Trauma Therapy in Ottawa
Healing Deep Wounds, Reclaiming Your Life
Childhood or acute traumatic experiences can affect how we navigate life, relationships, and even how we perceive ourselves.
At The Wren Centre, we offer compassionate, holistic, and evidence-based trauma therapy to help you heal at your own pace and move forward. Whether you're dealing with the effects of developmental childhood trauma, post-traumatic stress, or struggling to overcome emotional pain, our therapists create a safe, non-judgmental space for you to explore, understand, heal, and reclaim your life.
Why Trauma Therapy?
In Canada, nearly two-thirds of adults experienced at least one traumatic event in their life, and a significant proportion may experience Complex PTSD (CPTSD), which stems from chronic trauma exposure, such as repeated abuse, living with a parent suffering from mental health challenges, or living in a home with domestic violence. Trauma therapy, including specialized treatments for both PTSD and CPTSD, such as eye movement desensitization and reprocessing (EMDR) or Brainspotting, can be highly effective in reducing symptoms, improving emotional regulation, and restoring feelings of safety and control (CAMH).
Trauma is complex and deeply personal, it’s not just about the event itself, but how it continues to shape your mind and body. (In fact, the suffering from some types of trauma - such as childhood sexual abuse - can stem more from what happened afterward.) Whether you experience hypervigilance, an inability to relax, emotional suppression, anxiety, or difficulty controlling your anger (among many others), trauma therapy can provide the tools to help you process these experiences in a way that fosters healing. We understand that trauma affects each person differently - even when it is a shared experience - and we approach each process and session with compassion and curiosity, ensuring that therapy meets your unique needs.
At The Wren Centre, we take an integrative approach to trauma counselling, blending techniques that could include mindfulness-based practices, somatic therapy, attachment theory, Brainspotting, EMDR, and/or yoga nidra to support the healing process. Our trauma-informed care ensures respects your voice, validates your experience, and helps you reconnect with your inner strength.
Our approach to trauma therapy
HERE’S HOW WE HELP:
Safety First:
Healing begins when you feel safe, not just when you’re objectively safe. Our therapists ensure that every session is a respectful, non-judgmental space to support you.
Trauma Processing at Your Pace:
We see that healing from trauma is not linear. Whether you seek trauma therapy for childhood experiences or more recent emotional wounds, we check in with you to move at your pace.
Empowerment Through Understanding:
Many of our trauma therapy clients express frustration and disbelief at how hard they’ve tried to do or feel things differently. Our therapists help you understand how trauma affects your brain and body, then use CPTSD and PTSD therapy techniques to alleviate symptoms like hypervigilance, nightmares, and emotional flashbacks.
What can trauma therapy address?
Trauma manifests in a variety of ways, from anxiety and depression to difficulties in relationships or work. Our therapists can support folks with:
- Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD): Whether you experienced a singular traumatic event or prolonged exposure to trauma, trauma treatment helps you process memories and thoughts that cause you suffering.
- Childhood Trauma: Neglect or abuse in childhood can continue to impact your well-being in adulthood. We specialize in psychotherapy for childhood trauma - with children, adults and families.
- Complex Trauma: Some trauma forms over chronic exposure, as in abusive relationships or systemic oppression, and can lead to profound emotional and psychological wounds. Our trauma therapists work with you to untangle the layers of pain and build resilience.
- Relational Trauma: Trauma stemming from betrayal, emotional neglect or abuse, or living with someone who is psychologically unwell or in a cycle of addiction, leaves wounds that trauma therapy can help you heal so you can foster supportive, functional relationships.
How Does Trauma
Therapy Work?
Trauma symptoms can show up physically - chronic pain, tension, or even dissociation - as well as psychologically and in our relationships. Our therapy addresses these physical responses as well as the emotional and psychological effects by using a combination of talk therapy, mindfulness, and somatic techniques to help you release trauma “stored” in the body.
Some therapeutic modalities we can include are:
Mindfulness-Based Techniques:
These therapies use the relationship between eye position, thought habits, and somatic reaction to reduce or eliminate the intensity of your reactivity to traumatic thoughts, memories or contexts.
EMDR or Brainspotting:
These therapies use the relationship between eye position, thought habits, and somatic reaction to reduce or eliminate the intensity of your reactivity to traumatic thoughts, memories or contexts.
Somatic Therapy
You can logically know a moment/thought/memory is “safe,” but you struggle to make the changes you want to - this is due to your body’s reaction, not your lack of effort. Somatic therapy helps you release stored tension, unresolved emotions and move forward with more awareness.
At The Wren Centre, we know that reaching out for help can be difficult, especially when it comes to discussing painful past experiences. Our trauma therapists create a compassionate environment where you are met with respect, and your healing journey is guided with care.
FAQs About Trauma Therapy
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All our therapists are trauma-informed (they’re trained in the prevalence of trauma, different types, and diversity of symptoms). A trauma therapist has specialized training in trauma-informed care, meaning they have additional education and training in the unique ways trauma manifests in a person’s mental and physical health. Using specific therapeutic techniques, they help clients process trauma without re-traumatizing the individual.
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Absolutely. Childhood trauma therapy is a key area of focus at The Wren Centre, whether it’s for you, your child, or your family. We believe it’s a privilege and an imperative to our nuanced understanding of trauma that our therapists work with both children and adults. Many adults experience ongoing struggles due to unresolved childhood trauma, and therapy provides a space to work it and live a more fulfilling life.
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There is no set timeline for healing from trauma. We have training that can support an individual to reduce their suffering in a short time, but the length of therapy depends on the individual’s needs, the severity of the trauma, and their personal goals. Discussing the commitment and plan is part of the process that your therapist will support.
Reclaim Your Life
Healing from trauma is possible, and you don’t have to do it alone. Reach out to book a Free Consultation - including a Therapist Matching Consultation - if you need some help finding the right fit to address your PTSD, CPTSD or trauma.
Let’s explore what trauma therapy is, what might be included, what it means to prioritize safety, and how do you know you’re done?