Therapeutic Approach
Our Approach
Our therapists specialize in treating mood disorders, stress, and trauma-related symptoms. We use well-researched approaches that support healing in the brain, body, and nervous system.
We don't see your mental health struggles as an indication of brokenness or that there's something wrong with you. We believe symptoms are your brain and body's brilliant attempt to adapt, survive, and cope. In other words, depression, anxiety, addictions, and other symptoms are happening for a good reason. It's our job to discover why and then treat symptoms at their roots.
If you're experiencing anxiety, panic, depression, dissociation, chronic pain, flashbacks, or other trauma-related symptoms, we're here to help!
The Impacts of Stress and Trauma
Research shows that a number of mental health presentations including PTSD, anxiety, panic, depression, dissociative disorders, and addiction stem from stressful and traumatic experiences in our past. These experiences get dysfunctionally stored in the brain as "reliving experiences" rather than as regular memories. This means that when the memory is triggered, it feels like the stressful event is happening all over again. The body and nervous system remember, even if we aren't consciously thinking about the past.
Our brains have an innate self-healing system, but this system can become overwhelmed resulting in symptoms. Research shows that EMDR therapy, an approach offered by most of our therapists, unblocks this self-healing system, transforms traumatic memories into regular memories, and helps reach an adaptive resolution of symptoms. Somatic therapy is another approach offered at our clinic that helps regulate the nervous system and process past events on an embodied level.
Stressful and traumatic experiences may include:
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Childhood physical, sexual, and emotional abuse or neglect
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Bullying by siblings or peers
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Events resulting in feelings of humiliation, shame, worthlessness, or hopelessness
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Abandonment by a parent or loved one
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Physical or sexual assault
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Accidents resulting in injury to your brain or body
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Sudden loss of a loved one or other losses
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Pregnancy loss or abortion
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Experiences of racism and discrimination
These experiences can result in a variety of symptoms such as emotional numbness, anxiety, panic, rage, critical inner voice, fears of failure, substance use, people-pleasing, flashbacks, fears of sexual or emotional intimacy, self-harm, suicidal thoughts, feeling disconnected from your body, feelings of unworthiness, and structural dissociation.
More than Just Talk Therapy
Feeling seen, heard, and believed is an important part of healing, but talk therapy alone is not effective in resolving trauma. While it is important for your therapist to understand your history, telling and re-telling the details of traumatic experiences is not required for healing and may be counterproductive. This is why we use approaches that go beyond talk therapy and work with the brain, body, and nervous system to treat the underlying issues at their root.
What to Expect
During the initial stage of therapy, your history of symptoms, significant life events, and your childhood relationships with your caregivers/family will be discussed. You will be asked to complete assessment questionnaires depending on your presenting symptoms. Together we will develop a treatment plan to meet your unique goals. You will learn self-regulation skills to manage stress, anxiety, and big emotions. You will be invited to bring mindful awareness to your sensations, thoughts, feelings, and breath. In the treatment phase, specific therapeutic interventions will be selected for your unique needs.
Therapeutic Approaches
We strive to work from a trauma-informed, feminist, LGBTQ2+ affirming, anti-racist lens, and to create a brave therapeutic space where all people feel welcome, respected and seen. Our therapists employ a variety of therapeutic approaches and interventions to support your unique needs, including EMDR (Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing) therapy, Somatic Experiencing, Mindfulness-based interventions, and more. Learn more about the specific approaches each of our therapists use.
Many of our therapists are trained in EMDR. This form of therapy uses bilateral stimulation through eye movements, tapping, tones, or hand buzzers to stimulate your brain's innate ability to process traumatic memories and connect with positive/adaptive information. EMDR techniques can be used to develop inner resources, desensitize fears of emotions or memories, treat chronic pain, treat addictive behaviours, work through avoidance or resistance, reduce conflict between parts of self, and treat depression.
