Trauma Therapy: What happened still matters.
Trauma therapy in Brockville and virtually across Ontario, at a pace that feels safe to you.
Trauma Therapy in Brockville, ON
Trauma isn’t only about what happened. It’s also about what it asked of you afterward, and how you’ve been carrying it since. Sometimes that’s one event. Sometimes it’s years of things no one else seemed to notice.
The ways you adapted to get through something hard made sense at the time, even when they feel heavy now. We start from there, with your safety and your pace leading the way. Two of our clinicians are trained in Traumatic Incident Reduction (TIR), and three are trained in Emotion Focused Therapy for Trauma (EFTT).
Traumatic Incident Reduction
A structured, person centred approach for working through a specific memory in a steady, contained way. It’s one option among several, never a requirement.
Emotion Focused Therapy for Trauma
An approach that works with the feelings tied to painful experiences, especially those involving important people in your life, within a steady and supportive therapy relationship.
Integrated Care for Developmental Trauma
For trauma that built up over years, often in childhood, we draw on a mix of models rather than one. In practice, that means the work is tailored to you rather than following one protocol, it follows phased trauma principles (safety and capacity before deep processing), and it addresses identity and relationships, not just memories.
Safety First
We begin with your life as it is now. There’s no pressure to share details before you’re ready, and you decide what we talk about and when.
How Trauma Can Show Up
Trauma shows up differently for everyone. Some common experiences include:
- Staying on alert in situations that seem calm to other people
- Memories or feelings that arrive uninvited
- Feeling numb, far away, or disconnected from yourself
- Finding closeness hard, even with people who are safe
- Carrying shame or blame that doesn’t quite fit
- Reaching for something, like alcohol or staying busy, to take the edge off
None of these mean something is wrong with you. They reflect what you’ve been through.
Sometimes trauma is about what didn’t happen, like growing up without comfort or someone to turn to. Read more about emotional neglect.
Approaches We Draw On
Trauma Therapy FAQs
Q. Do I have to talk about all the details of my trauma?
No. Many people never share every detail, and that’s okay. The work is about how the experience lives with you now, and you set the pace.
Q. What is Traumatic Incident Reduction (TIR)?
TIR is a structured approach where you revisit a specific experience with your therapist, at your own pace, until it feels more settled. Your clinician will talk through whether it’s a fit for you.
Q. What is Emotion Focused Therapy for Trauma (EFTT)?
EFTT focuses on the emotions connected to painful experiences, often with people who were important to you, like a parent or partner. Within a safe therapy relationship, there’s room to feel and make sense of what was never fully expressed.
Q. Do I need a PTSD diagnosis to come to trauma therapy?
No. You don’t need a label or a certain kind of experience to come in. If something from your past still feels present, that’s reason enough.
Q. What if I’m not sure it was “bad enough” to count?
Many people wonder this. It often comes from years of minimizing what happened in order to keep going. We take your experience seriously, whatever size it seems to you.
Meet the Clinicians
Each of these clinicians works with this area. If you’re not sure who to choose, we’re happy to help you find a good match.
Meredith Armstrong, MSW, RSW
Owner, Social Worker, Psychotherapist
Meredith Armstrong is a Registered Social Worker and the owner of St. Lawrence Psychotherapy and Wellness. She has been doing this work since 2001, and it has never once felt like just a job to her.
Jim Page, MS, RSW
Social Worker, Psychotherapist
Jim is a Registered Social Worker with a Master of Science in Human Services from Capella University, MN. He has more than 20 years of experience providing individual, couple and family therapy in private practice as well as community agency and hospital outpatient settings.
Charlotte (Charlie) MacDonald, RP (Qualifying)
Registered Psychotherapist (Qualifying)
Charlotte, also known as Charlie, is a Registered Psychotherapist (Qualifying) who recently graduated from Yorkville University and has joined the St. Lawrence Psychotherapy and Wellness Team.
Lia Forma, MSW, RSW
Social Worker, Psychotherapist
Lia is a Social Worker with over 15 years of experience across community and residential settings. She has walked alongside people through mental health struggles, addiction, trauma, intimate partner violence, and women’s health, and she brings that same steady presence to the men who come to her too. She’s especially attuned to the particular pressures and expectations that can shape how men cope, communicate, and carry what they’re going through, often quietly, and often for a long time before they ask for help.
Other Areas of Support
Most people come in with more than one thing on their mind.
Emotional Neglect
For people who grew up with their feelings overlooked, and learned to need very little.
Addiction and Substance Use
Drinking, using, or any habit that got hard to put down usually started as a way to cope. We’re curious about what it has been doing for you.
Healthcare Professionals
Therapy for nurses, physicians, and others who spend their days caring for everyone else.
You don’t need to know where to start.
That’s what the first conversation is for.