Complex PTSD & Childhood Trauma Therapy in Toronto

Maybe you’ve spent a lot of time trying to understand yourself and why you respond the way you do. You may recognize that experiences from your childhood or past relationships have affected you, but find that simply understanding these patterns hasn’t necessarily changed how you feel.

 

You might tell yourself that you’re safe, that you don’t need to worry, or that a situation is different from what you experienced in the past — yet your body seems to react before you have a chance to think. You may feel anxious, guarded, overwhelmed, disconnected, or as though you’re constantly waiting for something to go wrong.

 

For many people who have experienced childhood trauma or complex PTSD, the effects of earlier experiences can continue long after the experiences themselves have ended.

 

How Complex PTSD might be showing up:

 

• Do you find yourself people-pleasing or putting other people’s needs ahead of your own

• Do you have difficulty setting boundaries or feel guilty when you do

• Do you feel responsible for other people’s emotions

• Are you constantly anticipating what could go wrong or “waiting for the other shoe to drop”

• Do you have difficulty trusting people or allowing yourself to feel vulnerable

• Do you feel like you have your guard up in order to protect yourself in relationships

• Do you become very sensitive to rejection, criticism, conflict, or changes in someone else’s mood

• Do you find yourself repeating relationship patterns even when you understand where they come from

• Do you feel disconnected, numb, or detached from yourself at times

• Do you notice struggling with shame, self-criticism, or feeling as though something is wrong with you

• Do you understand something logically, but notice that your emotions or body seem to respond very differently

 

These are to name a few of some of the ways complex PTSD might be affecting your life.

 

When understanding the pattern isn’t enough:

 

One of the things I often hear from clients is, “I understand why I do this, but I still can’t stop reacting this way.”

 

Insight can be incredibly valuable; however, it's just one piece of the puzzle as our body and subconscious can store a lot of information. Your mind may know that you’re safe while your body remains tense, alert, shut down, or prepared to protect you.

 

This is why my approach incorporates both insight-oriented and body-based therapy in order to work from the body-mind connection. Together, we can work toward understanding where patterns came from while also helping you develop different ways of responding when those old patterns are activated in the present.

 

My approach to complex PTSD and childhood trauma:

 

I specialize in working with adults who have experienced childhood trauma, including emotional, physical, or sexual abuse, neglect, difficult or unpredictable family environments, and other experiences that may have affected their sense of safety, relationships, or sense of self.

 

Therapy is not about blaming your past for everything happening in your life today. It’s about understanding how your experiences may have shaped you, recognizing which responses were once protective but may no longer be serving you, and gradually creating more choice in how you relate to yourself and others.

 

My approach is integrative and tailored to each person. Depending on your needs, our work may draw from Internal Family Systems (IFS), Sensorimotor Psychotherapy and other body-based approaches, Cognitive Processing Therapy (CPT), Emotion-Focused Therapy, relational psychotherapy, mindfulness-based approaches, and other trauma-informed therapies.

 

Most importantly, I aim to provide a warm, non-judgmental space where we can approach difficult experiences at a pace that feels manageable for you.