itself in a structural way that will allow the person to live the life they desire. When trauma therapy is applied immediately (in the form of psychological first aid), the process is similar: stabilising the person emotionally and physically, allowing the nervous system to move through the experience, providing support and resources for the person to cope, and put systems in place for the person to heal in a way that will allow her re-engage with life. However, in the case of mental health, the support measures to allow healing to occur efficiently are often missing, maybe because they were not provided by others and/or not yet accessible to the person themselves. As a result, our body and mind are creating compensatory behaviours (cognitive, physical, emotional) to deal with the trauma, many resulting in what we describe as traumatic symptoms today and some preventing the person from living their desired life.

Trauma therapy aims for integration, connection, and continuity. While there are many approaches to trauma therapy today, at Empowering Pause we believe in a three step process to allow these to happen organically: Stabilise the person (if needed) and develop coping skills and resources to deal with strong emotional/physical experiences, address trauma content and help integrate them with the help of previously developed resources, and support building a new state of wellbeing and the desired life. Since many symptoms are not just cognitive but also somatic, we believe in an integrative approach of cognitive and somatic approaches to allow trauma therapy to happen on all levels of experience.

Using this analogy one may understand why trauma therapy can take time. Rushing into trauma processing without having the necessary structures and support measures in place can risk re-traumatisation and a worsening of symptoms. Working with us will allow you to understand your trauma responses and their purpose, build the necessary tools and resources to deal with the traumatic experiences, and integrate them in a safe and sustainable way to ensure long term success.

While the process can sound dreadful, it has been our experience that with proper pacing trauma therapy can be a mostly enjoyable and empowering process. We have been honoured to walk this path with many clients, which constantly reaffirms the incredible healing capacities and strength all human possess.