Welcome to Bee Yourself Counselling
rather look at cute puppies than think about trauma?
Many people ask: "Do I have trauma?"
I think a more helpful question may be "Am I feeling overwhelmed and finding daily life extremely challenging due to what happened?" (Remember, trauma does not have to be a one-off incident. It can have a cumulative effect - e.g. child abuse).
Many people experience imposter syndrome around trauma simply meaning, you may feel like what happened to you wasn't "bad enough" to seek help. It's not really about that. It's about your everyday life experiences after going through a traumatic event or ongoing trauma. Your personal experience is the best measure, not an external measure or what somebody else thinks.
In the past, trauma has been associated with war, natural disasters, or mass violence. Of course these are traumatic events. We now know there are many situations which can result in trauma.
Before I list some of the possible sources of trauma let me remind you your trauma reaction or experience is totally individual and valid. What impacts one person may not impact somebody else. It's important you don't downplay your individual experience and struggle.
The below list is not exhaustive by any means but we now know that trauma can be caused for many reasons:
- childhood abuse: physical, sexual, psychological, emotional and neglect
- domestic and family violence: physical, sexual, psychological, emotional, financial, coercive control
- ongoing medical issues
- life-threatening illness
- sexual assault
- unexpected death
- traumatic death
- insert your own experience here
I think it's important you feel like "you" when we work together, not somebody who needs fixing. I won't just throw a technique at you and see if it sticks. We will take it slowly so you feel in control.
There are a myriad of techniques for working with trauma and what works for one person may not work for another. Some of the tools in my toolkit include: psychoeducation, trauma-informed somatic therapy, shadow work and mindfulness strategies. If you just want to talk through your trauma I will make sure you don't re-live it and keep you psychologically and emotionally safe while you do this. Hypnotherapy can also be helpful for trauma as it works with your subconscious mind.
I have several Trauma Certifications from training undertaken with the Blue Knot Foundation (Empowering Recovery from Complex Trauma)
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Please note: If you are having suicidal thoughts it is very important you seek the help you need. Bee Yourself Counselling is not a Crisis Service. If you are having suicidal thoughts please contact triple-0, Suicide Call Back Service or Lifeline.
Suicide Call Back Service:
https://www.suicidecallbackservice.org.au/phone-and-online-counselling/
Lifeline: