Stress, Change and Trauma 

If you’re finding that recent changes to ‘life as we know it’ are heightening your anxiety about the future, or bringing back the past, you’re not alone. For many people, financial stress related to the cost of living and housing affordability have affected their sense of stability and hampered their ability to plan ahead or develop personally or professionally. For others it has set back their recovery from past traumatic situations. You will know better than anyone else how you have been affected by current stressors in your life. Perhaps you’ve noticed feeling flat or numb a lot of the time, getting stuck in pessimistic thinking, bad habits or controlling behaviours, all of which are very human ways of coping but affect our health and the quality of our relationships. 

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Real Life Counselling can support you to find healthy ways of managing acute or chronic stress, to take stock and make choices in response to major changes in your life, or to progress the work you have already begun in recovering from trauma experienced in childhood or as an adult. 

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Trauma refers to the lingering thoughts, emotions, beliefs and bodily effects of any past events or interpersonal relations that were directly or indirectly threatening, harmful or overwhelming to you in some way. Trauma can arise from one-off incidents (sometimes called shock trauma) as well as more enduring or combined situations of abuse, neglect, domestic violence, hardship or illness (also known as complex trauma). 

 

Because stress and trauma responses are held in the body and nervous system, we will pay attention not only to your thoughts and emotions but also what your body and ‘felt sense’ of the problem are telling you. This can help you find ways to sooth and shift your nervous system out of its survival state (usually fight, flight or freeze).

Everyone’s recovery process is unique but it almost always involves establishing a safe, caring and professional relationship in which you feel heard, valued and understood. It has been said that trauma heals in relationship. Our work together will include talking about how you have been impacted by stress, change or trauma and how you have coped so far.  We may look at how you view yourself and the stories you tell about yourself (narrative therapy). There will be space for you to express and release the emotions you’ve been carrying, in your own time. We may also discuss practical ways to boost your physical and mental health or exercises for grounding and body awareness.

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Online Counselling & Trauma

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Online counselling has some limitations and is generally not suitable if you need immediate help in a crisis or are experiencing extreme distress or dissociation (feeling very spaced out, detached or disconnected from your body or surroundings). If you are feeling very unsafe or that your feelings are out of control, I would encourage you to access a crisis support service or a mental health professional who can see you in person. This may include your local area Mental Health Team, Accident and Emergency Department or a crisis support helpline such as Life Line, 1800 Respect or Beyond Blue.

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If you have already engaged in trauma recovery work and have reached a place of safety and stability, online counselling can be a very beneficial part of your healing journey. In our initial conversation we will talk about where you are in your process. This will allow me to assess whether online counselling would be safe and helpful for you, before committing to work in this way.

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I also offer some Covid-safe in-person sessions in the heart of Marrickville, Sydney NSW. 

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