Therapist in Hitchin and Baldock
Trauma-Informed Therapy
Trauma can affect the way you think, feel, behave and relate to other people. Sometimes the impact is obvious. Other times, you may not even recognise what you’re experiencing as a response to trauma.
You might be getting on with your life, going to work, looking after your family and doing everything you need to do, while inside you feel anxious, exhausted, disconnected or constantly on edge.
Something may have happened recently or years ago, or you may have experienced difficult things throughout your life that have left you feeling like you always need to be on guard, stay in control or be prepared for what might happen next.
Sometimes you know exactly where your difficulties come from. Sometimes you just know that something doesn’t feel right. The event may be in the past, but your mind and body can still feel like they’re living in it.
You might…
- Feel constantly on edge, tense or like you are waiting for something bad to happen.
- Find that certain situations, places, people or conversations bring up a reaction that feels much bigger than the situation itself.
- Struggle to trust people or let your guard down.
- Find yourself needing to be in control because not being in control feels unsafe.
- Avoid certain places, conversations or experiences because they bring up difficult feelings.
- Experience intrusive memories, thoughts, images or nightmares.
Or…
- Feel disconnected from yourself or from what is happening around you.
- Find it difficult to understand or manage your emotions.
- Struggle with shame, guilt or feeling that what happened was somehow your fault.
- Find relationships difficult because closeness can feel unsafe, overwhelming or unpredictable.
- Understand logically that you are safe now, but your body does not seem to believe it.
- Feel exhausted from trying to keep everything together.
The Relief of Making Sense of Yourself
Trauma can affect far more than the way we remember something. It can influence the way we see ourselves, other people and the world around us.
You don’t have to have experienced one single, life-changing event for trauma to have had an impact. It can take many forms, including experiences that happen repeatedly or over a long period of time.
Therapist in Hitchin and Baldock
What could change?
Therapy can’t change what happened to you, but it can change the way you live with it. Over time, you may begin to:
- Feel safer and more settled in the present.
- Understand your reactions rather than feeling controlled by them.
- Recognise and manage your triggers.
- Feel more able to trust yourself and others.
- Reduce avoidance and fear.
- Develop healthier boundaries.
- Feel less overwhelmed by difficult emotions.
- Let go of some of the shame or self-blame you may have been carrying.
- Feel more connected to yourself and the people around you.
- Move forward without feeling that your past has to dictate your future.
If something from your past is still affecting how you feel, think or relate to other people, therapy can help you understand what’s happening and begin to feel differently about what you’re carrying.
Therapist in Hitchin and Baldock
How therapy can help
Therapy can give you a safe space to begin understanding what you’re experiencing without judgement or pressure.
We can explore how your past experiences may be affecting the way you think, feel and respond in the present. Together, we can start to make sense of reactions that might currently feel confusing, overwhelming or out of your control.
Importantly, therapy doesn’t mean that you have to talk about everything straight away. We can work at a pace that feels manageable for you. Sometimes the first step isn’t talking about what happened at all. It might simply be understanding what’s happening for you now and finding ways to feel safer, calmer and more grounded.
Depending on what you need, our work may include developing emotional regulation skills, understanding triggers, exploring beliefs about yourself and others, developing a stronger sense of safety and processing your experiences when you’re ready.