Trauma and PTSD therapists in Portlethen, Scotland Scotland, United Kingdom GB
Trauma and PTSD
Dr Aneliya Gonsard
Psychologist, DClinPscy, MSc, BA
Adverse childhood experiences (ACEs) are unfortunately way more common than many people think. A strong link has been found my many studies between ACEs and physical and mental health problems in later life. Traumatic experiences can also take place in adolescence and adulthood. For some, the impact is greatly distressing and life-limiting, such as in the cases of having post-traumatic-stress disorder.
Many of the people I have come to work with have lived through often multiple adversities and traumatic experiences, throughout their lives. I offer a confidential space where we can think together about the way such experiences have affected you and the parts of you that can change and develop in order to integrate and move on from past traumas.
14 Years Experience
Trauma and PTSD
James Hitchen - I Am James Therapy & Coaching
Therapist, Psychotherapeutic counselling (level 5), MBACP, AdV member Addiction Professionals, MNCPS accred. National Centre For Eating Disorders
I am member of the International Stress Management Association, am and advanced member of Addiction Professionals registration body and am a member of the Complex Trauma Institute. I am an addictions and eating disorder specialist as well as working with other issues such as anxiety, depression, trauma, ADHA, self harm, self esteem, loneliness and other disorders. I offer a range of services from 1:1 and group counselling/coaching sessions. I trained at Richmond College and am strongly informed by 12 step philosophy as well as helping clients to look after their mental, physical, spiritual and emotional health to thrive in life.
7 Years Experience
Trauma and PTSD
Sara Aicart-Pendlebury
Art Therapist, Human Givens Practitioner (HG.Dip.P), Member of Human Givens Institute, IFS therapist Levels 1&2, Narm Practitioner
PHOBIAS, PANIC ATTACKS AND POST-TRAUMATIC STRESS
The brain has an emotional alarm system designed to keep us safe. When people suffer from panic attacks, phobias or post-traumatic stress, it is because the system has gone into overdrive.
What happens is this. There is a small, structure in the brain, known as the amygdala (Greek for almond, which is its shape), that has access to our emotional memories and learned responses. It evolved in the distant past and its job is to match new circumstances to what is already in the store and alert us to anything that previously represented a risk and might do so again. In the distant past, this might have been a movement or flash of colour that could have signified an approaching predator. The amygdala would then have triggered changes to help the body get ready to fight or flee the danger – pounding heart, racing pulse, quick, shallow breathing, etc.
Now imagine this. A young woman, who has had a highly stressful day, is waiting in a long supermarket queue, worrying whether she’ll be out of the shop in time to catch the bus to school to collect her little girl. It is one pressure too many. The amygdala responds as if she is under threat and she starts to feel her heart pounding strangely and her breathing quickens. She becomes terrified that she is having a heart attack and that makes the symptoms escalate – her palms sweat; her chest feels as if it is bursting and she struggles to breathe. Soon she feels overwhelmed and may collapse or run out of the shop. The amygdala, fearful that this could happen again, files away the fact that there were bright lights and lots of people queuing when the ‘threat’ occurred. Then, when the woman is queuing in the post office the next day, the bright lights and queue may be sufficient for the over-vigilant amygdala to trigger another panic attack to deal with the new ‘threat’.
Phobias start the same way – the amygdala makes associations with what was going on when a person first felt threatened, not all of which may be relevant. So, while it is understandable that someone who is attacked by a vicious dog may well develop a fear of dogs generally, it could equally be the case that someone develops a fear of broken glass because, on a previous occasion, when they had had a panic attack, there was broken glass lying near to where they collapsed. Agoraphobia develops when someone is too frightened of panic attacks even to leave the house.
In the case of post-traumatic stress, someone who was in the back seat of a car when a collision occurred may find it frightening to travel in the back seat again but there may be other, unconscious, connections with the accident too, such as the smell of petrol. So the person may experience seemingly inexplicable panic when filling up their own car with petrol.
Fortunately, human givens practitioners are taught a simple and effective way to deal with all these circumstances. If a traumatic memory is causing panic attacks, phobias or post-traumatic stress, they can use a powerful, painless visualisation procedure, known as the rewind technique, to take the emotion out of the memory and enable the memory of the event to be stored away as history, instead of as one that continues to intrude on the present. The memory remains, and always will remain, a deeply unpleasant one but no longer is it emotionally arousing. This method can work swiftly and reliably even in the most extreme of cases.
15 Years Experience
Trauma and PTSD
Bristol Trauma Therapy
Therapist
My name is Heather Bradley and I am a Trauma Therapist. Having worked in this area for over 10 years I do understand just how radically experiencing trauma can impact your life and create feelings of loneliness, confusion and despair. PTSD and CPTSD can leave you feeling so out of control impacting relationships, work and your relationship with yourself. Together we journey from where you are now to a life that has clarity, meaning and purpose. Flashbacks, night terrors, panic attacks, going numb, spacing out, leaving your body etc can all become a thing of the past as you gain control over your life and live in the present moment more. I work in such a way that traumatic memories are resolved at the root and stored differently in your brain. This means when you are triggered, the memory is no longer "live" to flash back to. We understand on a deep level that the trauma is over and you are safe. I also work with what we store in the body. Implicit memories are tough because we find out body reacting to things that we might not consciously know about. We can work with this too and bring you back to feeling safe in your body. I have personally overcome my own Traumas and CPTSD and so I truly know how daunting this journey is but also I truly know what is possible to achieve. For more information please feel free to visit my website and reach out to me for a free informal chat where we can see if we are a good fit for one another therapeutically. You can also ask me any questions you may have about doing therapy together. I very much look forward to hearing from you. With warm wishes, Heather.
13 Years Experience
Trauma and PTSD
Peter Dutton
Registered Psychotherapist, Counsellor/Therapist, Life Coach, Sports Psychologist. Registered BACP Member
I understand that a traumatic event can constantly trigger thoughts of fear, shock, anger, restlessness, and sometimes horror. This often feels out of control. I will offer support and help on how to understand and manage this
12 Years Experience