Have you experienced a traumatic event that continues to affect your life? Perhaps you find yourself having nightmares or intrusive flashbacks, feeling unexplainably aggressive, or constantly on edge. Maybe certain past experiences still overwhelm you, despite the passage of time. If any of this resonates, it may be a sign that you’ve experienced trauma.
Trauma can arise from a wide range of experiences. These may include single events such as road traffic accidents, natural disasters, surgical procedures, or assaults. Trauma can also develop from more complex and long-term situations like childhood abuse, unresolved grief, or persistent relational difficulties. It may be something that happened to you directly, something you witnessed, or even something you became aware of that held deep personal significance.
Under normal circumstances, our minds process difficult memories over time by drawing on our broader understanding of ourselves and the world. Typically, the distress caused by a traumatic event begins to ease after a short period. However, when the experience is too overwhelming, this natural process can be disrupted. Instead of integrating the memory, your mind may become stuck, leaving the traumatic memory frozen in time. This ‘stuck’ memory continues to influence your emotions, thoughts, and behaviours long after the event itself has passed.
How EMDR Can Help
When unresolved memories are triggered, it can feel as if you’re reliving the trauma in the present moment. You may become easily angered, hypervigilant, or, conversely, emotionally numb and withdrawn. You might also find yourself avoiding anything that reminds you of the event. If these symptoms last longer than a month, they may be indicative of Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD). This can lead to further difficulties, such as increased reliance on substances, strained relationships, and challenges at work or in daily life.
The good news is that you do not need to continue living with these symptoms. Psychotherapy – and in particular, EMDR (Eye Movement Desensitisation and Reprocessing) therapy – can help you move forward. EMDR works by helping your brain process traumatic memories so they no longer feel like current threats. The memories remain, but they no longer dominate your emotional life. This shift can allow you to sleep better, feel calmer, and respond to the present moment rather than being pulled back into the past. You can read more about EMDR therapy here.
My Experience Working with Trauma
I have extensive experience in working with trauma. Following the Grenfell Tower fire in London in 2017, I served as a senior therapist for the London Fire Brigade. I was actively involved both in treating trauma and in developing and delivering training focused on trauma prevention, as part of the Counselling and Trauma Service.
I am a trained and highly experienced EMDR therapist, working online with individuals from diverse backgrounds. My approach combines EMDR with regular psychotherapy, enabling you to process traumatic memories while also making sense of them and integrating them into your life in a non-disturbing way. You can read more about my qualifications and background here.
If you are looking for an online EMDR trauma therapist, feel free to get in touch for a free initial call. I’d be happy to discuss how I work and explore whether it’s the right fit for you.