Trauma
Trauma refers to the physical or emotional response to a deeply disturbing experience. Acute trauma results from single, concrete incidents like car accidents or assaults. Complex trauma or chronic trauma can occur due to ongoing neglect, abuse, or harm taking place over a prolonged period of time.
Although there's now more societal recognition of the impact of trauma, it is still often misunderstood. For example, you may recognize that you’ve experienced trauma, but you might also downplay what happened or question whether it was “that bad.” Furthermore, many people with trauma histories struggle with uncertainty, unsure of how their past experiences have truly affected them.
At Boreal Therapy Collective, we offer a variety of trauma-focused treatments, including eye movement desensitization and reprocessing (EMDR), cognitive behavioral therapy (trauma-focused CBT), deep brain reorienting (DBR), and accelerated resolution therapy (ART). Trauma-focused therapy offers compassion, hope, and healing, We are proud to provide services for people of all ages, including children, teens, and adults.
Common Trauma Symptoms
No two people reconcile traumatic experiences quite the same, and trauma-related symptoms vary in type and intensity. They may ebb and flow based on life circumstances, but stress almost always heightens them. Unresolved trauma, in particular, can impact your quality of life and make relationships and everyday functioning quite challenging.
Hypervigilance: Hypervigilance is one of the most common PTSD symptoms, and it refers to feeling overly anxious or alert in typical situations. This makes it hard to relax, as you may be constantly scanning for threats or harm.
Avoidance behaviours: Avoidance may entail staying away from situations, places, or people that remind you of the traumatic event. This avoidance may be conscious or unconscious. Avoidance can also come in the form of emotional numbness, refusal to address traumatic experiences, or using mood-altering substances to cope with intense feelings.
Mood swings: Traumatic experiences may correlate with mood swings, which refer to rapid shifts in emotions, including intense anger, sadness, fear, or anxiety. People with post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) or other trauma-related disorders often struggle to regulate their emotions.
Dissociation: Dissociation happens when you feel disconnected from your own body or external surroundings. You may be dissociating if you resonate with having memory gaps or 'zoning out' for periods of time. This may be your body attempting to protect you from experiencing physical, emotional, or psychological harm.
Flashbacks or intrusive thoughts: Traumatic memories may be relived through vivid memories, scary nightmares, or intense emotions. These often coincide with feelings of terror or panic, and they may reinforce negative beliefs about yourself or the world around you.
Anxiety disorders or depression: Trauma is a risk factor for numerous mental health conditions, including mood disorders, anxiety disorders, substance abuse, eating disorders, and more. It's also often an underlying factor of self-harm and suicide.
How Can Trauma Therapy Help?
If you have experienced trauma, you may struggle with feeling "stuck" in parts of your past. You might find yourself repeating unwanted cycles or engaging in undesirable behaviours. Treating trauma doesn't necessarily entail going into depth about what happened - instead, it's about reconnecting with yourself, learning how to regulate when you feel activated, and building a foundation of resilience.
Process traumatic memories safely: The therapy process within trauma-informed therapy honors safety above all else. A trauma therapist understands and works with trauma symptoms, including anger, avoidance, dissociation, or anxiety right within the therapy session. You will have a safe and supportive environment to work through your trauma at a manageable pace.
Recognize your trauma triggers: Some trauma reminders are obvious, but others are more insidious or covert. For example, you may not recognize that someone slightly raising their voice is reminiscent of a parent yelling at you when you were younger. But your body may automatically tighten, and you might find yourself engaging in people-pleasing tendencies the same way you did as a child. Learning about your triggers can help you recognize when you're activated. That increases your ability to pause and change how you react.
How Can Trauma Therapy Help?
Learn better emotional regulation skills: Because trauma can make people quick to anger, guilt, fear, sadness, or other strong emotions, improving the capacity to regulate emotions is paramount. Trauma treatment reinforces various coping skills, including grounding techniques, somatic awareness, positive affirmations, and other methods to support a calmer nervous system.
Reduce unwanted coping strategies: It's not uncommon for trauma survivors to struggle with compulsive behaviours or interpersonal difficulties. These behaviours aren't "bad" or "wrong"- they are adaptive strategies intended to help you survive. However, they may be exacerbating unwanted stress. In therapy, you will learn new ways to manage distress to replace unwanted responses with more proactive ones.
Strengthen your self-esteem: Many people with histories of trauma struggle with their self-esteem or self-worth. You may be holding onto a deep sense of shame, making it difficult to stay present in life or enjoy your relationships. Therapy may help you increase your self-esteem by helping you focus on your inner strengths, practice healthy coping skills, and set needed boundaries in daily life.
Trauma Therapy in Fort McMurray
How to Start Trauma Therapy
Beginning therapy with Boreal Therapy Collective is easy and requires no referral. You can book your initial assessment here.
Understanding Length of Therapy and Treatment
Your first appointment will be 90-minutes long. For all future appointments, you can choose to book for 1 hour or 90-minutes. During your first appointment, your therapist will ask you questions to better understand you and your areas of struggle. This is known as an assessment. Depending on how much you share, the assessment phase can last anywhere from one to three appointments. The assessment is critical. It helps you and your therapist understand your goals, and it helps your therapist develop a treatment plan to support you in achieving these goals.
After the assessment is complete, treatment begins! In the treatment phase, you will be introduced to a variety of skills to practice and implement to better manage your symptoms. Most people will have a therapy session every two weeks, and we recommend this for optimal treatment. Effective therapy typically takes somewhere between six to twelve appointments (for some more, others less). Many choose to continue therapy once formal treatment is complete. This is referred to as maintenance. People who do this typically have an appointment once every six to eight weeks. This is not a requirement and is a matter of personal choice.
Trauma Therapy at Boreal Therapy Collective
Where We Are Located
We’re located at 8530 Manning Avenue, Unit 104. You’ll find us in the Service Canada building (on the side of the building that faces the Clearwater River). To check out our space, click here.
Parking is located at the front and back of the building. The front parking lot is closer to us but tends to fill up quickly. There is also an empty dirt lot adjacent to our office that many use for parking. If you park at the back (where Service Canada is located), you can walk around the building to reach our office. To learn more about parking, click here.
Importantly, you do not need to be in town for treatment. We offer in-person and virtual therapy and our therapists are happy to provide whatever option works best for you!
Rates & Benefit Coverage
Initial assessments are billed at a rate of $330.00 for a 90-minute appointment. Follow-up sessions are billed at a rate of $220.00/hour or $330.00/90-minutes (you can choose your preferred appointment length when booking).
Our social workers offer direct billing to 25+ benefit providers. Many benefit providers will cover a portion or the whole amount of your therapy session. With your consent, we will always direct bill your benefit provider first. Please note that our Registered Psychiatric Nurses are typically ineligible for direct billing.
If we are unable to direct bill, you can pay via email money transfer or credit card. You will be given a receipt once payment has been collected. For more information, click here.
