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Understanding Trauma 

Because your body’s defenses were never the problem—they were the start of the story

What Is Trauma?

Trauma is not just what happens to us—it’s what happens inside us when we face overwhelming, painful, or unsafe experiences, especially without the support, safety, or care we needed. These experiences can leave deep imprints on our bodies, minds, relationships, and nervous systems.

Whether your trauma is personal, relational, systemic, or generational—you are not alone, and healing is possible.

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Trauma includes:

  • “Big T” trauma: abuse, accidents, disasters, violence

  • “Small t” trauma: chronic shame, emotional neglect, microaggressions, rejection

  • Relational trauma: feeling unseen, unsafe, or unworthy in key relationships

  • Systemic trauma: racism, ableism, homophobia, colonialism, poverty

  • Sexual trauma: abuse, assault, boundary violations

 

All trauma matters. If it overwhelmed your capacity to cope and left an imprint—it’s valid.

Childhood PTSD

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Childhood trauma doesn’t just live in the past—it lives in the nervous system, shaping the protective patterns the body learned to survive. When early experiences were marked by fear, neglect, chaos, or emotional disconnection, the developing brain and body adapted in ways that made sense at the time.

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These adaptations often show up later as anxiety, chronic dysregulation, dissociation, people-pleasing, relationship difficulties, or deep feelings of shame and unworthiness.

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Childhood PTSD—sometimes called Complex PTSD (CPTSD)—often results from prolonged or repeated trauma during formative years, such as emotional neglect, abuse, or growing up in an environment where emotional needs were unmet.

 

The landmark Adverse Childhood Experiences (ACEs) study highlights how early trauma impacts long-term physical and mental health, demonstrating that sustained stress alters brain areas responsible for threat response, memory, and regulation.

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CPTSD can affect not only responses to triggers but also identity, emotional regulation, trust, and relationships. People with CPTSD may experience persistent feelings of emptiness, difficulty with boundaries, and challenges in forming secure attachments.

 

Healing requires trauma-informed, compassionate care that addresses nervous system dysregulation and helps rebuild a coherent sense of self.

 

While the effects of childhood trauma can feel overwhelming, recovery and resilience are possible with the right support.

Sexual Violence and Abuse

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Sexual violence deeply impacts every aspect of a person’s life—shaking the very foundations of safety, trust, autonomy, and body sovereignty. Survivors often carry complex, overlapping wounds: shame, fear, numbness, hypervigilance, dissociation, and confusion.

 

When the violation comes at the hands of someone known or trusted, the sense of betrayal can compound the trauma, making healing feel even more daunting.

 

Sexual trauma can affect how you relate to your body, your emotions, and your relationships. It can create barriers to feeling grounded, present, or safe, and it often rewires the nervous system to stay alert for threat long after the danger has passed.

 

No matter what happened, you are never at fault. Sexual violence is a violation of your fundamental human rights. Healing is not only possible—it is your birthright.

 

This journey can be challenging, but it can also be deeply transformative. Through somatic awareness, relational support, and trauma-informed care, you can reclaim your power, rediscover your resilience, and reconnect with your whole self.You are seen. You are heard. You are worthy of healing.

Systemic Trauma

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Trauma doesn’t happen in a vacuum. It is shaped not only by personal experiences, but by the systems we live within—systems that have often dehumanized, excluded, or harmed entire communities.

 

Systemic trauma arises from the chronic stress and harm caused by structural oppression. This includes:

  • Racism, colonization, and anti-Blackness – Generations of violence, displacement, and cultural erasure have left deep imprints on individual and collective nervous systems. 

  • Capitalism, poverty, and economic injustice – The relentless pressure to produce, survive, and succeed under exploitative systems can create chronic stress, burnout, and a sense of worth tied to productivity. 

  • Transphobia, homophobia, and gendered violence – Living in a world that questions, attacks, or invalidates your identity can lead to hypervigilance, internalized shame, and ongoing fear for safety and belonging.

  • Ableism and medical trauma – Many disabled, neurodivergent, or chronically ill people face systemic neglect, pathologization, or exclusion, often compounded by the trauma of being disbelieved or misdiagnosed.

  • Carceral systems and forced assimilation – For many communities systems of control and punishment (including policing, prisons, psychiatric hospitals, and immigration enforcement) have inflicted collective and intergenerational trauma.

 

Systemic trauma is chronic, collective, and often invisible. It shows up in bodies and behaviors that are pathologized by the very systems that caused the harm. It can look like hypervigilance, dissociation, rage, fatigue, or deep mistrust—responses that make perfect sense when surviving oppressive conditions.

How the Body Holds Trauma

Trauma lives in the nervous system, not just the mind. It may show up as:

  • Chronic stress, pain, fatigue

  • Gut or hormonal imbalances

  • Anxiety, panic, dissociation

  • Shutdown, numbness, or self-blame

  • Patterns in relationships (avoidance, overgiving, mistrust)

These symptoms are your body’s way of protecting you. They make sense in the context of what you’ve been through.

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Trauma & Epigenetics + Intergenerational Trauma

Trauma can be passed down not just through behaviors, but also biologically. Epigenetic research shows that trauma impacts gene expression—meaning our ancestors' pain can live in our nervous systems, affecting how we respond to stress, form relationships, or feel in our bodies.

Intergenerational trauma can come from:

  • Family histories of war, migration, or genocide

  • Oppression, systemic violence, or colonization

  • Unprocessed grief or unspoken harm passed down in silence

In our work, we honor and integrate ancestral grief, survival, and resilience—breaking cycles with compassion and presence.

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How I Support Trauma Healing

I support people of all ages—children, teens, and adults—who are living with the effects of trauma. My work integrates:

This work is collaborative and paced by you. You will never be pushed or pathologized.​
 

You Are Not Alone

Trauma is widespread:

  • 70% of adults experience at least one traumatic event

  • 1 in 6 children live with complex or chronic trauma

  • Communities targeted by oppression carry layers of trauma and resilience

 

You are not too much. You are not too late. Healing is possible—and you don’t have to do it alone.

Let’s reclaim safety, connection, and aliveness—together.

Trauma-Informed Parenting & Family Healing

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You don’t have to repeat the past. I help parents and caregivers:

  • Understand your child’s behavior through a trauma lens

  • Repair after conflict without shame or punishment

  • Regulate your own nervous system to co-regulate with your child

  • Heal your inner child while raising your own

  • Navigate parenting while neurodivergent, queer, or in marginalized bodies

  • Support children with sensory sensitivities or trauma histories

Parenting with presence—even when it's messy—is enough. Repair is more powerful than perfection.

Supporting Schools, Organizations & Professionals

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Trauma is not just individual—it lives in our classrooms, systems, and institutions. I offer trauma-informed support for:

  • Schools and educators

  • Clinicians and caregivers

  • Community organizations

  • Therapy groups and healing spaces

Workshops and Consultations

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  • Understanding the impact of trauma on behavior, learning, and health

  • Embodying co-regulation and nervous system literacy

  • Creating trauma-informed, anti-oppressive spaces

  • Supporting neurodivergent, queer, and racialized communities

  • Building repair-centered relationships in institutions

Whether you’re a teacher, therapist, or organizer, I can help you bring more safety, empathy, and trauma awareness into your work.

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Get in Touch

Located at the junction of Lansdowne and Dundas in Tkaronto (Toronto). 

Come as you are. We’re ready when you are.

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Forest Trees

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I live and practice on the traditional territory of many nations, including the Mississaugas of the Credit, the Anishinaabeg, the Chippewa, the Haudenosaunee, and the Wendat peoples, in what is traditionally called Tkaronto, covered by Treaty 13 with the Mississaugas of the Credit.

 

This land has long been a place of meeting and care for many Indigenous communities.I acknowledge the ongoing presence and stewardship of Indigenous peoples, and the lasting impacts of colonization and systemic violence.

 

As a settler and uninvited guest, I commit to learning, unlearning, and working in solidarity toward justice, healing, and land back. I offer gratitude to the First Peoples for their teachings, and strive to honour their wisdom.​​

Land Aknowledgement

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