Healing from trauma comes in small steps that build on each other. These carefully-paced phases follow a non-linear path, so there may be overlaps as you progress.
We start by addressing your most urgent needs. This may mean attending to physical symptoms, helping you to stay grounded and safe, and building your ability to tolerate and manage intense feelings. You will learn sensitive self-care practices to help you with this.
Your body can then begin to release the trauma. Craniosacral therapy, like somatic experiencing and other trauma release practices, uses a 'listening' touch and awareness to support your body to complete this natural process.
I carefully track what is happening in your nervous system, so that trauma held in your body as emotional energy can be safely discharged.
Your body will present what needs to be worked on at the right time, without your having to decide what to work on, and with no need for you to consciously recall the details of what happened. For birth and early childhood trauma, there may be no words.
We follow a finely-balanced approach of touching on the trauma and continuing to build your ability to handle the experience. Eventually the emotional charge around the trauma dissolves permanently.
Beyond releasing the trauma energy through bodywork and reducing your symptoms, there are further stages of healing. You may find you want to understand and come to terms with what happened, rebuild your relationship to yourself and others, and access a deep centre that was never touched by the trauma.
The time needed for recovery is different for everyone. It is sometimes possible to resolve a traumatic experience in a relatively short time. However, healing complex or long-standing trauma safely is a process that requires patience, for all that we understandably want to fix things as quickly as possible.
It's helpful to remember that the thinking mind alone doesn't know how to heal you, but your body knows the way through. Your heart also plays its part, as gentleness towards yourself is healing and frees you to open up to the new way of being that comes with trauma recovery.