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Therapy Sessions in Port Coquitlam

Counselling for Trauma & PTSD

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THERAPISTS SPECIALIZING IN THIS AREA:
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Shay

Carrie

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Suki

Zahra

Symptoms of Trauma

Emotional

Fear, anger, guilt, or emotional numbness.

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Physical

Insomnia, hypervigilance, or being easily startled.

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Cognitive

Intrusive thoughts, flashbacks, or difficulty concentrating.

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Behavioural

Avoiding triggers or isolating yourself from others.

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Are You Always Waiting for Something Bad to Happen, Even When Everything Is Fine?

You don't always know why it happens. Something small sets it off. A tone of voice. A smell. A song. A moment that looks completely ordinary from the outside but sends your body into full alarm mode before your brain even has time to catch up.

Or it could be something that builds. Maybe it's just that you can't fully relax. You're always scanning. Always waiting for something to go wrong. You sleep lightly if you sleep at all. You startle easily. You feel irritable and you're not sure why. You've pulled back from people or situations that feel too unpredictable, too loud, too close.

You might not even call what happened to you trauma. Maybe it wasn't one big event. Maybe it was years of something quieter, a relationship that slowly wore you down, a childhood that didn't feel safe, experiences that you've told yourself you should be over by now. Maybe other people have been through worse and you feel like you don't have the right to still be struggling.

But your nervous system doesn't compare. It doesn't rank your experiences against anyone else's. It just records what felt threatening, and it holds onto that long after the danger is gone.

That's what trauma is. Not something you “should” have moved past. Your nervous system doing exactly what it was designed to do, protecting you. The problem is when it gets stuck in protection mode and can't find its way back to safe.

You don't have to live like this. Trauma is one of the most treatable things we work with, and healing is genuinely possible.

Read More: Healing Trauma and Regaining Control with EMDR

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What Happened to You Mattered. And You Deserve Support

This is one of the most common things people wonder before they reach out for help. And it keeps a lot of people from getting support they genuinely need.

Trauma isn't defined by the size of what happened. It's defined by how your nervous system experienced it. Two people can go through the same event and one walks away fine while the other carries it for years. That's not about strength or weakness. It's about what your nervous system had available to process it at the time.

Trauma can come from a single event. It can also come from years of something smaller and harder to name. Growing up in a home that didn't feel safe. A relationship where you were constantly criticized or controlled. Medical experiences that left you feeling helpless. Things that didn't look like trauma from the outside but left a mark on the inside that you've been carrying ever since.

If something happened that changed how safe you feel in the world, in your body, in relationships, that's worth taking seriously. You don't need to prove it was bad enough.

Healing Is Possible. It Just Requires the Right Kind of Support.

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At Serenity Counselling, we've worked with people who came in convinced they'd always feel this way and left genuinely surprised by how different things got.

Trauma doesn't heal by talking about it over and over until it hurts less. That's not how the nervous system works. Real trauma healing happens when your body finally gets the message that the threat is over and it's safe to come down from high alert. That's what the work we do is designed to create.

What to Expect in Trauma Therapy Sessions at Serenity Counselling

At Serenity Counselling in Port Coquitlam, your first session is a conversation. We want to understand what's been going on, how it's showing up in your daily life, and what you're hoping feels different. You won't be asked to go into detail about what happened before you're ready. Safety comes first, always.

From there, trauma therapy at Serenity works at two levels. On the surface, we build your capacity to feel regulated and grounded, giving you real tools for the moments when your nervous system spikes and you need something that actually works. You need to have those tools in place before we go anywhere deeper.

Underneath that, we work on processing what happened so it stops having the same hold on your present. Our team is trained in EMDR and Brainspotting, two of the most effective and well-researched approaches for trauma treatment available. Both work by helping your brain and nervous system process experiences that got stuck, completing what your body started when the threat first happened, so it can finally register that it's over.

A lot of people are surprised by how different these approaches feel compared to traditional talk therapy. You don't have to retell your story in detail. You don't have to relive it to heal from it. Many people notice significant shifts in how they feel, in their body and in their daily life, faster than they expected.

We offer in-person trauma counselling sessions in Port Coquitlam at Serenity Counselling, and virtual therapy across British Columbia.

Read More: How EMDR Therapy Can Help Heal Trauma

Are You Ready to Move Past These Symptoms?

Healing from trauma is possible, and you don’t have to do it alone. At Serenity Counselling, we provide a safe, supportive space to process your experiences and reclaim your life.

Book a free consultation

LOOKING FOR MORE ANSWERS?

Frequently Asked Questions

  • You know if what happened to you was trauma if it left you feeling overwhelmed, scared, or changed how you see yourself or the world, it doesn't matter if others think it was "bad enough." When people ask if their experience was "bad enough" to be trauma, I tell them that your brain doesn't judge whether something qualifies as traumatic. If it felt overwhelming or life-threatening to you at the time, then it was real trauma. Things like emotional abuse, bullying, accidents, or even medical procedures can be traumatic if they left you feeling helpless or afraid.

  • The difference between trauma and PTSD is that trauma is what happened to you, while PTSD is how your brain and body might respond afterward when they're having trouble processing what happened. Everyone who experiences trauma doesn't automatically develop PTSD, and that's completely normal. PTSD means those trauma symptoms like flashbacks, nightmares, or feeling constantly on edge have stuck around for more than a month and are making daily life really hard.

  • What you should expect in your first trauma therapy session is a safe space focused on helping you feel comfortable and in control. Your first trauma therapy session is about building trust and understanding what brought you to therapy, not diving into traumatic details right away. We'll talk about what you're hoping will change and what therapy might look like for you. You don't need to worry about what to expect in your first trauma therapy session - there's no pressure to share anything you're not ready to talk about.

  • Yes, it's completely normal to feel worse before you feel better in trauma therapy , this actually shows that the healing process is working. When you feel worse before better in trauma therapy, it's often because your nervous system is starting to process things it's been pushing down. Think of it like cleaning out an infected wound - it might hurt more at first, but it's part of getting better. We'll prepare you for this and give you lots of tools to manage those tougher days.

  • Yes, trauma therapy can absolutely help you even if you don't remember much about what happened, your body remembers even when your mind doesn't. When you don't remember trauma clearly, it's often because your brain protected you by blocking out those memories. But trauma therapy, especially somatic approaches, works with how the trauma is stored in your nervous system and body, not just your conscious memories. You don't need to remember everything to heal from what happened.

  • If you're scared that trauma therapy will open up things you can't handle, that fear makes perfect sense , your brain is trying to protect you from more pain. When people worry about trauma therapy opening things up, I remind them that good trauma therapy is designed to help you handle difficult feelings, not overwhelm you. We'll build your coping skills first, go super slowly, and you're always in control of the pace. Many people find that facing their trauma in a safe space actually makes it feel less scary over time.

  • Yes, trauma therapy can definitely help you stop having nightmares and flashbacks, these are some of the main things we work on in trauma treatment. When trauma therapy helps with nightmares and flashbacks, it's because we're helping your brain understand that the danger is over. EMDR is especially good for reducing flashbacks because it helps your brain file away the traumatic memory properly so it stops feeling like it's happening right now. Most people notice their nightmares and flashbacks getting less intense or frequent within a few weeks of starting trauma therapy.

  • Yes, it's completely normal for trauma to affect your relationships , trauma changes how safe you feel with other people. When trauma affects relationships, it might show up as having trouble trusting people, feeling like you need to be perfect so no one leaves you, or keeping everyone at arm's length to protect yourself. These are normal ways your brain tries to keep you safe after being hurt. In trauma therapy, we'll work on helping you feel safe in relationships again without having to keep your guard up all the time.

  • Somatic therapy focuses on how trauma gets stored in your body, and somatic therapy helps with trauma by teaching you to notice and release that stored tension and fear. When people ask "what is somatic therapy for trauma," I explain that trauma doesn't just live in your thoughts, it lives in your muscles, breathing, and nervous system. Somatic therapy for trauma helps you learn to track sensations in your body, release stuck survival energy through things like shaking or breathing techniques, and use grounding tools to help your nervous system calm down when it's stuck in "danger mode."

  • Look for therapists who work with trauma and understand the extra challenges you might face based on your background or experiences. It's helpful to find someone who gets how your family or culture might affect how you deal with difficult experiences. Therapists like Zahra Lakhdhir and Suki O'Huallachain create a safe space where you can work on healing without judgment.