What is Trauma-informed therapy?
What is trauma-informed therapy?
by Andy Le Roy | GradDipCouns | 6 January 2025
Trauma informed therapy is a process in which both client and therapist collaborate in a safe way to promote healing and change.
Safety first is a familiar catchcry when we think about physical risks, but what does it mean in the context of mental health?
When someone plucks up the courage to reach out for help or support, making sure their therapist works from a trauma-informed approach can make all the difference to the therapeutic experience.
We don’t always know why we react the way we do, and sitting with difficult emotions needs to happen in a safe way that doesn’t re-traumatise us. A trauma-informed therapist holds a non-judgemental space for you providing a compassionate, stable and collaborative therapeutic relationship. The therapist’s goal is to empower you and support you in building resilience.
Isn't therapy just talking about all the bad stuff?
While there’s no doubt talk therapy helps us to process what has happened, it can also be harmful to go too deep, too soon. That’s where the risk of re-traumatisation rears its ugly head and is something a trauma-informed therapist will identify and help you to avoid.
Your therapist wants to hear your story and help you resolve your distress, but they also want to make sure you’re safe and don’t walk out of the session feeling worse than when you arrived.
Sometimes it might seem like conversations in the therapy room only scratch the surface. You might wonder why your therapist is focusing on what appears to be a narrow range of topics or over-simplified techniques. Your therapist may check in from time to time to make sure the session is on the right track, but if there’s something more pressing you’d like to cover, it’s safe to let your therapist know.
Sometimes a good chat is all you need. Other times it’s helpful to have some tools in your kit to combat the emotions that grip you before telling too much of your story. Through effective collaboration, you and your therapist will be able to find what’s most helpful in today’s session.
How does trauma informed therapy work?
Unlike a recipe that guarantees the same delicious result every time, therapy is different for everyone and it’s the work we put in between sessions that has the most impact.
Trauma-informed therapy works to help you restore calm, contain emotions to allow a calm and patient response, cultivate trust, build resilience and change behaviours as appropriate. It acknowledges the difficult experiences you have endured and aims to help you reclaim your power while protecting you from harm.
How do I cope between therapy sessions?
In therapy, you might start by exploring ways to delay thinking about the things that overwhelm you and restore a sense of calm. For some people, the skill of how to calm down in the face of stress can take lots of practice, and that’s OK. It’s not a race.
Your therapist might give you some homework to complete before the next session or simply encourage you to try a new technique between now and next time. Sometimes even that might feel like too much, and that’s OK, too.
Healing is not linear and often doesn’t happen as quickly as we would like it to. Small and incremental improvements can help to unlock those big ‘a-ha’ moments. That’s that where healing happens, and everyone needs to find their way, in their own way and in their own time.
What if the therapeutic technique doesn't work?
Therapy is collaborative, and you are ultimately in control. Without being trite, failure is fertile ground for learning, so if the technique your therapist has introduced isn’t working for you, it’s OK to tell them.
Maybe your brain is wired differently, and you just can’t relate to what they’ve shared. Maybe they’ve offered something too soon and it doesn’t make sense yet, like there’s some missing ingredient (see ‘a-ha’ moment above!).
Either way, your therapist won’t take offense if you tell them it didn’t work. It just means that together, we need to explore a little bit more for something that resonates with you.
Will I need to be in therapy forever?
Trauma-informed therapy is patient and will not require you to venture anywhere you’re not ready to. In fact, to do so could be harmful. Together, you and your therapist will find the right time and the right way to wade a little bit deeper.
Sometimes we feel “better enough” to be able to pause therapy and come back later to work some more on the big stuff, and that’s OK, too. You’re the best judge as to whether it’s helpful to keep going or take a break. Pausing can help consolidate things and gain more clarity.
In time, you will be able to dive safely into those waters unaided and won’t feel the need to have your therapist as a sounding board, and while it’s always sad to end a relationship, therapeutic or otherwise, it’s why we do what we do.
Your strength is our business.
Need to talk?
Book a confidential 15-minute chat with Andy today to start your healing and growth journey.
Bibliography
Kimberg, L., Wheeler, M. (2019). Trauma and Trauma-Informed Care. In: Gerber, M. (eds) Trauma-Informed Healthcare Approaches. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-04342-1_2
US Department of Veteran’s Affairs. (n.d.). Coping with Traumatic Stress Reactions. PTSD: National Center for PTSD. https://www.ptsd.va.gov/gethelp/coping_stress_reactions.asp
