Trauma Therapy in Portsmouth & Southsea

Steady. Safe. Healing.

Trauma & EMDR

Have you been through something traumatic and feel unable to move past it? You might notice:

Intrusive memories or flashbacks
Feeling constantly on edge
Avoiding certain places, people, or reminders
Sudden waves of emotion that don't match what's happening right now
A sense that your nervous system is stuck in the past

Trauma doesn't always look dramatic — it isn't only about one catastrophic event. It can be cumulative stress, relational wounds, medical trauma, workplace trauma, or simply years of holding more than you were ever meant to carry alone. Whatever form it's taken, if something happened that your mind and body haven't been able to fully process, that's not a failure on your part — it's simply how trauma works. Your system did what it needed to do to get you through, and now it deserves the chance to finish what it started.

I offer EMDR (Eye Movement Desensitisation and Reprocessing Therapy), a NICE guideline-approved approach that helps your nervous system safely process what it hasn't been able to resolve on its own. We start with stabilisation and safety, making sure you have the resources to feel grounded, and then move gently, at your pace — never further or faster than feels right for you. The goal isn't to erase your past. It's to help it finally stop running your present, so you can meet today without yesterday constantly pulling at you.

Attachment and Relational Trauma

If you're wondering whether relational or attachment trauma might be part of your story, here's what it can often look like:

Feeling like you have to earn love or approval through achievement or performance
Difficulty trusting that people will stay, or that you're loved without conditions
A strong urge to please others, even at your own expense
Perfectionism, or a fear of making mistakes
Struggling to rest or feel worthy of care without "doing" something first
Hypervigilance to other people's moods, needs, or reactions
Difficulty setting boundaries or saying no
A persistent sense of not being "enough," even when there's no clear reason for it
Burnout, exhaustion, or emotional numbness from constantly overgiving
Discomfort with closeness, or swinging between wanting connection and pulling away

These patterns often trace back to early relationships where love felt conditional, inconsistent, or something that had to be earned — and they made complete sense as ways of staying safe and connected at the time. With the right support, it's possible to gently unlearn them and build relationships, including the one with yourself, that feel steadier and safer.