What is trauma informed counselling and how can it help you heal?

In recent years, the term “trauma-informed” has made its way into counselling, education, healthcare, and even workplaces. But what does it actually mean when therapy is trauma-informed — and how does that impact your healing?

Whether you’ve lived through a major traumatic event or are simply navigating ongoing stress, grief, or emotional overwhelm, trauma-informed counselling offers a softer, more sustainable path to support. It centres on one simple, powerful principle: healing happens best when we feel safe, seen, and in control.

What is Trauma?

First, let’s expand the definition.

Trauma isn’t only about war zones or catastrophic events. It’s also about how your nervous system responds to what happened — and whether you had the support to process it.

Dr. Gabor Maté puts it this way:

“Trauma is not what happens to you. It’s what happens inside you as a result of what happened to you.”

That might include:

• Chronic stress or emotional neglect

• Feeling unseen or unsupported during difficult times

• Living or working in high-pressure, high-empathy environments (like support work, health care, or remote communities)

These experiences may not be labelled "trauma" by others, but your body remembers. And often, the way we adapt to these experiences — through people-pleasing, anxiety, emotional shutdown, or burnout — becomes part of our everyday life.

What Makes Counselling Trauma-Informed?

Trauma-informed counselling isn’t a technique — it’s a lens. It recognises that many people seeking support have experienced some form of trauma (big or small), and that healing requires more than just talking about it.

A trauma-informed approach includes:

• Safety: Sessions are designed to feel emotionally, relationally, and physically safe.

• Choice: You are always in control of how much you share and when.

• Collaboration: Your voice is respected; you're not being "fixed" — you're being supported.

• Empowerment: The process aims to reconnect you with your strengths, not just your struggles.

• Cultural humility & context: Your background, identity, and social environment are considered.

This approach is informed by frameworks like the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA)’s six core principles of trauma-informed care, and is increasingly being recognised in Australia through the Blue Knot Foundation and the AASW’s practice guidelines.

Why It Matters

When therapy is trauma-informed, you don’t have to explain or justify your reactions. There’s space for nuance, silence, and uncertainty — without pressure.

Recent studies support this approach. A 2023 review in the Journal of Psychosocial Rehabilitation and Mental Health found that trauma-informed care significantly improved client engagement, reduced dropouts, and helped reduce re-traumatisation in mental health settings.

In other words: it works — not just in theory, but in practice.

Who Is It For?

Many people assume trauma-informed counselling is only for those with a diagnosed mental health condition or significant trauma history. But actually, it's ideal for anyone who:

• Has felt misunderstood or unsafe in previous counselling

• Is highly sensitive, empathetic, or burnt out

• Struggles with anxiety, emotional overwhelm, or chronic stress

• Works in care-based professions and holds space for others

• Wants a holistic and body-aware approach to mental health

What It Looks Like in Session

At HOLOS, a trauma-informed session might include:

• Exploring your current emotional state through gentle check-ins

• Supporting your nervous system with grounding tools like breathwork or somatic awareness

• Holding space for grief, confusion, or contradiction — without needing to “fix” it

• Offering structure and choice in how we work together (e.g. talk therapy, mindfulness, journaling prompts)

Most importantly, it’s never rushed. You set the pace.

Final Thoughts

You don’t need to be in crisis to seek support.
And you don’t need to have the “right words” to start.

Trauma-informed counselling offers a grounded, compassionate space where your experience is valid — and healing can unfold, one layer at a time.

If you’re curious about what this kind of therapy could look like for you, I invite you to reach out or book a free discovery call. You’re not too much. You’re not too late. And you’re not alone.

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