At Steady Heart Counselling, I offer trauma therapy and PTSD counselling in Victoria, BC for individuals experiencing the lasting effects of trauma, post-traumatic stress, complex trauma, and adverse childhood experiences.
Trauma therapy offers a supportive space to explore the impact of past experiences and begin restoring a sense of safety and steadiness.
Trauma and post-traumatic stress can affect how you feel emotionally, how your body responds to stress, and how you function day to day. The effects are not always obvious. They may show up as flashbacks or intrusive memories, hypervigilance, feeling constantly on edge, emotional numbness, disconnection, difficulty sleeping, physical tension, or chronic stress responses.
Trauma therapy supports recovery by helping reduce the intensity of these responses while strengthening your ability to cope, regulate emotions, and reconnect with a greater sense of stability over time.
Trauma can affect people in different ways. Below are some common experiences that bring individuals to trauma therapy.
This may include experiences such as accidents, serious injuries, natural disasters, or other sudden events that overwhelm the nervous system.
Ongoing or repeated stress, emotional abuse, neglect, or difficult early experiences can shape how a person relates to safety, trust, and emotions later in life.
PTSD may involve intrusive memories, heightened alertness, avoidance of reminders, or emotional overwhelm following a traumatic experience.
C-PTSD can develop after prolonged or repeated trauma such as childhood abuse, neglect, domestic violence, or long-term difficult relationships. It may involve difficulties with emotional regulation, self-worth, and relating to others, alongside the symptoms associated with PTSD.
Experiences of emotional, physical, or sexual abuse, controlling relationships, or interpersonal violence can have lasting effects on a person’s sense of safety, trust, and self-worth. Trauma therapy provides a non-judgmental, trauma-informed space to begin processing these experiences at a pace that feels safe and manageable.
Trauma can affect people in ways that are not always easy to recognize as trauma-related. You may notice some of the following:
Trauma therapy sessions focus on understanding how trauma is affecting your thoughts, emotions, and physical responses. Sessions are trauma-informed and move at a pace that prioritizes safety and avoids re-traumatization.
Depending on your needs, sessions may draw from Acceptance and Commitment Therapy (ACT), Cognitive Behavioural Therapy (CBT), depth psychology, and body-aware approaches, always guided by what feels manageable and supportive for you. The focus is on reducing distressing symptoms, supporting nervous system regulation, and gradually restoring a sense of safety, choice, and agency.
Contact us to request a trauma therapy session
The first session focuses on understanding what you’ve been experiencing and how trauma therapy may support you.
Ongoing sessions are scheduled based on your needs and what feels manageable as therapy progresses
At Steady Heart Counselling, our trauma therapy sessions are available in formats designed to support your comfort, access, and sense of safety
In-person trauma therapy sessions take place at a private counselling office at 1120 Yates St #204, Victoria, BC. For many people healing from trauma, having a dedicated, consistent space outside of daily life supports the process of feeling safe enough to do this work.
Online trauma therapy is available for anyone in British Columbia. Virtual sessions are secure, private, and follow the same trauma-informed approach as in-person sessions. For some people, connecting from a familiar, comfortable space at home feels more accessible when beginning this kind of work.
Paul Cellarius (RCC, CCC, MA) is a trauma-informed registered clinical counsellor based in Victoria, BC. He works with adults navigating the lasting effects of trauma, PTSD, complex trauma, and adverse childhood experiences.
In trauma therapy, Paul’s role is to help create enough safety and stability for difficult experiences to be explored without feeling overwhelming. He often works with people who feel caught in patterns of hypervigilance, emotional shutdown, or ongoing stress responses linked to past events.
His background in depth psychology, along with training in Acceptance and Commitment Therapy (ACT) and Motivational Interviewing, supports a trauma-informed approach that prioritizes regulation, choice, and pacing with attention to helping your nervous system settle and your sense of agency gradually return.
Trauma therapy is a form of counselling that focuses on supporting people who have been affected by traumatic or overwhelming experiences. The work centres on understanding how trauma impacts emotions, the body, and day-to-day functioning, while prioritizing safety and steadiness throughout the process.
No. You do not need a formal diagnosis to begin trauma therapy. Many people seek counselling based on how past experiences are affecting them now, rather than on a specific label.
Yes. Trauma therapy can support individuals experiencing post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) or complex trauma. Therapy focuses on reducing distressing symptoms, improving emotional regulation, and helping traumatic experiences feel less disruptive over time.
Yes. Online trauma therapy sessions are available for anyone in British Columbia. Virtual sessions follow the same trauma-informed approach as in-person sessions and can be a good option for people who feel more comfortable connecting from home.
PTSD therapy is a specific form of trauma therapy focused on post-traumatic stress disorder, a clinical response that can develop after a traumatic event. Trauma therapy is broader and may support anyone affected by overwhelming experiences, whether or not they have a formal PTSD diagnosis. Both are offered at Steady Heart Counselling.
Trauma often connects with other mental health experiences. If anxiety is also present, our Anxiety Therapy page explains how anxiety and trauma-related responses are addressed together. For low mood or depression that has developed alongside trauma, visit Depression Therapy. The approaches used in trauma work including Acceptance and Commitment Therapy (ACT) and Motivational Interviewing are each explored in more depth on their own pages. If you’re supporting a child or teen who has experienced trauma, see our Child Therapy.
At Steady Heart Counselling, I provide trauma therapy for children, teens, and adults who are navigating anxiety, overwhelming experiences, emotional pain, or the lasting effects of trauma. In a safe, compassionate space, we work together to help you feel more grounded, understood, and connected to yourself while building healthy coping skills and emotional resilience.Ready to begin your healing journey at your own pace?
