Childhood Trauma & the Nervous System
Childhood experiences can continue to shape how we feel, relate and respond long into adulthood. You may notice yourself becoming overwhelmed easily, shutting down, constantly anticipating what might go wrong, struggling to set boundaries, or repeating relationship patterns you understand intellectually but find difficult to change.
Trauma-informed therapy offers a space to explore these patterns while also paying attention to what is happening in the body and nervous system. Rather than focusing only on the story of what happened, we can gently explore how past experiences may still be showing up in the present.
How childhood trauma can show up in adulthood
Childhood trauma does not always come from one particular event. It can also develop through ongoing experiences such as emotional neglect, instability, criticism, abuse, family conflict, unpredictable caregiving or growing up without feeling consistently safe, heard or supported.
As an adult, you may experience:
Anxiety, hypervigilance or feeling constantly “on edge”
Emotional overwhelm or difficulty regulating emotions
Shutting down, withdrawing or feeling disconnected
People-pleasing or difficulty saying no
Difficulty recognising or maintaining boundaries
Low self-worth, shame or persistent self-criticism
Fear of rejection or abandonment
Difficulty trusting others or feeling safe in relationships
Repeating relationship or family patterns
Feeling disconnected from your body or your own needs
Sometimes we can understand these patterns intellectually and still find ourselves responding in the same way. This is where working with both emotional awareness and the nervous system can be helpful.
Understanding the Nervous System
When we experience situations that feel unsafe or overwhelming, our nervous system responds automatically to protect us. We may move into fight or flight, freeze, shut down, or learn to adapt by becoming highly attuned to the needs and emotions of others.
These responses can be particularly powerful when they develop during childhood.
Even when circumstances have changed, the body may continue responding as though it needs to protect us. You might find yourself having a strong reaction before you have had time to think about what is happening, or noticing that certain relationships and situations bring up familiar feelings of fear, pressure, helplessness or disconnection.
Therapy can help you begin to notice these responses with greater awareness and curiosity, rather than judgement.
A Relational and Somatic Approach to Trauma Therapy
My approach is trauma-informed and grounded in contemporary Gestalt therapy, with a strong relational and somatic focus.
This means we don't only talk about what has happened. We can also pay attention to what is happening for you in the present — your emotions, physical sensations, patterns of relating, boundaries and the ways your nervous system responds.
Therapy does not require you to repeatedly retell traumatic experiences or disclose more than you feel ready to explore.
Instead, we work at a pace that feels manageable, gradually building awareness and supporting a greater sense of safety, choice and connection with yourself.
Our work may include exploring relationship and family patterns, recognising learned ways of coping, developing awareness of bodily sensations and nervous system responses, strengthening boundaries, grounding and emotional regulation, and gently working with experiences from the past that continue to affect your life today.
You don't need to have everything figured out before coming to therapy
You may know that something from your childhood still affects you without knowing exactly what it is. You may remember very little, or you may understand your history very clearly but feel frustrated that insight alone hasn't changed how you feel.
You don't need to arrive with a diagnosis, a clear explanation or a particular goal.
We can begin with what is happening for you now and explore together what you need from therapy.
Face-to-face sessions in North Strathfield and Telehealth Australia-wide.