Trauma & CPTSD Therapy
Trauma-informed psychotherapy to support safety, regulation, and healing
I am a UKCP-accredited psychotherapist offering trauma-informed therapy to adults in Brighton and online across the UK. I specialise in working with trauma, developmental trauma, PTSD and CPTSD, supporting people whose nervous systems have been shaped by overwhelming or unsafe experiences.
Trauma therapy is not about reliving the past. It is about helping your body and nervous system learn that the danger is no longer happening, and that safety, connection, and choice are possible again.
How Trauma and CPTSD Can Affect You
Trauma can result from a single overwhelming event, repeated experiences over time, or early relational environments where safety, attunement, or protection were inconsistent or absent.
You may notice trauma showing up in ways such as:
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Intrusive memories, flashbacks, or body memories
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Nightmares or disturbed sleep
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Anxiety, panic, or chronic hypervigilance
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Emotional overwhelm or emotional numbness
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Difficulty regulating emotions or feeling “too much” or “not enough”
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A sense of shame, self-criticism, or feeling fundamentally unsafe
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Difficulties in relationships, including fear of closeness, fear of abandonment, or repeated relational patterns
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Feeling disconnected from your body, your emotions, or your sense of self
With complex or developmental trauma (CPTSD), these patterns often developed early in life and can feel deeply ingrained — as if they are “just how you are”. Trauma therapy offers a way to understand these responses as adaptive survival strategies, not personal failures.
Understanding Trauma Through the Nervous System
Trauma profoundly affects the nervous system. When experiences are overwhelming or unsafe, the body learns to prioritise survival over connection, curiosity, and rest.
This can lead to a nervous system that becomes:
Stuck in fight or flight (anxiety, agitation, hypervigilance)
Collapsed into freeze or shutdown (numbness, depression, disconnection)
Rapidly shifting between states, with little sense of stability
In trauma therapy, we work gently and carefully to help your nervous system learn regulation, expand its capacity for safety, and develop more choice in how you respond — both internally and in relationships.
Attachment, Trauma, and Early Relationships
Many people with CPTSD have experienced disruptions in early attachment relationships. When caregivers were unavailable, unpredictable, frightening, or overwhelmed themselves, the nervous system learned that closeness might not be safe or reliable.
This can show up later as:
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Fear of intimacy or dependence
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Strong reactions to perceived rejection or abandonment
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Difficulty trusting others or trusting yourself
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Longing for connection alongside fear of it
The good news is that attachment can be repaired. Through a safe, attuned therapeutic relationship, and by working carefully with regulation and pacing, it is possible to address attachment wounds and soften some of the ruptures created early in life.
How Trauma Therapy With Me Can Help
My approach to trauma and CPTSD therapy is integrative, relational, and nervous-system-informed. We work together to create safety first, before processing traumatic material.
I draw from the following approaches:
EMDR & Attachment-Focused EMDR
EMDR supports the brain’s natural capacity to process traumatic memories that remain “stuck”. Attachment-focused EMDR places particular emphasis on safety, relational themes, and early experiences, making it especially suitable for complex and developmental trauma.
Sensorimotor Psychotherapy
This body-based approach helps you notice and work with trauma responses held in the body, supporting regulation, grounding, and reconnection with physical sensations in a safe and titrated way.
Parts Work & Structural Dissociation
Trauma can lead to different “parts” of the self developing to manage overwhelming experiences. Parts work helps you build understanding and compassion for these inner responses, while structural dissociation offers a framework for working safely with fragmentation without forcing integration too quickly.
Polyvagal-Informed Therapy
Using insights from polyvagal theory, we pay close attention to your nervous system states, helping you recognise them, work with them, and gradually expand your capacity for connection, rest, and emotional flexibility.
Working at a Pace That Feels Safe
Trauma therapy is not about pushing through. It is about listening carefully to your system, respecting its limits, and building capacity over time.
We focus on:
Establishing safety and stability
Strengthening regulation skills
Increasing choice and flexibility
Gently processing trauma when the system is ready
This approach supports healing that is sustainable, respectful, and deeply attuned to your lived experience.
Trauma Therapy in Brighton and Online
I offer trauma and CPTSD therapy in Brighton, as well as online sessions for clients across the UK. Therapy can be short-term and focused, or longer-term, depending on your needs and what feels supportive for you.
If you recognise yourself in any of the experiences described above, you are not broken — your system has adapted to survive. With the right support, change is possible.
Get in Touch
You are welcome to contact me to arrange a free initial consultation, where we can explore what brings you to therapy and whether working together feels like the right fit.
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