Why Can Childhood Trauma Affect You Years Later?

Sometimes people come to counselling with a question that sounds something like: “Why is this bothering me now? It happened years ago.” They may have experienced abuse, neglect, violence, sexual assault or other difficult experiences in childhood and then...

Trauma counselling in Cairns

I provide trauma-informed psychotherapy and counselling for adults in Cairns, including people affected by childhood and historical abuse, sexual assault and sexual violence, interpersonal violence, crime and other traumatic experiences. My approach is...

You don't need to arrive with the right words

Some people come to counselling knowing exactly what they want to talk about. Others don't. You may have spent decades not talking about something. You may not know where to begin. You might not even be sure whether what happened to you “counts” as...

We don't have to live permanently inside the past

Trauma counselling is not about forcing someone to repeatedly relive the worst experience of their life. Nor do I believe a person needs to be defined forever by something that happened to them. The event cannot be changed. But the way its effects...

Trauma Doesn't Always Look Like Trauma

A person can be functioning extremely well and still carry the effects of earlier experiences. Sometimes what remains isn't a clear memory that intrudes every day. It may instead show itself through difficulty trusting people, always needing to stay in...

When the Event Is Over but the Impact Remains: Understanding Trauma

People sometimes think of trauma as the terrible thing that happened. An assault. Abuse in childhood. Violence in a relationship. An accident. A frightening experience. A betrayal by someone who should have been safe. But in my work, I think about...