Trauma and PTSD Therapy in Glen Iris Melbourne: Trauma-Informed Care for Healing and Recovery

Compassionate psychological support for trauma survivors, PTSD, and complex grief

Understanding Trauma and PTSD

Trauma isn't defined by the event itself, but by its impact on you. What overwhelms one person's capacity to cope may not affect another in the same way—and this doesn't reflect weakness or strength, but rather the unique intersection of the event, your resources at the time, and your history.

Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) can develop after experiencing or witnessing a traumatic event—whether a single incident like an accident or assault, or prolonged exposure to threatening situations. Complex trauma refers to repeated or ongoing traumatic experiences, often in relationships where escape wasn't possible, such as childhood abuse, domestic violence, or prolonged emotional neglect.

Trauma changes how your brain and body respond to perceived threats. Symptoms like flashbacks, hypervigilance, avoidance, emotional numbing, or relationship difficulties aren't signs of being "broken"—they're your nervous system's attempt to protect you. Therapy helps you understand these responses and develop new pathways toward safety and healing.

When Trauma Requires Professional Support

Common Trauma Responses Addressed in Therapy:

Intrusive Memories and Flashbacks Unwanted memories, nightmares, or vivid re-experiencing of traumatic events that feel as though they're happening in the present.

Hypervigilance and Heightened Anxiety Constant scanning for danger, difficulty relaxing, exaggerated startle response, or feeling unsafe even in objectively safe environments.

Avoidance and Emotional Numbing Avoiding people, places, or situations that remind you of the trauma, or feeling disconnected from emotions, relationships, and experiences.

Changes in Beliefs and Self-Perception Persistent negative beliefs about yourself, others, or the world—such as "I'm not safe," "I can't trust anyone," or "it was my fault."

Difficulty with Relationships and Trust Struggling to feel close to others, difficulty trusting, or experiencing relationship patterns that mirror traumatic dynamics.

Physical Symptoms and Dysregulation Chronic pain, digestive issues, sleep disturbances, or other physical manifestations of unprocessed trauma.

Complex Grief and Loss Grief complicated by trauma, sudden loss, ambiguous loss, or losses that couldn't be properly acknowledged or processed.

Trauma-Informed Therapeutic Approaches

Trauma therapy is paced carefully and focuses on restoring a sense of safety before addressing traumatic memories directly. The therapeutic relationship itself becomes a space where trust and safety can be rebuilt.

Trauma-Focused Cognitive Behavioural Therapy (TF-CBT)

TF-CBT helps you process traumatic memories in a structured, gradual way while addressing unhelpful beliefs that developed from the trauma. This approach combines cognitive work with gradual exposure to trauma reminders in a safe, controlled environment.

Schema Therapy for Trauma

Schema therapy explores how traumatic experiences created core beliefs about yourself and the world, and how these schemas continue to influence your relationships and choices. This approach is particularly effective for complex trauma where early experiences shaped fundamental patterns.

Processing and Integration of Traumatic Memories

Rather than reliving trauma, processing involves integrating traumatic memories so they become part of your life story rather than something that controls your present. This work is done gradually and collaboratively, always prioritising your sense of safety and control.

Somatic and Body-Based Approaches

Trauma is held in the body as well as the mind. Developing awareness of physical sensations and learning to regulate your nervous system helps restore a sense of safety and groundedness.

The Trauma Recovery Process

Phase 1: Establishing Safety and Stabilisation

Before processing traumatic memories, therapy focuses on:

• Developing emotional regulation skills
• Creating internal and external safety
• Building resources and coping strategies
• Establishing trust in the therapeutic relationship

Phase 2: Processing and Integration

When you feel sufficiently stable and safe, therapy gradually addresses traumatic memories:

• Working through traumatic experiences at your pace
• Challenging trauma-related beliefs
• Reducing the emotional intensity of memories
• Integrating experiences into your narrative

Phase 3: Reconnection and Growth

The final phase focuses on:

• Rebuilding connection with yourself and others
• Developing meaningful goals and relationships
• Reconnecting with activities and values
• Post-traumatic growth and resilience

Restoring Safety and Trust

Trauma fundamentally disrupts your sense of safety—in yourself, in others, and in the world. Recovery involves:

Internal Safety: Learning that you can tolerate difficult emotions without being overwhelmed, and that you have agency over your responses.

Relational Safety: Developing the capacity to trust selectively and appropriately, recognising safe connections from unsafe ones.

Environmental Safety: Distinguishing present safety from past danger, and recognising when your threat response is activated by reminders rather than actual danger.

Complex Grief and Traumatic Loss

Grief becomes complicated when loss occurs under traumatic circumstances, is sudden or violent, involves multiple losses, or when you couldn't properly grieve. Therapy provides space to:

• Process both the trauma and the grief
• Honor losses that weren't acknowledged
• Navigate ambiguous loss or ongoing uncertainty
• Integrate loss while building a meaningful life forward

Finding Trauma-Informed Care in Glen Iris

When seeking trauma therapy, consider:

• Understanding of how trauma affects the nervous system
• A pace that prioritises your sense of safety and control
• Cultural sensitivity and understanding of different trauma experiences

Take the First Step Toward Healing

If you're living with the aftermath of trauma, experiencing PTSD symptoms, or carrying unprocessed grief, seeking support is an act of strength. Trauma therapy provides a safe space to heal at your own pace, with someone who understands the complexity of recovery.

Located in Glen Iris, Melbourne | Medicare Rebates Available | Telehealth Options

Contact Annamariya H Psychology today to discuss trauma-informed therapy and begin your journey toward healing.

‍