Trauma Informed Therapy

For many years, clients have sought therapy and treatment at Talkingminds in inner west Sydney  and Camden NSW to work through and process the impacts of trauma (which can include post -traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), acute stress disorder and what is commonly referred to as complex trauma or complex PTSD).

Talkingminds team were founded by experienced and passionate trauma informed clinicians who work from a strengths based perspective and who appreciate the inherent difficulties that can exist for clients in reaching out, building trust and recovering hope in the face of trauma.

Trauma impacts people differently and can depend upon variables including the age of the person when the trauma occurred as well as the type of trauma experienced (for example single incident or limited trauma can be different psychologically to repeated exposure to the same trauma or multiple types of trauma).

Traumatic events can include:

• car accidents or other types of accidents
• physical assaults/muggings
• home invasions
• complex grief /traumatic grief
• interpersonal violence
• domestic violence
• sexual assault & abuse (as a child, adolescent or adult)
• neglect, physical, emotional and psychological abuse
• trauma experienced through exposure to war or conflict (for civilians and combat related exposure for defence personnel)

It is important to acknowledge that some people may witness or learn about traumatic events affecting people close to them, and may then in turn develop trauma based symptoms consistent with an acute stress disorder or post-traumatic stress disorder. Their suffering can be equally as devastating and in more recent years PTSD arising from trauma exposure has been validated.

It is also important to note that the impacts of trauma often do not sit in isolation of other mental health concerns. Clients dealing with the impacts of trauma and complex trauma may also be dealing with an eating disorder (anorexia nervosa, bulimia, binge eating disorder), addictions, depression and anxiety. People who have borderline personality disorder (BPD) may have also experienced trauma or neglect in their childhood or adolescence (or may have been raised in an invalidating environment).

Asking people about their exposure to trauma has not been common practice in mental health settings until recently. As a result, many clients have had the impacts of their trauma overlooked which can lead to misdiagnosis and ineffective treatment methods. Unfortunately, this has also lead to the (unintended) re-traumatisation of some trauma survivors, highlighting the important need for trauma informed practice and care.

Not all therapists, counsellors and psychologists are the same when it comes to trauma therapy. Working with clients who have experienced trauma (particularly complex or multiple traumas) requires a specific focus (called trauma informed therapy) and in most cases, most certainly requires the therapist to have additional and ongoing trauma training and experience post qualifying. A risk with applying a generic approach to trauma therapy is that a client’s symptoms may worsen, not be fully appreciated or as previously mentioned unintended re-traumatisation can occur. A negative experience of therapy can weaken (further) a client’s trust in other professionals making it harder to seek help in future.

Trauma informed therapy is now available online via Telehealth or telephone counselling for psychology and counselling sessions; available to clients in Sydney and beyond.

Trauma informed therapy is available in Sydney in Camden and Stanmore.