Your trauma is unique, and only you know what parts are causing you problems and what doesn’t actually need “fixing” because it’s just part of your life experience.
To help you with the parts you want to work on, I apply the most gentle approaches first. Sometimes having a shoulder to cry on is enough. I have a variety of healing techniques to help you find the resolution, closure and changes you’re seeking.
Emotional Trauma
Many mental health professionals define trauma as any event in which feelings weren’t fully expressed and/or action was prevented. Most people receive many traumas in their lifetime, and small traumas are often healed just by talking about it to friends and family. Sometimes, the traumas are more significant (or happen very early in life) and leave after-effects.
Anxiety, obsessive behaviours, physical pain and a host of other symptoms can come from an individual’s attempts to resolve the trauma, or from any reminders of the original event. Healing often comes from revisiting that original experience and providing an outlet for the “energy” that’s trapped in it. This can happen in a variety of ways, and the general approach is to reactivate parts of the original experience (usually through talk or body movements or some combination) so it can be processed and released in a controlled way and in a safe environment.
Physical Trauma (Scar Tissue)
Scar tissue is often a result of physical trauma such as injuries, surgery and disease. Some scars – particularly scars from surgery – result in layers of tissue getting stuck together during the healing process. Physiotherapy is commonly used to get the tissues unstuck, but scar tissue can continue to develop long after the initial treatments end. Especially with abdominal surgery, it’s possible to experience pelvic pain months or years later as the physical healing process continues and new scar tissue develops.
Using only physiotherapy for long-term Scar Tissue Remediation leaves out a major component of the healing process.
Holistic Trauma Healing
Emotional and physical traumas are often interdependent or combined into one experience. This is why I work with both the physical and emotional aspects of healing.
Scars often have “a story” which is unfinished and can have far-reaching effects. A scar from a fall decades ago could be connected to a present fear of heights. A scar from childhood surgery could be connected to current problems with personal boundaries. A c-section or episiotomy can result in painful intercourse.
Scars aren’t always visible. A car accident could result in anxiety or chronic pain. Experiences of abuse could result in hypervigilance or depression or relationship problems. A sexual assault could result in anorgasmia or vaginismus. Accumulated stress could cause constipation or irritable bowel syndrome. The specific combinations are nearly limitless.
Actual physical pain or the fear of pain can result in chronic muscle tension (“guarding”) which can in turn create more scar tissue and more pain. Breaking this pain cycle requires healing both aspects of the pain, so I work on both aspects – supporting emotional release and applying scar tissue remediation techniques.
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Body Connections ™ 