Below are short descriptions of my areas of expertise:

Psychotherapy for Individuals
Marriage and Couples’ Counselling
Health Counselling

Trauma

 

Trauma is a painful emotional experience, or shock, that creates substantial and often lasting damage to the psychological development and well-being of the individual. Typical traumatic events are natural calamities, violence, serious accidents, the death, injury, or serious illness of next of kin, and war-related stress. It can appear after a single event, a series of events, or a particularly upsetting period of life of a traumatic nature. We all respond to injury in different ways. Trauma is the emotional response when an injury overwhelms us.

 

Traumatic events are exceptional situations of helplessness and distress that a person experiences at first hand, witness or hears about, and which jeopardize the physical integrity of the individual or those close to him.

 

Those suffering from trauma can have trouble functioning in their jobs or personal relationships. Children can be traumatized and have difficulty in school, become isolated from others and develop phobias. These people repeatedly re-experience the ordeal in the form of flashback episodes, memories, nightmares, or frightening thoughts, especially when they are exposed to events or objects that remind them of the trauma.

 

What makes one person able to cope with tragedy and another struggle depends on many factors. Having a history of being abused throughout one’s early childhood and the loss or disruption of early childhood bonds may have an impact on a person's ability to cope later in life. Having a supportive network of friends and family who understand and come together to support can positively impact the ability to cope. Having a calm, naturally positive type of temperament is another factor that makes a person more resilient than others. Some people are born with temperaments that make them able to deal with life tragedy better than others, and some of us were lucky enough to have families who taught us how to cope better with trouble than others. If a family coped with problems by coming together, being supportive of one another, comforting each other and being constructive about seeking solutions to problems, one is more likely to have an easier time adjusting to stress and loss than the person who was raised by alcoholic and violent parents.
Even people whose families were good at problem-solving and being supportive of one another may have major problems coping, because the temperament that they were born with is the type that makes it harder to deal with crisis. Genetic heritage and other hard-to-determine background makes a difference, too. There are people who are just more sensitive; and others, who despite chaotic or neglected childhoods, manage to steer this life calmly through turbulent waters. Nevertheless, the person who had more stress and trauma in childhood is more likely to have more problems when faced with a tragedy. Everybody is born with certain amount of resiliency, but the response to trauma typically comes from the combinations of factors.

 

The very idea of trauma's impact is based upon the lack of one's control over events. This key to what makes one feel overwhelmed, unsettled, shocked and disheartened. Not being able to control external events like natural disasters, war or another person's actions is the very reason people experience a sense of trauma and horror when they survive traumatic events. They lack control over the circumstances. 

 

Many argue that trauma does not go away unless it is confronted. The process of healing starts through by providing space to the survivors to feel heard and for every detail of the traumatic event in a safe environment. The goal of trauma healing is to acknowledge the experience and integrate it in the victim’s life. Ingrid Dresher, who stays in Toronto, Ontario, provides counseling to individuals to have experienced trauma in their lives. To give victims a feeling that they have control over their lives again, is an important part how she helps. There are typically three stages that trauma victims move through as part of the healing process: safety, acknowledgement, and reconnection. These processes have guided the creation of many trauma healing programs.

 

The first step for Ingrid Dresher’s programs is to provide a safe space. A feeling of safety will encourage victims to open up and reveal details of their ordeal. Retelling the details of one's story can be therapeutic and allows those memories to be incorporated into the victim's life story. When the story is told in the presence of the other, it can lead to acknowledgement, self-understanding, empathy, apology, forgiveness, and reconnection.

 

Many people experience a trauma at some point in their lives, and as a result, some will experience symptoms that interfere with daily life. Research shows that psychological interventions are effective in preventing many long-term effects. If the victim is untreated from any trauma it is unlikely to disappear and can contribute to chronic pain, depression, drug and alcohol abuse and sleep problems that impede a person’s ability to work and interact with others. Ingrid would welcome hearing from you and to discuss how she could be of assistance.