Does life feel like an endless cycle of pain and disappointment?
If so, Counselling Can Help You Turn This Around
Life seems like an ongoing struggle. In fact it’s felt this way for far too long. You’ve tried everything you could think of to make things better; it just seems to be one disappointment after another.
Things never seem to work out the way you had hoped or imagined they would. You feel depressed, anxious or lonely a lot of the time. You are ‘sick and tired’ of feeling ‘sick and tired’. Your friends and family say you are so hard on yourself. Your relationships never seem to work out and you don’t seem to know why.
You feel very alone.
No one seems to understand your pain.
If this feels familiar to you, you’ve likely experienced one or more traumatic event at some point in your life. Chronic problems in life often are the result of past events which you may, or may not, have realized had such an impact on you.
Experiencing any kind of trauma can dramatically influence the way you view yourself and the world around you. The impact can be even more profound if the trauma happened during childhood, a time when you were developing your beliefs about yourself, your relationships and the world around you.
These Are Some of the Effects That Trauma Can Have on Your Life:
Depression, anxiety or panic attacks- Persistent memories, nightmares or flashbacks of past events
- Feeling detached, numb or ‘spaced out’
- Ongoing dissatisfaction in relationships
- Difficulty identifying or feeling overwhelmed by your feelings
- Feelings of shame and guilt
- Difficulty trusting yourself and others
- Pattern of self-medicating or relapsing using alcohol, drugs, or other addictions
- Under-eating or over-eating
- Chronic, unresolved health issues
- Loss of faith, hope; a sense of despair
Any of the above experiences can be the result of past trauma experiences such as:
- Childhood abandonment or neglect
- Sexual, physical or emotional abuse
- Serious accident, injury or illness
- Tragic loss of a loved one
- Witness to abuse of others or to a serious accident
At any rate, it doesn’t matter whether you know why you feel the way you do.
The bottom line is that you are tired of suffering.
You want a better life for yourself.
You want to break free of the past and live your life without such overwhelming struggle.
You didn’t have a choice about what happened to you in the past; however you DO have a choice about how you move forward from here. You don’t need to continue reliving the feelings from your past and you don’t need to do this alone.
Therapy can help.
Untreated addictions can trigger your trauma symptoms
and can also leave you at increased risk for even more traumatic experiences.
You Don’t Have to “Relive” Your Past in Order to Heal It
Going to a counsellor does not mean you need to “relive” your trauma. The fact is you have already survived, even if you don’t always feel that way. In therapy I will teach you tools and techniques to help you ‘observe’ or ‘visit’ the trauma from the perspective of your present day adult self, minimizing feelings of overwhelm and preventing you from feeling re-traumatized.
Counselling Can Transform Your Life
It is possible to live your life confident in your ability to set boundaries and make healthier choices about your relationships. You’ll discover your strengths and appreciate your ability to have survived such a difficult challenge. Through therapy you’ll believe in your right to enjoy your life feeling happy, fulfilled and respected by yourself and others. Moving beyond trauma means ‘fully living’ your life, not just ‘surviving’.
You can feel empowered to create the life you want!
Counselling can benefit you in the following ways:
- Reduce and calm your feelings of anxiety, fear, self-doubt
- Identify and express your feelings and needs
- Learn to trust yourself and others
- Make sense of your reactions as natural responses to trauma
- Increase your self-esteem and self-respect
- Develop healthier relationships with friends, family and partners
- Celebrate your strengths and resiliency
As your therapist, I can help you move beyond your past and break the endless cycle of pain and disappointment.
Over 30 years ago I learned how my past beliefs influenced my choices and decisions. I did not value or respect myself. I was able to change and now live a happy, fulfilled life.
I feel honored to help others who are still struggling. I have over two decades of experience as a counsellor helping others heal from traumatic experiences. I was able to heal, and I believe you can too.