Trauma Touch Therapy Services

Trauma Touch Therapy is an unhurried process, allowing for a gradual, integrative release of tension, buried traumas, and pent-up emotions. Together, the Trauma Touch Therapist and client create a safe environment in which trust can unfold, the client’s bodily needs can be seen and understood, and healthy boundaries can develop. This therapy is specifically designed for those that have experienced all types of trauma. Chris Smith, creator of Trauma Touch Therapy, defines trauma as “any occurrence that exceeds the body’s capabilities to adapt and cope to events and situations that occur in life”.

Trauma’s aftermath is generally marked by a sense of loss, a hyper vigilance creating excess energy within the tissue and a marked intolerance to presence encouraging dissociation (the mind and body disconnecting). These losses can range from our sense of self, trust, capability, worth, value, power, our bodily rights and/or a sense of belonging. This therapy is client-centered and client-led in order to facilitate empowerment and restore what may have been lost in trauma. This restoration gives way to resilience and the opportunity to discover the gift within the wound. Some common forms of trauma can include:

For the survivor of trauma, the awakening of full awareness and sensation may seem too explosive to risk potentially causing shutdown or re-traumatization. Because of this, the therapy always proceeds on the most manageable level of exploration, with the utmost respect for the client’s sensitivities and limits. In practice, the therapist will guide the client on how to ground, drop into their body, and monitor the client’s physical response that may be outside of the client’s awareness. Through this partnership, the client learns how to build trust in themselves and others. The client will then discuss what they are feeling and experiencing in their body, and try to understand what their body is needing on a deeper level. The therapist will help to progress the growth by supporting processing, providing feedback, listening deeply, managing safety needs, trouble-shooting obstacles, and creating goals. The intention is to empower the client, reintegrate the body and mind, and restore losses as a result of trauma.