In no particular order, I hold a specific interest in treating clients presenting the following symptoms:
Anxiety, Depression, Mood disorders
Dissociation and complex trauma presentations (including parts work approaches where appropriate) & Post-Trauma Growth
Attachment & Relationship issues
Stress-related physical issues, like migraines, IBS, and headaches
ADHD and issues with focus, attention, and executive functioning
Autism/Neurodivergence, ASD, Sensory Processing issue
OCD
Where clinically appropriate, I integrate Neurofeedback and DBR trauma work within an overall psychotherapeutic plan to support regulation and recovery.
A brief overview of Trauma
When we talk about trauma, we think about PTSD or Complex PTSD diagnosis, but it is much wider and more nuanced than these type of diagnosis suggest. Trauma and chronic stress patterns can underlie a wide spectrum of mental and physical health difficulties. Many long-standing patterns (including some diagnoses often labelled “personality disorders” or other severe mental illnesses) can be understood and therapeutically processed through a trauma and attachment lens.
Trauma is the emotional and psychological response to a distressing event that overwhelms a person's ability to cope, and can also refer to physical injury. This response can include a range of symptoms and may have a lasting negative effect on a person's mental, physical, and emotional well-being. It can result from a single incident, such as an accident or natural disaster, or from prolonged, repeated exposure to events like abuse or violence.
Vulnerability to trauma can be shaped early in life by stress, attachment experiences, and later life events.
Developmental trauma refers to the psychological consequences of early and chronic exposure to overwhelming stress, typically in childhood, where a caregiver is either unable to mitigate the stress or is the source of it.
Caregivers own untreated trauma often underpins Intergenerational Trauma, the transmission of trauma symptoms and emotional/psychological effects from one generation to the next where descendants experience psychological, emotional impacts of traumatic events they did not directly witness. Such impact may be associated with biological stress effects as well as psychological and relational patterns. It can occur through genes, behaviour, or environmental factors, causing descendants to exhibit symptoms like anxiety, depression, and difficulty with relationships, even without having directly experienced the original trauma. This phenomenon can stem from a range of events, such as genocide, slavery, war, systemic oppression, and prolonged highly stressful family or other social relationships.
The same traumatic experience affects different people differently. People who grew up with chronic stress, neglect, or insecure attachment may be more vulnerable to trauma symptoms than people who had a more secure attachment. The mix of experiences that have shaped us are unique to each of us and, combined also with our genetic makeup, make each of us more or less vulnerable to traumatic experiences.
“Like a filing cabinet, the past is a resource of information for learning, but it is not a place to live.“ - Anonymous
“It is a joy to be hidden, and disaster not to be found.” - D.W. Winnicott
“There is a crack in everything, that’s how the light gets in” - Leonard Cohen
“Your trauma might or might not have started with you, but it could end with you” - unknown
“I am not defined by my scars, but by the incredible ability to heal.” - Lemn Sissay
“Out beyond ideas of wrongdoing and rightdoing, there is a field. I’ll meet you there.” - Rumi
“And suddenly you realize that silence Has the face of the things you've lost” - translation from “La voce del Silenzio”, Paolo Limiti and Mogol
“I go out looking for You and find You coming towards me.” - Yehudah Halevi
“It was a while before we came to realize that our place was the very house of difference rather the security of any one particular difference.” - Audre Lorde
Only for new clients who contact me via this website, I offer an initial complimentary 20 minute consultation.
W - Get in Touch Here
T - 07803049039
E - Paolo@presentingpast.co.uk
Served areas: Based in Shinfield (Reading, The United Kingdom). I typically work locally (around a 15-mile radius) and online where appropriate. Neurofeedback requires in-person attendance.