Trauma Counselling

Trauma is not only about what happened. It is about how those experiences continue to live in your body and mind.

Trauma can result from a single overwhelming event or from ongoing experiences such as neglect, emotional invalidation, or repeated stress. What makes an experience traumatic is not just the event itself, but the sense of fear, helplessness, or disconnection that comes with it.

People often associate trauma with extreme events, but it can also include:

difficult childhood experiences
relationship wounds
medical or health-related experiences
ongoing stress without adequate support

What the Research Shows

Trauma is more common than many people realize.

Large-scale studies on adverse childhood experiences (ACEs) have found that early life stress is strongly associated with later mental and physical health challenges
Trauma can affect how the brain processes threat, emotion, and memory
Research by Bessel van der Kolk highlights that trauma is often held in the body, not just in thoughts
Work, Trauma and Recovery: The Aftermath of Violence, by Judith Herman emphasizes the impact of trauma on safety, connection, and sense of self (This is one of the best books I have ever read)

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These findings help us understand that trauma responses are not signs of weakness. They are adaptations to overwhelming experiences.

How Trauma Can Show Up

Trauma can affect people in different ways, sometimes in ways that are not immediately obvious.

You may notice:

feeling on edge, tense, or easily overwhelmed
emotional numbness or disconnection
intrusive memories or difficulty letting go of the past
strong reactions that feel hard to control
difficulty trusting others or feeling safe in relationships
a persistent sense that something is “not quite right”

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Research in trauma and stress has shown that these responses are linked to how the nervous system adapts to overwhelming experiences, particularly in relation to the fight, flight, freeze, or shutdown responses.

How Counselling Can Help

Trauma healing is not about “getting over it.” It is about making sense of what happened and how it has affected you, while building new experiences of safety and connection.

In counselling, we may focus on:

developing a sense of safety and grounding
understanding your emotional and physical responses
gently exploring past experiences when appropriate
reconnecting with your body and emotions
rebuilding trust in yourself and in relationships

Where Do I Begin?

If something in these pages resonates with you, you are welcome to reach out. You can share as much or as little as you feel comfortable with, whether it’s a brief question or a few thoughts about what you’re going through.

I’m Jack Wong, a Registered Social Worker in Vancouver, and I offer counselling support tailored to your needs. You can contact me by email or through the contact form. From there, we can arrange a free 15-30 minute consultation to see if this feels like a good fit for you.

Book A Free Consultation Now

Loneliness Hub is gratefully located on the territories of the the xʷməθkʷəy̓əm (Musqueam), Sḵwx̱wú7mesh (Squamish), and səlilwətaɬ/Selilwitulh (Tsleil-Waututh) Nations.

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