We Specialise in Trauma Work

Children and young people's responses to trauma can vary as can their needs for assistance. Some may require longer term specialist counselling and others benefit from shorter spurts provided at different times during their development.

Donna's practice involves supporting the relationship between the children and their parents/carers. In children, trauma, loss and grief are often manifested through behaviours such as anger, anxiety, obsession, aggression and sadness. As a way to address this we support children/young people to understand their feelings. We help them to develop better strategies to gain greater control of their responses to their emotional state, memories and negative thoughts. We teach children techniques to cope with their reactive behaviours to trauma. All techniques are fun activities and address their level of development. Trauma is the ‘fun killer' and so we make trauma fun by working with animal assisted therapy, art, play, dance, drama, music and storytelling. In addition we teach calming and self soothing techniques. Most importantly we assist them to integrate the pieces of the puzzle of their experience and put it together with a sense of meaning. Chloe, aged 13, survivor of "Black Saturday" fires says about us: "Your not forced into talking about something you don't want to talk about" and "We can go to the park and choose what we do to work on it rather than be in the doctors rooms".

Developing a positive relationship between the counsellor and the child/young person is paramount to our work. The children we see often refer to Donna as "Tinkerbelle", sprinkling love dust and Maz as their "fairy god mother" and the young people as "she's cool". Our emphasis is placed on allowing them to process their experience of abuse at their own rate. Trauma often occurs within a relationship and therefore the relationship of the counsellor and the child/young person offers opportunity for transformation in a safe environment with trust and compassion.

You don't have to suffer in silence!

Change can be difficult and at times painful but the process of transformation can lead to a new way of living. This takes bravery but is a step in the right direction.