Look, I’m gonna be straight with you about this. Trauma? It’s not something you just “get over.” Anyone who tells you that probably hasn’t been through it themselves.
But here’s what I’ve learned after years of watching people struggle and heal – **psychotherapy can absolutely help**. Not in some magical, wave-a-wand way. More like… giving you tools to dig yourself out of a hole you never asked to fall into.
## The Thing About Trauma
Trauma’s weird. It doesn’t follow rules. One person can walk away from a car crash and be fine, another person hears a door slam and they’re right back in that moment. Your brain doesn’t care about logic when it comes to survival.
And that’s really what trauma is – your brain getting stuck in survival mode. Even when the danger’s long gone.
## How Therapy Actually Helps
So what does sitting in a room talking to someone actually do? More than you’d think:
**It gives you a witness.** Someone who believes you. Who doesn’t minimize what happened or tell you to “just move on.” That alone? Revolutionary for some people.
**You learn why your brain does what it does.** Understanding that your panic attacks or nightmares aren’t you being “weak” – they’re your brain trying to protect you – that changes everything.
**You get to tell your story at your own pace.** No rushing. No judgment. Just… space to exist with what happened.
## Different Approaches Work for Different People
Not all therapy is sitting on a couch talking about your childhood (though that works for some!). There’s:
– **EMDR** – sounds weird but it uses eye movements to help process trauma
– **Somatic therapy** – working with how trauma lives in your body
– **Regression therapy** – going back to understand and heal old wounds
– **CBT** – changing thought patterns that keep you stuck
The key is finding what clicks for YOU.
## The Brisbane Connection
I’ve seen therapists like Antoinetta Kisiel work with people here in Brisbane who thought they’d never get better. People carrying stuff from decades ago. Childhood trauma, accidents, losses that felt impossible to move past.
What strikes me is how she combines traditional therapy with more intuitive approaches. Sometimes you need someone who can sit with the messy, unexplainable parts of trauma. Not everything fits in a neat diagnostic box.
## But Here’s the Real Talk
Therapy isn’t comfortable. Healing rarely is. You might feel worse before you feel better. You might ugly cry. You might get angry at your therapist. You might want to quit.
That’s all normal.
What matters is having someone skilled enough to hold space for all of it. Someone who gets that healing isn’t linear. That some days you’ll feel like you’re back at square one.
## The Bottom Line
Can psychotherapy help with overcoming trauma? Yeah. It can.
But it’s not about “overcoming” really. It’s about learning to carry it differently. To have it be part of your story without it writing every chapter.
If you’re reading this wondering if therapy could help you – it probably could. Even if you’ve tried before and it didn’t work. Even if you think your trauma is “too much” or “not enough.”
Find someone who makes you feel safe. Who doesn’t rush you. Who understands that healing happens in its own time.
Because you deserve to not carry this alone anymore.
**Take the step. Make the call. Your future self will thank you.**