What We Help With
Trauma in relationships
Trauma shapes how we connect with others. Therapy can help you understand your patterns, heal attachment wounds, and build healthier relationships.
Trauma-informed · Attachment-focused · Creswick, Brisbane & Online
How Trauma Shows Up
When the past shapes the present
Early experiences, including childhood trauma, neglect, or inconsistent caregiving, shape how we relate to others. Attachment patterns formed in childhood often repeat in adult relationships, sometimes in ways that feel confusing or painful.
Trauma in relationships can look like difficulty trusting, intense fear of abandonment, shutting down emotionally, conflict patterns that escalate quickly, or repeatedly finding yourself in harmful relationship dynamics.
Therapy offers a space to understand these patterns, process the underlying experiences, and develop a more secure sense of self in relationship with others.
We help with
- Attachment wounds and insecure attachment
- Fear of abandonment or engulfment
- People-pleasing and losing yourself
- Emotional shutdown and disconnection
- Trust and vulnerability
- Patterns of harmful relationships
- Healing after relationship trauma or abuse
- Co-dependency
- Grief after relationship loss
Our Approach
How we work with you
Attachment-informed EMDR
Our therapists use Attachment-Informed EMDR to address both the traumatic memories and the relational patterns that developed in response to early experiences. It works with the nervous system as well as the mind.
Parts work
Resource Therapy helps you understand the different parts of yourself that show up in relationships, including the parts that learned to protect you. Understanding these parts can unlock new ways of relating.
Relational therapy
The therapeutic relationship itself is a place to practise something different. Our therapists are warm, attuned, and consistent, sometimes that experience is part of the healing.
Couples therapy
Sometimes trauma in relationships needs to be worked through with your partner. We offer couples therapy alongside individual work, using the Gottman Method and other relational approaches.
Who Can Help
Therapists with attachment and trauma experience
Common Questions
Frequently asked questions
How do I know if my relationship difficulties are trauma-related?
Some signs include strong emotional reactions that feel disproportionate to the situation, difficulty trusting or feeling safe with people close to you, patterns of pushing people away or becoming overly dependent, or a sense that you keep ending up in similar painful situations. These patterns often have roots in earlier experiences. Therapy can help map that.
Can attachment-focused therapy help if I'm not currently in a relationship?
Yes. Attachment patterns affect all close relationships — friendships, family, and the therapeutic relationship itself. You don't need to be partnered to do this work. Many people find that understanding their attachment style while they're single makes a significant difference to future relationships.
My partner doesn't know about my trauma history. Do I have to tell them?
No. Individual therapy is your space, and what you share or don't share with your partner is entirely your decision. Therapy can help you think through those questions if they come up, but there's no obligation.
Is this different from couples therapy?
Yes. Individual therapy for trauma in relationships focuses on your own history, patterns, and healing. Couples therapy involves both partners working together on the relationship dynamic. Some people do both — individual work alongside couples sessions. We can help you figure out what makes the most sense for your situation.
Ready to Begin?
You can learn to trust again
Reach out. We'll help you find the right therapist to support this work.