“Trauma is not what happens to a person, but what happens within them” Gabor Mate.

To cope and come to terms with not being able to fully express and be ourselves, not yet with a mature system of psychological defenses, children develop adaptations and attachments to those around them no matter the sacrifice they must make. They will do this to a degree rarely seen in adults.

Over time, it is completely understandable for a child to develop a whole set of behaviours to get out of those states because no one is helping manage them. Further, this pattern of self regulation becomes our coping patterns, which becomes our personalities.

Over time, our personality, manifested in behaviours that are challenging for yourself and others, may be causing some problems for you and others. For some, this all leads to a diagnosis, such as ADD, ADHD, OCD, depression, anxiety, PTSD, psychosis, dissociated alter personalities, etc. Maybe instead, we are addicted to alcohol, drugs, or another compulsive addiction such as sex, work, risk-taking, etc.

The list is long and shows up whenever our thoughts, our feelings, our actions, do not “feel right”, and life is often challenging.

My view on all this is simple, that to control a situation that was terrifying and unpredictable due to failure of care and protection, these traits became your protector and your friend from suffering more harm.

However, as we know, at some point these things no longer assure survival, instead they start to do the opposite. Like our warm winter coat being warn in summer, making us sweat and feeling sick in the heat, our emotional states are just not working for us and others all the time nor are they keeping us healthy and able to thrive over the longer term.

Following are some areas where psychotherapy and trauma counselling are proving to help:

• Addiction
• ADHD
• Adoption
• Alcohol Use
• Anger Management
• Behavioural Issues
• Career Guidance
• Child or Adolescent
• Chronic Illness
• Chronic Pain
• Codependency
• Coping Skills
• Depression
• Drug Abuse
• Grief
• Hoarding
• Internet Addiction
• Learning Disabilities
• Life Coaching
• Marital and Premarital
• Men’s Issues
• Obesity
• Oppositional Defiance
• Parenting
• Peer Relationships
• Racial Identity
• Relationship Issues
• School Issues
• Self Esteem
• Sexual Abuse
• Sexual Addiction
• Spirituality
• Stress
• Substance Use
• Testing and Evaluation
• Trauma and PTSD
• Video Game Addiction
• Dissociative Disorders
• Impulse Control Disorders
• Mood Disorders
• Personality Disorders