The Heart of Therapy
About Trauma
If you would like to know more about trauma and trauma therapy please browse the information on this page or click on a question or tab to jump straight to the answer
Just as physical trauma can leave lasting scars, psychological and emotional trauma can too. Trauma is not just the distressing events that happen to you but what happens inside you as a result of that experience. Traumatic events can have a profound and long-lasting impact on an individual's life and mental health. Sometimes what constitutes a traumatic event is obvious, and sometimes it isn't. Trauma is highly subjective and depends on an individual's unique perceptions, experiences, and vulnerabilities. Factors such as past experiences, personality, and neurobiology can influence how an event is perceived and processed. What might seem like a minor incident to one person can be deeply distressing and have lasting effects on another. Traumatic events include sexual assault, physical assaults, or other forms of physical and emotional abuse and neglect, combat, unexpected or violent death of a loved one, natural disasters, accidents, witnessing others harmed or killed, bullying during childhood or adulthood, systemic racism and chronic discrimination, public ridicule, critical putdowns and other forms of emotional abuse, financial stress, infidelity, relationship separation, extended or abrupt relocation, forced displacement, loss, and prolonged instability experienced by refugees separated from family and country, illness, surgery or other medical procedures, legal trouble or death of a pet. Trauma includes experiencing the distressing event directly, witnessing it as it occurred to others (e.g. in the case of family violence), learning about it occurring to a close family member or close friend, or experiencing repeated exposure to details of the traumatic event.
Many people experience challenges with emotional, mental, social and sexual well-being that are the result of unresolved trauma or extreme stress they have experienced earlier in life. Unresolved trauma is one of the leading causes of various mental and physical health issues. It can increase the risk of conditions such as anxiety, depression, eating disorders, substance abuse, and suicidal tendencies. Unresolved trauma impacts your ability to be your best self and enjoy a meaningful and fulfilling life and relationships. Trauma and its impacts are still widely misunderstood. Unfortunately, you may hear people say minimising or invalidating things about trauma, like: - "It's not that bad" - "It happened so long ago. You should be over it by now." - "Many people have had far worse happen", - "You need to just snap out of it/forget it/let it go/just stop thinking about it/move on." -Â "Stop being so sensitive" - "Just focus on all the positive things in your life", etc. - or inaccurately link seeking trauma therapy with a victim mindset. Statements like these are often unhelpful for trauma survivors, and can make them feel worse not better. The truth is that a trauma response is not a weakness; it is a normal reaction of the nervous system, including the brain, and "getting over it" is often not something that can be done without specialised trauma recovery support. It is common for people experiencing the impacts of trauma to suffer in silence and to feel like the only way to cope is to engage in self-medicating in destructive ways like alcohol, drugs, sex, and food. Many people don't realise that treatment is available that can often relieve them of their pain and struggles related to trauma.
Trauma can affect anyone, leaving lasting impacts. Whether from a single event or ongoing experiences, recent or from childhood, trauma can lead to lifelong challenges such as anxiety, depression, chronic health issues, flashbacks, disconnection from your body, difficulties with trust and intimacy, or feelings of worthlessness and brokenness. Trauma symptoms can be very confusing and distressing. Sometimes, they feel like out-of-control emotions and physical reactions. Some times an automatic trauma response makes us behave or react in ways that we wish we could stop, but we can't. Often, we don't even realise those behaviours stem from unresolved trauma. Trauma can lead to the development of various symptoms, including: - flashbacks - nightmares - anxiety - panic - depression - inability to experience positive emotions - withdrawing from friends and family, and social isolation. - difficulties with anger - shame - low self-worth - self-loathing - uncontrollable crying and sadness - feeling spacey - brain fog - challenges with focus, memory, concentration and sleep - self-destructive behaviour and relationship difficulties. The impacts of trauma can be emotional, mental, physiological and social and can be long-lasting and far-reaching, having rippling effects into many important areas of life.  It can change how we think and feel about ourselves, our relationship with others, and the world, and leave us unable to do things we used to, or feeling confused, defective, and sometimes hopeless about life. Trauma causes some of us to rebel and become defiant, and other times a people pleaser, unable to set boundaries and walking on eggshells, scared to invoke negative reactions from others. These symptoms are a response to trauma, not a result of weakness or being defective. They can lead to being diagnosed with Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD), Complex Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (C-PTSD) or other conditions such as anxiety or depression. There are times when the effects of the trauma can be short-lived, allowing us to return to our usual functioning and sense of self. Other times, trauma can be all-consuming, changing our mood, behaviour, decision making and our ability to work or maintain healthy relationships and lifestyle habits. It can also leave us feeling like we don't have a sense of self. Trauma experienced in childhood can have a lasting and far-reaching effect because it occurs while we are still developing emotionally, mentally, socially, and physiologically. However, trauma experienced at any age, whether infancy, childhood, or adulthood, can continue to affect someone for many years later. ​ Sometimes, symptoms of trauma only begin to emerge many years after the traumatic event occurred. Seemingly out of nowhere or following a re-awakening of the trauma via a 'trigger'. This can be very confusing and distressing, and often destabilising for someone who doesn't understand this is a normal trauma response. We understand that many people who have been through a traumatic experience would prefer not to think or talk about it. The avoidance of thinking about or talking about the trauma is, unfortunately, a trauma symptom itself and keeps the trauma symptoms, including PTSD, alive.​
While traditional talk therapy can be a vital part of the healing process, it often needs to be supplemented with techniques that address the deeper, often unconscious, layers of trauma stored in the body and mind.
At The Heart of Therapy, we use an integrative approach tailored to the unique issues and needs of every client. We draw from sophisticated and evidence-based tools like EMDR Therapy, Trauma-Focused Cognitive Behavioural Therapy (TF-CBT), and mindfulness, as well as parts-work therapies such as Resource Therapy (Advanced Ego State Therapy), Internal Family Systems (IFS) and Developmental Needs Meeting Strategy (DNMS). We also draw from arts-based therapies, somatic psychology and neuroscience research.
Rather than just helping you manage trauma symptoms, our tools aim to significantly reduce or even eliminate them. They also address the core negative beliefs that can perpetuate unwanted trauma responses, fostering lasting change. Many people aren’t aware that unhealed trauma and difficult past experiences are influencing their thoughts, feelings, beliefs, and behaviors. When this is the case, tools like EMDR and Resource Therapy can be invaluable in identifying the key "feeder" memories or experiences that are driving these issues. Once we identify these critical past experiences, we work with them to reduce their emotional, mental, and physiological impact on you. This process helps you become the best version of yourself, restoring a sense of balance, resilience, safety, and empowerment in your life and relationships. Working with trauma in this way can be powerfully transformative, positively changing how you see yourself, others, and the world. There’s nothing more rewarding for us than hearing our clients share how life-changing this process has been. The duration of therapy varies based on each individual’s needs and progress. Some may notice changes within a few weeks, others within a few months, and some may require longer-term support.
What Makes Trauma Therapy Safe and Effective?
Unfortunately, some people seeking healing after trauma may experience re-traumatisation when services lack the necessary training and understanding of trauma. It’s crucial to ensure your therapist understands that different types of trauma require different therapeutic approaches and skill sets, as well as an awareness of the unique needs of different nervous systems and neurotypes. If you encounter claims of 'healing all types of trauma' in a short period, such as during a weekend retreat or just a few sessions, it’s important to ask what they mean by 'trauma' and whether it aligns with your specific experiences. Additionally, inquire about the practitioner’s experience, training, and why they believe their approach is suited to your needs. For example, a practitioner may be highly skilled in treating single-event traumas that occurred in adulthood but might not have the specialised skill set and knowledge necessary for working with complex trauma rooted in childhood experiences, such as abuse, neglect, severe loss, or absence of emotional support. It’s equally important that your therapist is experienced in assessing and working with dissociation. Without this expertise, unfortunately trauma therapy can be, at best, ineffective and, at worst, injurious. It is important your therapist helps you to build your capacity to tolerate both positive and negative feelings and their sensations before working through traumatic experiences. At The Heart of Therapy, we prioritise working with you safely, compassionately, respectfully, and collaboratively. We understand that no single therapeutic method is appropriate or effective for all clients, so we draw on an integrative approach that allows us to tailor our work to meet the unique needs of each individual. Our team is committed to staying at the forefront of trauma treatment. We regularly participate in professional training, conferences, and clinical consultations both in Australia and internationally to ensure we provide the most effective, evidence-based, holistic care. We also recognise that effective trauma therapy is not just an evidence-based science; it’s also a holistic art and a complex skill that takes years to master safely and effectively. If you have any questions or concerns about starting trauma therapy with us, please don’t hesitate to reach out. We’re here to support you every step of the way.
Trauma Therapy for ADHD and Autistic Clients
At the Heart of Therapy, we strive to make trauma therapy affirming, safe, and effective for our ADHD and Autistic clients. Our lived experience of being neurodivergent and navigating our own trauma therapy in the past, has made this topic a special area of interest for us. The topic of neurodivergence and trauma is a complex and, at times, controversial one within the field of mental health. Some people believe clinicians are overdiagnosing ADHD and underestimating the impacts of childhood trauma; others think clinicians are over-diagnosing PTSD and missing the ADHD and/or Autism. Recent research suggests ADHD and Autistic individuals: - Are more likely to experience trauma and victimisation (Brown-Lavoi et al. 2020, Efron, et al., 2021, Ford et al., 2009). - Are often more impacted by traumatic events when they occur, and more likely to develop PTSD (Beauchaine et al., 2013, Haruvi-Lamdan et al., 2020, Rumbal et al., 2020). - Are more likely to experience a broader range of experiences as traumatic (Biederman et al., 2012). - Are more likely to remember sensory components of traumatic memories more vividly. This and other neurobiological factors can make PTSD symptoms worse for Autistic and ADHD people. A study in 2020 by Freya Rumball, Fransesca Happe and Nick Grey found that close to 60% of Autistic people reported experiencing the symptoms of PTSD at some point compared to 8.9% in the non-autistic population. Research suggests ADHD and PTSD also occur together at really high rates, but there is still a lot that is not known about the connection. According to research by Adler et al. (2004), Gurvits et al., (2000) and Kessler et al. (2006), ADHD can make you more vulnerable to developing PTSD. Still, other research indicates early life trauma can act as a trigger for the onset of ADHD for those with a genetic predisposition (Crenshaw and Mayfield, 2021). Until it can be confirmed what the complete picture regarding the link between neurodivergence and trauma actually is, we find trauma therapy most effective when we take the time to get to know you as a person beyond the labels. We consider the workings of your unique nervous system, your unique strengths, challenges, and sensory needs and preferences, and pride ourselves on our attuned, flexible, adaptable approach. We strive to work with you in a way that best suits you and your nervous system, including your cognitive and emotional processing style and pace. The Heart of Therapy would like to acknowledge the work of Dr. Megan Neff, a neurodivergent clinical psychologist (autistic-ADHD) and founder of Neurodivergent Insights, whose literature review we have drawn upon to write this piece and whose resources we highly recommend.
Other Info and Resources on Trauma
Please feel welcome to take a look at the following source list, which includes textbooks, websites and journal articles containing some of the research and information underpinning our approaches to trauma treatment. The compilation of this list is still in progress. Thank you for being patient with us as we complete this. https://istss.org/public-resources/Â Â International Society for Traumatic Stress Studies. Cloitre, M., Courtois, C. A., Charuvastra, A., Carapezza, R., Stolbach, B. C., & Green, B. L. (2012). Treatment of complex PTSD: Results of the ISTSS expert clinician survey on best practices. Journal of Traumatic Stress, 25(6), 529-536. https://doi.org/10.1002/jts.21726 Szczygiel, D. (2018). On The value and meaning of trauma-informed practice : Honouring Safety, Complexity and Relationship. Smith College Studies in Social Work, 88(2), 115-134. https://doi.org/10.1080/00377317.2018.1519160 Van Vliet, K. J., & Kalnins, S. (2018). Phased-based treatment versus immediate trauma-focused treatment in patients with childhood trauma-related post-traumatic stress disorder: A randomized controlled trial. Trials, 19(1), 307. https://doi.org/10.1186/s13063-018-2696-8