PTSD Counselling
Support for healing, grounding and rebuilding a sense of safety
If you've lived through a deeply distressing or life threatening event and are now experiencing flashbacks, intrusive memories, fear or difficulty concentrating, you may be dealing with Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD). PTSD is a natural response to overwhelming events that the mind and body had no way of preparing for.
Trauma can interfere with your ability to feel safe, connect with others, manage everyday stress and feel grounded in your own body. Many people describe feeling on edge, disconnected, confused or emotionally overwhelmed. These experiences can be frightening, but they are understandable reactions to events that exceeded your capacity to cope at the time they occurred.
Understanding Trauma and PTSD
The threat or reality of serious injury, violence or death activates powerful survival mechanisms in the brain. These responses are meant to protect you, but after trauma they can become overactive and fire even when there is no danger.
Brain imaging studies show that people with PTSD have increased activation in the parts of the brain responsible for the fight or flight response. Sights, sounds, smells or physical sensations can trigger these reactions, but they can also occur without any external cue at all. This leaves many people feeling confused, frustrated and hopeless.
What is often misunderstood is that these symptoms represent the mind and body doing their best to make sense of something that felt impossible to process. Trauma is not a sign of weakness. It is the result of an event that nothing in your past experience could prepare you for.
Counselling is one of several tools that can help calm the body’s overactive alarm system and restore a sense of stability and control.
PTSD Facts
The estimated lifetime prevalence of PTSD in Canada is about nine point two percent
First responders, health care workers, military service members and others in high risk professions have significantly higher rates
Women are diagnosed with PTSD about twice as often as men
Common causes of PTSD include sexual assault, sudden loss of a loved one and witnessing serious injury or death
About eight percent of people who experience a traumatic event develop PTSD
PTSD and Trauma Symptoms
Many people who have experienced trauma struggle with symptoms even without a formal diagnosis. These may include:
Intrusive thoughts, hyper arousal, nightmares or flashbacks
Sleep disruption, changes in concentration or difficulty remembering
Feeling highly distressed even when there is no actual threat
Strong physical reactions to situations that seem harmless
Avoidance of people, places or situations that trigger emotions
Emotional numbing, irritability or sudden anger
Feeling disconnected from yourself or others
Thoughts of suicide or feeling that life has lost purpose
If these symptoms describe your experience, support is available.
Counselling for Trauma and PTSD
You may worry that what you are feeling will never change. But with the right support, many people are able to reduce symptoms, feel safer in their bodies and build a meaningful life beyond trauma.
At Five Star Wellbeing, our approach integrates Emotion Focused Therapy, mindfulness, self-compassion and somatic-based practices to help reprogram the mind and body’s response to danger. We tailor therapy to your pace, your needs and your strengths.
Strategies may include:
- Somatic experiencing and grounding techniques
- Mindful breathing and nervous system regulation
- Progressive muscle relaxation
- Systematic desensitization
- Self compassion practices
- Meditation and body awareness
- Changing self talk and reducing avoidance patterns
We will help you:
Explore
Examine the thoughts, emotions and sensations connected to the trauma in a safe and supportive space.
Tolerate
Understand the natural role of emotional processing and learn mindfulness skills to stay grounded as feelings rise and fall.
Allow
Develop the capacity to stay present with emotional pain without suppressing it or becoming overwhelmed.
Welcome
Recognize that healing can include finding meaning, strength or a renewed sense of purpose that was not visible before.
You do not have to carry trauma alone.
If you are ready for compassionate support, practical tools and a path toward healing, we are here to help.
Book a consultation or request an appointment today.
Your healing can begin with one safe conversation.
Your wellbeing matters. Take five minutes to learn if you are suffering, surviving or thriving in five essential areas of life and what you can do to improve your wellbeing. Try it now.
