Many people have suffered some kind of trauma, major or minor, including relational trauma. Some people may get through a trauma well as they have secure connections to good sources of support and healing.
Others may appear to be going on with normal life just fine, but they have had to hive off parts of their personality off. These parts were overwhelmed by the trauma and they had to make survival choices, not even consciously - the brain quickly had to make automatic decisions.
The split-off parts still carry the impulses to stay safe and can play out these behaviours even though the threat has passed. Behaviours that you might dislike, shun or consider "stupid", generally make sense when they are viewed as having arisen in the past to protect you from further harm.
The healing from trauma is then about first recognising that they are only parts, not the whole of yourself. And then about better relating towards these split-off parts, so that their difficult feelings and unhelpful beliefs or behaviours are no longer necessary.
We might use the arts, play and active imagination techniques to enables you to approach, identify and relate to these parts under the safety of metaphor and imagery. (You do not need to be creative or artistic.)
I also have specialist training in a sensori-motor approach to trauma which enables me to pace the work so that it is tolerable for you.
It does not matter if you cannot remember your trauma and it is generally not necessary (or often even advisable) to do that in order to heal from trauma. However it may reassure you to know that I have worked with survivors of bereavement, bullying, rape, sexual assault, racial harassment, road traffic accidents, religious cults, emotional physical and sexual abuse, childhood neglect, violent assault, war and persecution, birth trauma, domestic violence, relational trauma, medical trauma, kidnap of children, burglary, armed robbery, fraud and predatory behaviour.
NB: Anxiety may not be as a result of trauma. There can be many causes and solutions that I can share with you.
"Katrina gave me the tools to think outside of the box when I was at crossroads in my mind causing my anxieties to feel overwhelming."
