When it's over, but it isn't.
I offer trauma counselling for people who have experienced domestic abuse or sexual assault, and for other kinds of trauma. This is for when the immediate situation is behind you, and what remains is the way it still affects you now. I understand the courage it takes to seek help, and I aim to create a warm, non-judgemental space where you can feel safe and supported.
Who this is for
You may have left a relationship months or years ago and find it is still with you. You may have experienced something you have never fully told anyone. You may be functioning perfectly well and still feel that a part of you is stuck at that time.
{{"I work with people of all genders." or "I work with women."}}
This is not a crisis service. It is for when you are safe enough to start looking at what happened, at a pace you control.
Trauma counselling, in more detail
How trauma tends to show up
It is often not the memory itself but what it does now: being on edge without knowing why, shutting down in ordinary conversations, sleep that will not come or will not stay, a body that reacts before you have had time to think. Many people have spent years managing very well and are exhausted by it.
With domestic abuse in particular there can be a lingering doubt about your own version of events. That doubt is part of what we work on.
What a course of work looks like
The first sessions are about steadying: understanding what your nervous system is doing, finding what helps you feel safer in yourself, and building the resources you will draw on later. Nothing difficult is opened before this is in place.
When you are ready, and only then, we process what happened using EMDR incorporating hypnosis, in short passes, with you in control of the speed. Many people are surprised by how little they need to say out loud. Afterwards, sessions become fewer and further apart.
What trauma counselling is not
It is not about justifying decisions you made at the time, and it never requires you to describe anything you are not ready to describe. If a different kind of help would serve you better, you will be told so, honestly and early.
It is not a crisis service, and not a substitute for legal advice or advocacy, though it can sit alongside both.
How the work is paced
Trauma counselling does not begin with the hardest material. The first sessions are about safety and stability, and about you finding what helps you feel steadier in yourself. Processing what happened, using EMDR incorporating hypnosis, comes only when you are ready, in short passes, with you in control of the speed.
Afterwards, sessions become fewer and further apart. You can pause or stop at any point.
What you can count on
- We do not start with the hardest material.
- The first sessions are about safety and stability.
- You never have to describe anything you are not ready to describe.
- You set the pace.
- You can stop at any point.
What I work with
Domestic abuse
Whether you left months ago or years ago. I specialise in working with people who have experienced domestic abuse, including the way coercive control can make you doubt your own account of things.
Sexual assault
Recent or long ago, reported or not. You never have to tell more of the story than you want to.
Other trauma
I also work with other trauma, including {{bereavement, accidents, medical trauma, childhood experiences: list what you take on}}.
You don't need to have the words yet.
A first conversation is just that. Book a free 20-minute call and we will talk about whether this is the right kind of help, with no pressure to go further.
I am not a crisis service. If you are in immediate danger, call 999. For support right now, the National Domestic Abuse Helpline is free and open 24 hours on 0808 2000 247, and the 24/7 Rape and Sexual Abuse Support Line is on 0808 500 2222. {{optional: one local Derbyshire service}}