You don't have to carry this alone anymore.
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Trauma doesn't come in just one shape. It might have been a single, overwhelming event—an accident, assault, or loss that shattered your sense of safety in the world. Or it might be the accumulated weight of prolonged experiences: growing up in an unpredictable environment, years of emotional or physical harm, or a series of losses that never fully resolved.
Some trauma is relational—the wounds we carry from how we were treated, neglected, or misunderstood by people who mattered. Some is developmental, shaping how we learned to protect ourselves and relate to the world. And some is complex, weaving together multiple threads of harm over time.
This isn't weakness. This is our body doing exactly what it's designed to do: protect us from further harm. The problem is that the alarm system got stuck on, and now it's working against you instead of for you.
If something here is landing, you don't have to read to the end before reaching out.
Book a free 15-minute call ↓The work moves in a recognisable arc — stabilisation, processing, integration. This shape isn't mine: it sits across every serious trauma tradition I draw from.
The work most people imagine when they hear "trauma therapy" — the digging in and uncovering — is what happens in phase two. Phase one comes first, and it's where most of the early work lives. We slow down enough for your nervous system to know it's no longer inside the thing that happened. We build the capacity to feel difficult things without being flooded by them. We work with what's already steady in your life — relationships, rhythms, places, practices — and add to it. None of this is window dressing. It's what makes the rest of the work possible, and it's the part most therapists shorten or skip past. I don't.
Once the nervous system has more capacity, the trauma material itself starts to move. Not by recounting it from start to finish — that often re-stages the overwhelm without resolving anything — but by following the body's own pace as it begins to finish what got interrupted: the impulse that was held back, the breath that never came, the response that never landed. Sometimes the work is somatic. Sometimes it's relational. Sometimes it's making meaning of what didn't make sense before. The pace is yours, and we don't move faster than your system can hold.
The integration phase isn't only about feeling better. It's about what you do with the capacity that's come back — how you trust again, what risks you take, what kind of life you build now that the old one isn't holding you hostage. Some people stay in this phase a long time. Some don't need to. The work shifts from processing into a steady relationship in which to think out loud as the new shape settles. You decide when we're done.
This three-phase arc isn't original to any one practitioner. It was first described by Pierre Janet at the end of the nineteenth century, formalised in its modern form by Judith Herman in Trauma and Recovery (1992), and built into the sequenced complex-trauma protocols developed by Christine Courtois and Julian Ford. It runs through the traditions I draw on — the Three Pillars of Integrative Attachment Therapy (Brown & Elliott), Somatic Experiencing (Levine), Sensorimotor Psychotherapy (Ogden) — and through the six-domain trauma model my supervisor, Dr Tra-ill Dowie, teaches. When several traditions converge on the same shape, it tends to be because the shape is doing real work.
No. A formal diagnosis isn't necessary. What matters is that you've experienced something too much for you to process alone, and you're struggling with the aftermath. Some people have classic PTSD; others have complex trauma from prolonged experiences or developmental wounds. The label matters less than your experience. Let's talk about what you're carrying.
My approach is designed to prevent retraumatisation. We work at your pace, building safety and stabilisation first. Rather than asking you to relive trauma, we work with your body to process what's stored. You're always in control, and we take care to keep you grounded and resourced throughout the process.
It depends on the nature and extent of the trauma. Single-incident trauma might resolve in 6-12 sessions; complex or developmental trauma typically requires longer work—often 6-12 months or more. We'll assess where you're at in your discovery call and create a realistic timeline. What's important is that healing happens, not that it happens on a predetermined schedule.
Yes. Many people do excellent trauma work online. The relational presence and attunement that makes therapy effective translates well to video sessions. Some aspects of somatic work may be slightly adapted, but the healing is equally powerful. We can discuss whether online works best for you.
Previous therapy experiences, even unsuccessful ones, are valuable information. Sometimes the approach didn't fit, or the timing wasn't right. My integrative somatic approach may resonate differently. The fact that you've tried before shows courage and commitment to healing. Let's explore what might be different this time.
Somatic trauma therapy works directly with the body's incomplete survival responses — the fight, flight, or freeze energy that got stuck during the traumatic event. Rather than primarily processing through eye movements (as in EMDR) or cognitive restructuring (as in CBT), somatic approaches help the nervous system complete these interrupted responses, allowing the body to discharge stored activation and return to a regulated state. Many people find this approach feels safer and more grounded than methods that require detailed verbal recounting of traumatic events.
Yes. My practice is in Kyneton, which is centrally located for clients from across the Macedon Ranges — including Woodend, Gisborne, Mount Macedon, Riddells Creek, Malmsbury, Castlemaine, and Trentham. There's free parking outside 29 High Street. I also offer sessions in Bendigo and online, so wherever you are, we can find a way to work together.
My approach draws on techniques from Somatic Experiencing (Peter Levine) and Sensorimotor Psychotherapy (Pat Ogden), and Level 1 training in the Three Pillars of Integrative Attachment Therapy (Brown & Elliott). I understand that trauma lives in our nervous system, and healing requires working at that level.
I work under clinical supervision with Dr Tra-ill Dowie PhD (dual PhDs in Philosophy and Psychiatry), ensuring the highest standards of care and ethical practice.
Free 15-minute discovery call. Let's discuss your experience and explore whether my approach feels right for your healing journey.
