Trauma Counselling Melbourne: Begin Your Healing Journey
Experienced and Trusted Trauma Counselling in Melbourne
At Solace Psychology, we offer trauma counselling in Melbourne to help you manage your symptoms of Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) and/or Complex trauma and better assist your mental well-being.
From a one-off life event to repeated traumatic events — we are experienced in providing support for various forms and levels of trauma including:
Acute Trauma (PTSD): This results from a single, intense event, such as an accident, natural disaster, or violent attack.
Chronic Trauma: This type occurs from repeated and prolonged exposure to distressing events, such as ongoing abuse or living in a war zone.
Complex Trauma: This involves multiple, varied traumatic events, often occurring in a relational context, such as childhood abuse or neglect.
Developmental Trauma: This refers to trauma experienced during critical developmental periods, particularly in childhood, which can affect emotional and psychological growt
Secondary Trauma: Also known as vicarious trauma, this occurs when someone witnesses or hears about the traumatic experiences of others, often affecting caregivers, first responders, or therapists.
Cultural Trauma: This type involves collective trauma experienced by a group, such as communities affected by genocide, slavery, or systemic oppression.
Each type of trauma can have distinct effects on mental health and requires different approaches for healing and support.
Dealing with the impacts of trauma does not have to be done alone. Our team at Solace Psychology are experienced psychologists in Melbourne who understand that the healing process looks different for every individual. We offer personalised trauma treatment with a registered psychologist to help you move forward in life.
Connect with our psychologists to experience supportive and informed trauma counselling.
What Is Trauma Counselling?
Trauma counselling offers emotional safety and stability, skills building for emotional regulation and processing of the trauma memories. It’s designed to help those experiencing complex trauma and PTSD from experiences like child abuse or domestic violence, or recovering from a traumatic event such as sexual assault, a sudden death, a natural disaster or a car accident.
Trauma counselling creates space to validate your thoughts and feelings whilst providing you with coping mechanisms to improve emotional regulation and mental well-being. The tools and strategies you will learn in this space can help you process the distressing event, improve your sleep and hypervigilance, reframe your narrative/thoughts about the event and manage the impact of your symptoms on work/relationships.
When left untreated, PTSD and unresolved trauma can cause other mental health conditions such as anxiety and depression. By addressing your feelings with trauma counselling, you can help work through any other mental health issues you may be experiencing.
Trauma therapy often uses evidence based and trauma informed approaches like CBT, Schema Therapy, DBT or Eye Movement Desensitisation and Reprocessing (EMDR) to help process your traumatic experiences.
Signs You May Need Trauma Counselling
Trauma can appear in multiple ways for different people. If you have experienced any traumatic event, speaking to a mental health professional can help you process what has occurred.
Individuals who have experienced trauma, Post Traumatic Stress Disorder or complex trauma may be dealing with the following in their lives:
Anxiety
Depression
Flashbacks
Difficulty sleeping/ nightmares
In addition to the symptoms above, individuals may experience difficulties with emotional regulation, self-identity, interpersonal relationships, and attachment. They may also have a sense of hopelessness and persistent feelings of shame or guilt.
If you feel these symptoms are impacting you in your everyday life and are becoming overwhelming, it might be time to seek professional support. Trauma therapy can help you process these feelings and develop coping strategies to move forward with strength and resilience. Recognising that these issues are affecting you is the first step towards healing.
How Trauma Counselling Works
Trauma therapies are guided by several key principles aimed at fostering healing and recovery. Here are some of the most important principles:
Safety: Creating a safe therapeutic environment is crucial. Clients need to feel secure physically and emotionally to explore their trauma without fear.
Trustworthiness: Establishing trust between the therapist and client is essential. This involves being consistent, transparent, and respectful, helping clients feel valued and understood.
Empowerment: Trauma therapy emphasizes empowering clients to take control of their healing process. This includes validating their experiences and encouraging autonomy in decision-making.
Collaboration: The therapeutic relationship is collaborative, with the therapist and client working together to identify goals and strategies for healing.
Cultural Sensitivity: Acknowledging and respecting the individual’s cultural background is important. Therapists should be aware of how culture influences trauma and recovery.
Understanding Trauma’s Impact: Therapists help clients recognize how trauma affects their thoughts, emotions, and behaviors, facilitating insight and processing.
Holistic Approach: Addressing the mind, body, and spirit can enhance healing. This may involve integrating techniques that focus on physical sensations and emotions.
Gradual Exposure: Clients are encouraged to process trauma at their own pace. Gradual exposure to traumatic memories can help reduce distress without overwhelming them.
Resilience Building: Therapies often focus on strengthening coping mechanisms and resilience, helping clients develop skills to manage stress and emotional challenges.
Integration of Experiences: Helping clients integrate their traumatic experiences into their life narrative is crucial, allowing them to find meaning and move forward.
These principles create a foundation for effective trauma therapy, promoting healing and personal growth.
Types of Trauma Therapies
Our Melbourne-based trauma counselling uses a range of therapeutic approaches such as CBT, Schema Therapy and EMDR. These evidence-based methods support your recovery process and help unpack traumatic memories and experiences.
CBT focuses on helping you reframe negative thought patterns that stem from trauma. EMDR helps reprocess traumatic memories through guided eye movements that are designed to alleviate the stress associated with traumatic memories. Other approaches may be integrated depending on your needs, this can be discussed during your session.
We will work with you through one-on-one sessions to uncover, process and validate your experience and related emotions. When you work with our team at Solace Psychology, we empower you to reclaim your sense of identity, control, and well-being.
Why Choose Our Trauma Counselling Services in Melbourne?
Experienced & Professional Team
Our team at Solace Psychology are highly qualified clinical psychologists, Mental Health Social Workers and psychologists.
We offer a safe space for trauma and PTSD treatment, regularly checking in to ensure your full comfort throughout the process.
Convenient Practice With a Wide Range of Services
We have two practices in Carlton North and Coburg.
We also offer other mental health services such as depression treatment, couples counselling, ADHD assessments, anxiety treatment and many others.
Evidence-Based Therapies For Best Results
Our team always uses evidence-based and trauma informed therapies such as schema therapy, CBT, and EMDR to ensure we use the best approach to suit your needs.
Begin your journey with us today to help heal and create a more fulfilling life.
Frequently Asked Questions
What Counselling is best for trauma?
The right counselling to treat trauma depends on the circumstances and needs of the individual. Several evidence-based therapies are known to be particularly effective in treating trauma.
The Australian Psychological Society outlines cognitive behavioural treatments such as CPT (which was developed for PTSD) as an evidence-based method for treating trauma.
What are the 7 areas affected by complex trauma?
The seven areas affected in children who experience trauma were identified by The National Child Traumatic Stress Network Workgroup on Complex Trauma as attachment, biology, emotional regulation, dissociation, behavioural control, cognitive processes, and self-concept.
What counselling theory is best for trauma?
The best approach is always one that is trauma-informed. Our team uses methods such as Cognitive Behavioural Therapy (CBT), EMDR, Schema Therapy, and DBT to treat our clients.
How can I get trauma Counselling?
To start your journey, contact our friendly Client Support team to organise your first appointment. They can help connect you with the right psychologist.
Contact Us
Connect with our experienced team for professional trauma counselling in Melbourne.
- Call
-
Fax
info@solacepsychology.com
- Address
625 Nicholson Street, Carlton North, VIC 3054
16 Harding Street, Coburg, VIC 3058
- Hours
Mon – Fri: 9:00 am – 7:00 pm
Sat: 9:00 am – 5:00 pm
Client Support Team is available
Mon – Fri: 9:30 am – 5:00 pm