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If you are a first responder, you are society’s frontline of protection and safety. But who is there for you? Who do you get to call when you need support? Our culture expects you to show no emotion, act with speed, flawless judgment, and instinct. This trained and lived hypervigilance taxes your nervous system, making civilian and family life difficult and maybe even unbearable. This state of chronic stress and overwhelm does not end with each shift, it becomes a way of living. It shows up in all areas of your personal and professional life, including:

• Struggling to focus at work and home
  
• Inability to find joy in life or things you once enjoyed
  
• Substance abuse or other addictions
  
• Strained relationships with family and loved ones
  
• Difficulty relaxing, even on days off
  

What if it could be different? Our work together in therapy can support and explore these challenges. Using evidence-based interventions and techniques, we collaborate with you – you are always in control of your journey. This is your healing at your pace:

• Address and process traumatic experiences
  
• Develop coping strategies to manage stress and anxiety
  
• Cultivate resilience and emotional well-being
  
• Strengthen relationships and communication skills
  

Trauma is the Greek work for ‘wound.’ Trauma is not the event or the occurrence, it is the injury

sustained as a result of the event. There are many forms of trauma and it shows up in several different ways. If you have experienced catastrophic life events, loss, ongoing abuse or neglect, deep betrayal by a person or an organization that was meant to protect you…these are all forms of trauma. You may be experiencing:

• PTSD symptoms: no felt sense of safety, hypervigilance, anxiety and sleep disturbances
  
• Addiction, risky or self-harming behaviours
  
• Difficulty regulating or understanding emotions, or having no emotion at all
  
• Chronic physical pain or symptoms such as fatigue, digestive concerns and/or headaches
  
• Disconnection from your body or lack of self-identity
  

In therapy, we focus on safety and stability first, allowing you to set the pace. There are no judgements or expectations of you in this compassionate relationship. Trauma therapy can take many forms, and you will always be in control. Using a number of evidence-based treatments, we will walk with you towards:

• Carefully revisiting past events through EMDR and Somatic work, and reprocessing painful memories to lower activation levels.
  
• Offering insight into how your nervous system’s survival responses have been activated to keep you alive, and how you can allow them to settle
• Cultivating a safe therapeutic space to explore the needs that were not met when the trauma injury occurred
  

No words or therapy can bring a loved one back or change a situation that has been changed forever. Grief and loss can feel unbearable and we often wonder if it will ever subside. Your grief journey is uniquely yours and you may wonder if anyone could possibly relate to what you are feeling. It can be so complicated when you are not allowed to grieve the way you need to. There is no set timeline or playbook for how grief moves through us and you may be experiencing:

• Intense feelings of sadness, anger, guilt, or numbness
  
• Difficulty concentrating or making decisions
  
• Changes in appetite, sleep patterns, or energy levels
  
• Waves of intense emotions triggered by reminders of the loss
  
• survivors guilt

In therapy, we provide a compassionate and understanding space for individuals to explore their grief journey. Through empathetic support and evidence-based interventions, we work together to:

• Validate and honour the unique experience of grief, without judgment or expectation
  
• Facilitate the expression and processing of emotions in a safe and supportive environment
  
• Develop coping strategies to manage the challenges of grief, such as self-care practices and relaxation techniques
  
• Explore ways to commemorate and remember the lost loved one in meaningful ways
  
• Navigate the complexities of adjusting to life after loss and finding a sense of meaning and purpose
  

Do you start to feel unwell or restless on Sunday evenings? Do you have chronic neck and shoulder pain or body aches, gastrointestinal upset or other physical symptoms that don’t have a medical explanation? When you go on vacation, do your physical symptoms subside? Corporate burnout is widespread, throughout all industries and demographics. You may find yourself:

• Experiencing chronic stress and exhaustion, even outside of working hours
  
• Ongoing physical symptoms such as headaches, insomnia, or digestive issues
• Feeling a sense of disillusionment or detachment from their job and company culture
  
• Struggling to maintain motivation and engagement in their work

In therapy, we foster a supportive and non-judgmental space for you to work through your experiences and explore more beneficial ways of being. Our personalized approach using evidence-based solutions allows us to collaborate to:

• Cultivate self-care practices to nurture physical, emotional, and mental well-being
  
• Explore values, passions, and career aspirations to align work with personal goals and fulfillment
  
• Foster resilience and empower individuals to navigate workplace challenges effectively
  
• Identify and address underlying factors contributing to burnout, such as perfectionism or workaholism
• Develop practical strategies for managing stress and promoting work-life balance

Family estrangement has so many layers of pain and trauma, then shame and guilt often get layered on top of it. It is hard for society to understand how family members can choose distance and firm boundaries. Judgment can be incredibly harsh. If you have been forced to choose your mental and physical health and safety over relationships with family members, you know this pain. If you are the person that has been “boundaried”, cut off or distanced from someone, this pain runs deep. I work with parents, adult children and siblings on both sides of this complicated rift. If you find yourself experiencing these or other challenges:

• Guilt or shame about prioritizing your needs
  
• Increased anxiety and overwhelm surrounding holidays and family events
  
• Questioning your self-worth and identity
  
• Difficulty trusting others in relationships
  
• Loneliness and isolation
  

In therapy, we offer a non-judgmental, safe space to process the complex experiences and narratives that can lead to estrangement. Through a client-centred approach, I support clients in:

• Validate and process complex emotions surrounding the estrangement
  
• Identify underlying patterns or dynamics contributing to the estrangement
  
• Develop healthy coping mechanisms for managing distress and uncertainty
  
• Foster self-compassion and cultivate a sense of personal agency
  
• Explore possibilities for reconciliation or establishing healthy boundaries
  

Emotionally abusive relationships can be so damaging to our identity and self-worth, that we rarely realize we are in them. Complex emotional layers of confusion, shame, anger, and betrayal can erode our sense of what “normal” is and we question ourselves and our judgment. Survivors of narcissistic abuse often find themselves having to rediscover their identity, their independence, and their joy. You may experience:

• self-doubt and low self-esteem
  
• isolation from family and friends
  
• persistent feelings of shame and guilt
  
• difficulty establishing and maintaining healthy relationships and boundaries
  

In therapy, we provide a compassionate and validating space for survivors to explore their experiences and heal from the trauma of narcissistic abuse. Through trauma-informed care and specialized interventions, we collaborate to:

• Validate and normalize survivors' experiences, helping to reduce feelings of isolation and self-blame
  
• Rebuild self-esteem and self-worth through exploration of individual strengths and values
  
• Develop healthy coping strategies for managing triggers and emotional distress
  
• Cultivate assertiveness and boundary-setting skills to navigate future relationships safely
  
• Process and integrate the trauma in a way that promotes healing and resilience
  

Therapeutic

Approaches

THERAPY WITH VANESSA

My Healing space | counselling & psychotherapy | across canada

249-444-0512

vanessa@myhealingspacetherapy.com

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We acknowledge with gratitude the traditional territory of the Indigenous peoples who have stewarded this land for generations, including the Anishinaabe peoples, the Chippewas of Georgina Island First Nation, the Mississaugas of Scugog Island First Nation, and the Huron-Wendat peoples. We recognize the enduring connection that Indigenous peoples have to this land, and we honor their past, present, and future contributions to this territory. As we continue to inhabit and benefit from this land, we commit to cultivating relationships of respect, understanding, and reconciliation with Indigenous communities. We acknowledge that this journey requires ongoing learning and unlearning, challenging ingrained perspectives and biases to foster a more inclusive and equitable society for all.

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