Trauma
Trauma is not always about what happened. It is often about what had to be carried without enough support.
People experience trauma in many ways. It may follow a single overwhelming event, or develop through repeated experiences where safety, care, or understanding were not reliably available. Trauma is shaped by how something was lived through.
Understanding trauma
I understand trauma as something that influences how a person relates to themselves, to others, and to the world around them.
Trauma can affect how safe life feels, how intimacy is experienced, and how emotions are responded to or kept at a distance. It often shows up indirectly, through patterns of coping or ways of managing daily life, rather than through clear memories or narratives.
When trauma has been shaped within relationships, its effects are often relational too. Difficulties with trust, safety, or intimacy can persist even when the original circumstances are no longer present.
Living with trauma
Living with trauma can involve a sense of constant alertness, emotional shutdown, or reactions that feel out of proportion to what is happening in the present. These experiences can be confusing, particularly when there is no obvious link to past events.
Trauma often makes itself known through patterns rather than stories. People may find themselves responding to situations in ways they do not fully understand, or feeling constrained by reactions that seem to arrive before choice is possible.
How I work with trauma
My work with trauma is grounded in the therapeutic relationship. I see this relationship as central to the work, rather than something that sits alongside techniques or approaches.
Rather than focusing on recounting events or working toward resolution, I pay attention to how trauma is present in the here and now. This includes noticing how you relate, how safety is experienced, and how certain responses may have developed as ways of coping with earlier experiences.
Grounded in the therapeutic relationship we build together, we can begin to understand how past experiences continue to shape present responses, while respecting boundaries and what feels possible to explore.
There is no expectation about what needs to be revisited.
What this work can involve
Working with trauma may involve noticing patterns of response, understanding coping strategies that once had a protective role, exploring how trust and safety are experienced, and allowing experiences to be recognised rather than endured alone.
The focus is on supporting greater choice and responsiveness in the present, rather than erasing the past.
An invitation
If trauma is something you are living with, you are welcome to get in touch for an initial conversation.