You may have heard of EMDR, cognitive behavioural therapy, body-oriented approaches or neurofeedback and wondered what they involve—and which might help you. Understanding trauma treatment means considering what an approach addresses, what research supports it, and how it connects with your experiences and goals.
Our therapists bring different areas of clinical training and experience to this work. Together, we explore how trauma is affecting your life, establish meaningful goals and consider appropriate treatment options. Your therapist explains their recommendations and welcomes your questions.
This educational guide introduces approaches that inform our team’s work at Gentle Currents Therapy in Langley. It also explains how Dr. Michael “Mike” Dadson’s Sequential Trauma Narrative framework connects our understanding of the body, personal meaning, relationships and participation in life.
Meet Our Therapists and Explore Their Training
If you are exploring care for yourself, you can talk with our team at Gentle Currents about your concerns and possible next steps.
What Is EMDR Therapy, and How Is It Used for Trauma?
Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing (EMDR) is a structured psychotherapy for processing distressing memories and their effects. It has strong research support for treating PTSD.
Treatment begins with understanding your concerns, planning together and preparing for memory processing. During processing, your therapist guides you to focus briefly on aspects of a memory while using bilateral stimulation, such as side-to-side eye movements or alternating taps. The work includes associated emotions, beliefs and body sensations.
You generally do not need to describe every detail aloud. You remain involved in decisions and can ask to pause.
Carlie Dinwoodie brings EMDR training together with experience supporting people affected by childhood trauma, attachment injuries, grief and distressing life experiences.
What Is Sensorimotor Psychotherapy?
Sensorimotor Psychotherapy brings attention to the body into talking therapy. It explores physical experiences—such as tension, posture, breathing and impulses to protect yourself—alongside emotions, memories and beliefs.
Your therapist may invite you to notice a response and explore manageable alternatives. This might involve noticing physical support, orienting to your surroundings or experimenting with a movement that expresses a boundary. These explorations connect with goals such as remaining present or having greater choice when distress arises.
Dr. Michael “Mike” Dadson has completed Level I and Level II training in Sensorimotor Psychotherapy.
Small studies of group adaptations have reported encouraging findings in areas including body awareness and anxiety. The research remains preliminary; it does not establish the same level of PTSD treatment evidence as EMDR.
How Can Cognitive Behavioural Therapy Help With Trauma?
Cognitive Behavioural Therapy (CBT) explores connections between thoughts, emotions, physical responses and behaviour. Following trauma, these may include self-blame, expectations of danger or avoidance that restricts everyday life.
Sessions may involve examining beliefs with care, developing coping skills and taking planned steps toward valued activities. Your therapist considers both what happened to you and your circumstances now.
Dan Lloyd and Ishani Chakravorty describe integrating CBT with person-centred care. Dan emphasizes practical strategies and collaborative goals; Ishani also brings graduate training in neuroscience.
CBT is a broad family of approaches. Specific treatments, including Cognitive Processing Therapy and Prolonged Exposure, have strong research support for PTSD. General CBT-informed counselling is distinct from delivering these protocols. Your therapist can explain their relevant training and recommendations.
How Do Attachment-Based and Relational Approaches Address Trauma?
Trauma can affect closeness, trust, boundaries and how you respond to conflict. You may want support while also expecting rejection, withdrawing or feeling responsible for others’ emotions.
Attachment-based and relational work explores how these patterns developed and creates opportunities to respond differently. Goals might include expressing needs, accepting support or staying connected during disagreement.
The therapeutic relationship provides space to discuss feeling uncertain or misunderstood, including in counselling itself.
Carlie, Manreet Buttar and Nicole Valor describe attachment-focused or relational approaches in their work. Dr. Dadson’s clinical work and publications also address attachment, mentalization and complex trauma. These perspectives inform care; individual interventions should be explained in relation to your needs and their research support.
What Is Internal Family Systems (IFS) Therapy?
IFS uses the language of “parts” to explore conflicting feelings and protective responses. For example, you may want closeness while also feeling a strong impulse to withdraw.
Your therapist helps you explore these experiences with curiosity, understand their purposes and develop greater choice in responding. The language should make sense to you, and you can describe your experience in your own words.
Jason Evans has completed IFS Level 1 training and integrates this perspective with attachment-based and relational approaches.
Research on IFS for PTSD is developing. Studies of structured programmes combining group and individual sessions should be distinguished from evidence for individual IFS-informed counselling.
What Is Neurofeedback, and How Might It Fit With Counselling?
Neurofeedback uses information about brain activity to guide feedback. Our team offers the Low Energy Neurofeedback System (LENS), which differs from methods involving active training through games or screen-based tasks.
A practitioner discusses your concerns, health history and goals, explains the procedure and considers suitability. Scalp sensors measure electrical activity, and the system delivers brief, very low-energy feedback. Your responses during and after sessions guide review and adjustment.
Jeanette Dadson brings extensive LENS experience. Carlie, Ishani and Nicole also describe LENS practice in their profiles.
When considered alongside counselling, neurofeedback should connect with specific goals and ongoing assessment of benefits and adverse effects. Research on other EEG or fMRI neurofeedback methods cannot automatically establish LENS effectiveness. LENS is not an established first-line treatment for PTSD.
How Does Sequential Trauma Narrative Inform Our Approach?
Dr. Michael “Mike” Dadson developed Sequential Trauma Narrative (STN) as a clinical framework connecting four domains:
- Capacity: Managing distress and remaining present.
- Coherence: Making sense of experiences and strengthening self-understanding.
- Connection: Developing trust, boundaries and relationships.
- Contribution: Participating in personally meaningful life activities.
Its proposed pathway—regulation, relationship, narrative and belonging—guides attention to readiness, relational safety, processing experiences and engagement with life.
Our therapists consider these concerns alongside your goals, their training and relevant treatment research. You do not need every method described here.
Evidence supporting STN’s component ideas or individual methods is distinct from research evaluating STN as a complete framework.
How Do We Choose Treatment and Review Progress Together?
You do not need to select a method before reaching out. Your therapist begins by understanding your concerns, strengths, circumstances and preferences, then discusses suitable options and alternatives.
Together, you identify changes that matter: fewer distressing memories, greater freedom in relationships, improved sleep or returning to activities you value. Reviewing these goals helps determine whether treatment is helping and what needs adjustment.
Our Statement of Care guides these conversations through a commitment to dignity, compassion and hope.
For a fuller explanation of the counselling process, read how trauma counselling can help, including establishing goals, working toward change and reviewing progress.
