Trauma Therapy.
Trauma therapy supports healing by helping the nervous system process experiences that continue to feel overwhelming or unresolved, in a way that prioritises safety, choice and collaboration.
For some people, this involves building grounding and regulation skills first; for others, trauma processing can begin earlier, with safety and deeper work unfolding together at a pace that feels manageable.
The aim of trauma therapy is to reduce the ongoing impact of past experiences, helping you feel more grounded, more connected, and more able to engage in life as it is now.
One of the main trauma-processing approaches I use is EMDR, which helps the brain reprocess traumatic memories so they feel less distressing, less vivid, and less present.
What is EMDR & how does it work?
Eye Movement Desensitisation and Reprocessing, or EMDR, is an evidence-based therapy that helps the brain process traumatic or distressing experiences that may still feel emotionally “stuck.” When something overwhelming happens, the memory may not be fully processed and can continue to feel vivid, distressing or present, even long after the event is over.
In EMDR, we identify the memories, experiences or themes that feel most important to work on. During processing, you are invited to bring part of a memory to mind while noticing what you are experiencing internally, including images, thoughts, emotions or body sensations. At the same time, bilateral stimulation is used, often through guided eye movements.
This process is repeated in short sets, with pauses in between, and over time can help the memory feel less vivid, less emotionally intense and less overwhelming. Many people find that the memory becomes easier to think about from a more grounded perspective.
Throughout EMDR, you remain awake, aware and in control. You do not need to describe every detail of what happened for the therapy to be effective, and the pace of the work is guided carefully. Preparation, safety and stabilisation remain important parts of the process, especially when trauma has been complex, prolonged, or connected to earlier life experiences.
As distressing memories are processed, people often notice shifts not only in emotional intensity, but also in beliefs about themselves, body responses and patterns of coping. The aim of EMDR is not to erase what has happened, but to reduce its ongoing impact so you can feel safer, more present, and more able to move forward.
More information about trauma.
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Eating disorders, trauma and PTSD are often closely linked. For some people, eating disorder symptoms become one way of managing the impact of trauma - helping to reduce emotional intensity, create a sense of control, or make distress more tolerable.
This does not mean every eating disorder is caused by trauma, or that trauma work must happen immediately. It does mean that when trauma is part of the picture, treatment often needs to be trauma-informed and thoughtfully integrated. Alongside practical eating disorder support, therapy may involve helping you build safety in your body, better understand nervous system responses, reduce shame, and gently process traumatic experiences when the time is right.
If food, eating or body image feel like the more prominent part of what you are experiencing right now, my Eating Disorders page may be a helpful place to start.
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Trauma can affect how safe you feel in your body, your relationships and the world around you. After overwhelming or distressing experiences, some people find themselves feeling constantly on edge, emotionally flooded, numb, shut down, or disconnected from themselves. Others notice that past experiences continue to shape how they cope, trust, relate to others, or respond to stress, even when they would like things to feel different.
Trauma therapy is not about forcing you to revisit painful experiences before you are ready. It is about working carefully, collaboratively and at a pace that feels manageable, so that what has happened no longer has the same hold on your present life. This may involve building grounding and regulation skills, making sense of patterns that developed in response to trauma, and, where appropriate, using evidence-based treatment such as EMDR to help distressing memories feel less overwhelming.
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Posttraumatic Stress Disorder, or PTSD, can develop after a traumatic event or series of events that felt life-threatening, terrifying or deeply overwhelming. Symptoms often include re-experiencing the trauma through memories, nightmares or flashbacks, avoiding reminders of what happened, and feeling persistently on guard, jumpy or unsafe. Some people also notice changes in sleep, concentration, mood, trust or their ability to feel present in everyday life.
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Complex PTSD includes the core symptoms of PTSD, but also involves broader difficulties with emotional regulation, self-worth and relationships. It is more often associated with prolonged, repeated or interpersonal trauma, particularly when trauma occurs in situations where escape, safety or support were limited. People may describe feeling chronically ashamed, emotionally overwhelmed or shut down, deeply self-critical, or as though relationships and trust feel consistently difficult.
What is the difference between PTSD and Complex PTSD?
Complex PTSD is not "worse" than PTSD - it refers to trauma symptoms that also extend more deeply into a person's sense of self and way of relating. Both are real and deserving of care, and both can benefit from trauma-informed, evidence-based treatment. In therapy, the focus is less on fitting perfectly into a label and more on understanding the specific patterns and impacts you are living with.
For more information about trauma, PTSD and Complex PTSD, visit Phoenix Australia
FAQs.
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No. Many people carry the impact of difficult or overwhelming past experiences without meeting full diagnostic criteria for PTSD or Complex PTSD. Trauma therapy can still help if past experiences continue to affect how safe, connected or present you feel.
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Eye Movement Desensitisation and Reprocessing (EMDR) is an evidence-based therapy that helps the brain process distressing memories that continue to affect you in the present. It can reduce the emotional intensity of traumatic memories while helping new, more adaptive beliefs develop.
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No. You do not need to describe every detail of what happened for EMDR to be effective.
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Not always. Before beginning EMDR, we spend time understanding your history, current symptoms, coping resources and goals. For some people, developing emotional regulation and stabilisation skills first is an important part of treatment.
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No. EMDR can help with a single distressing event or with the cumulative impact of chronic stress, relational difficulties or attachment wounds. What matters is whether a memory or experience still feels emotionally "stuck," not how it might be judged by others.
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EMDR is commonly used for PTSD and traumatic experiences, but it can also be helpful for complex trauma, anxiety, panic, low self-worth, distressing memories, and experiences that continue to affect how you feel, think or relate to others.
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Trauma can affect people in many different ways. You may notice anxiety, emotional overwhelm, relationship difficulties, perfectionism, shame, people-pleasing, feeling "stuck," or strong emotional reactions without fully understanding why. Therapy can help us make sense of these patterns together.
Eating Disorders & EMDR.
EMDR was originally developed as a treatment for trauma and PTSD, and it can be a helpful part of therapy when traumatic memories, negative beliefs or distressing past experiences are contributing to eating disorder symptoms. It is not used as a standalone replacement for eating disorder treatment. Rather, EMDR can be integrated with broader eating disorder work to address trauma-related drivers such as shame, fear, disgust, helplessness, or deeply held beliefs like "I'm not safe", "I'm not good enough" or "My body is the problem".
Whether EMDR is appropriate depends on timing, stability, medical safety and the overall treatment picture. For some people, eating disorder recovery and stabilisation need to come first or happen alongside trauma work. For others, trauma processing may help reduce the intensity of the patterns that keep the eating disorder going. The goal is always to work collaboratively so that treatment supports recovery rather than overwhelming the nervous system.
More information about EMDR can be found here https://emdraa.org/
You don’t need to have it all figured out before reaching out.
If you would like support, you are welcome to get in touch.