Monthly Spotlight

Trauma Informed Psychotherapy: An Integrative Approach with a Psychodynamic Lens

Trauma-Informed Psychotherapy: An Integrative Approach with a Psychodynamic Lens

When I work with clients who have experienced trauma, I often start by acknowledging a truth that can feel difficult to say out loud: trauma changes us. It doesn’t just leave memories—it shapes how we see ourselves, how we relate to others, and how we navigate the world. But it’s also true that healing is possible.

My approach to trauma-informed psychotherapy is integrative and deeply rooted in a psychodynamic understanding of the human mind. This means that while I use a variety of therapeutic techniques tailored to your needs, I also focus on how your past experiences—especially in relationships—might be shaping your current emotions, behaviours, and struggles. Together, we look beneath the surface to understand the unconscious patterns that trauma can leave behind, working towards not just relief but transformation.

What makes this approach especially powerful is how an integrative therapy modality complements psychodynamic work. While psychodynamic therapy delves into the unconscious and the relational roots of trauma, integrative therapy allows us to draw on a wide range of evidence-based techniques, tailoring the process to your unique needs. Together, these approaches create a flexible, compassionate framework that honours your experiences and supports your healing on multiple levels.

What Does Trauma-Informed Psychotherapy Look Like with Me?

When you come to therapy, I see you as a whole person—not just as someone with symptoms, but as someone with a story. Trauma-informed care is about creating a safe and compassionate space where that story can unfold at your pace. Using an integrative framework, I weave together psychodynamic insights with other approaches, such as mindfulness, somatic awareness, and cognitive techniques, to help you heal both the emotional and physical imprints of trauma.

With a psychodynamic lens, I help you explore the connections between your past and present, so you can gain insight into how your experiences have shaped your emotions and patterns of behaviour. The integrative element means that we can adapt our work together based on what feels most effective for you in the moment—whether it’s grounding techniques for emotional regulation, somatic work to process trauma stored in the body, or relational exploration to heal attachment wounds.

This work is not about assigning blame or “fixing” you. It’s about creating understanding, fostering connection, and building a pathway towards healing. Trauma can feel like it’s fractured parts of you, and together, we work to bring those parts back into wholeness.

How I Approach Trauma Through an Integrative and Psychodynamic Lens

Trauma is complex. It doesn’t just live in your conscious memory; it can settle into your body, your relationships, and your unconscious mind. By integrating psychodynamic therapy with other modalities, I’m able to address these different layers of trauma in a way that feels both safe and comprehensive. Here’s how this combined approach works in practice:

1. Creating Safety

Safety is the foundation of all trauma work. Whether it’s physical, emotional, or relational, feeling unsafe makes it nearly impossible to heal. My first priority is to create a space where you feel comfortable being yourself. Through integrative techniques like mindfulness and grounding exercises, we can establish a sense of stability, making it easier to explore deeper emotional layers when you’re ready.

2. Building Trust

I know that trust can be hard, especially if your trauma has involved relationships where trust was broken. My role is to provide consistency and clarity, so you know what to expect from our sessions. Psychodynamic work deepens this process by allowing us to explore how your early relationships may have shaped your ability to trust, while integrative methods like narrative therapy help you rewrite your story in a way that feels empowering.

3. Exploring Patterns and the Unconscious

Trauma can leave us stuck in unconscious patterns we don’t fully understand—whether it’s avoiding intimacy, feeling unworthy, or reacting in ways that feel out of proportion to the situation. Psychodynamic therapy helps us uncover the roots of these patterns, while integrative tools like cognitive reframing and somatic experiencing allow us to gently shift them.

For example, if you’ve developed a pattern of self-blame, we might explore where that belief originated in your past, using psychodynamic techniques. At the same time, we can integrate grounding or body-based work to help you release the physical tension that often accompanies shame.

4. The Relationship as a Tool for Healing

One of the most powerful aspects of psychodynamic therapy is that our therapeutic relationship becomes a space for transformation. How you relate to me can reflect how you relate to others, and this gives us an opportunity to explore and shift those dynamics in real time.

With an integrative approach, I also bring in tools to support this relational healing. For instance, we might use visualisation techniques to process feelings of abandonment or mindfulness exercises to help you stay present in moments of vulnerability.

How Trauma Might Be Showing Up for You

In my work, I’ve found that trauma doesn’t always show up in obvious ways. Maybe you’ve been feeling anxious or stuck, or you’re struggling in your relationships but can’t quite pinpoint why. Trauma can manifest as:

• Emotional overwhelm or numbness.

• Struggles with trust or connection in relationships.

• Physical symptoms like chronic pain or fatigue.

• Repeated patterns of behaviour, even when they don’t serve you anymore.

These are not signs of weakness—they’re signs of adaptation. Your mind and body learned to protect you in moments of overwhelm, and those adaptations might still be active, even though they no longer serve you. My role is to help you understand and transform those patterns with compassion, using a combination of psychodynamic exploration and integrative techniques.

What You Can Expect from Working with Me

If we work together, you can expect a therapy process that is collaborative, tailored, and responsive to your needs. My approach includes:

• Insight and Understanding: Psychodynamic therapy helps us connect your past experiences to your current challenges, while integrative methods ensure that this insight translates into practical, meaningful change.

• Emotional Exploration: I’ll guide you as you safely express and process emotions that may have been buried or too painful to face alone, using tools like mindfulness or body-based techniques to help you regulate and release those feelings.

• Relational Healing: We’ll work on strengthening your relationships—both with others and with yourself—by addressing the unconscious patterns that trauma often leaves behind.

• Empowerment: Through this integrative approach, you’ll not only gain a deeper understanding of yourself but also develop the tools and resilience to navigate life with greater confidence and ease.

Why Combine Integrative and Psychodynamic Approaches?

While psychodynamic therapy provides a powerful lens for understanding the roots of trauma, it can sometimes feel abstract or overwhelming when trauma is raw or acute. Integrative therapy allows us to bridge that gap, offering practical tools for managing symptoms and creating safety while still honouring the deeper exploration that psychodynamic work invites.

This combination ensures that therapy is flexible, compassionate, and effective—meeting you where you are and adapting as your needs evolve. Whether we’re addressing unconscious patterns, exploring attachment wounds, or working through somatic sensations, the goal is always the same: to support your healing in a way that feels both meaningful and manageable.

Healing Is Possible

If you’re reading this, you’ve already taken a courageous step by considering therapy. I believe deeply that healing is possible, no matter how long you’ve carried the weight of trauma. My role is to provide a safe, compassionate space where you can explore, heal, and grow—not just into the person you were before the trauma, but into someone even stronger and more connected to yourself.

You are not broken. You are someone who has survived, and that survival is a testament to your resilience. Therapy can help you build on that strength, transforming the impact of trauma into a foundation for growth and self-discovery.

If you feel ready—or even just curious—I’m here to walk alongside you. Healing is a journey, and you don’t have to take it alone, use the get in touch form below or text/WhatsApp/call me…..