Trauma Therapy in Sudbury | Trauma‑Trained Counsellor | Nicola Bennett Counselling — Nicola Bennett Counselling | Sudbury Suffolk

Trauma

Trauma can affect how you feel, how you cope, and how you relate to yourself and others.

You might notice feeling anxious, overwhelmed, numb, or a sense of being on edge without always knowing why.

Trauma can also show up in the body — through tightness, restlessness, fatigue, or feeling disconnected.

These experiences can build gradually or appear during times of stress, reminders, or emotional strain.

What you might be noticing

People experience trauma in many different ways. You may notice intrusive memories, flashbacks, or nightmares, or find your body reacting with a racing heart, tension, shaking, or sweating. You might feel on high alert or disconnected, become easily overwhelmed or reactive, or avoid certain thoughts, emotions, people, or places.

Trauma can also shape how you see yourself, others, and the world, sometimes leading to shame, difficulty trusting, or challenges in relationships.

What causes trauma

Trauma is the impact of an experience that overwhelms your ability to cope, leaving lasting effects on your mental, emotional, physical, or sexual wellbeing.

It can come from a single event, such as a car accident, physical or sexual assault, serious illness or injury, or the loss of someone important.

Trauma can also develop through ongoing or repeated experiences like neglect, sexual abuse, domestic abuse, or intergenerational trauma.

These experiences can build slowly over time or resurface during periods of stress, reminders, or emotional strain. What matters most is the impact on your system — how your mind and body adapted in order to get through something that felt too much.

What we may focus on in therapy

In our work together, we can explore what feels difficult or overwhelming and how these experiences show up in your day‑to‑day life. We move at a pace that feels manageable, and when you feel ready, we can explore the memories, emotions, or sensations that still affect you.

This might include supporting your nervous system to feel safer and more regulated through somatic practices, reducing the intensity of flashbacks or nightmares, relating differently to challenging thoughts or beliefs, processing memories or experiences (only if and when you want to), and reconnecting with your values, boundaries, and capacity for meaningful relationships.

What may shift

Over time you may begin to feel a little more grounded or steady, with memories becoming less overwhelming and more manageable. You might notice more capacity to pause or respond rather than react, and a different relationship with difficult thoughts or emotions. Your body may begin to feel safer, with moments where things feel less on edge. As this happens, relationships can feel more stable, and you may reconnect with a clearer sense of who you are and what matters to you.

My approach

I work with Judith Herman’s three‑phase approach, which focuses on safety, processing, and integration.

We move through these stages at a pace that feels manageable. They’re not linear — we touch on them as and when feels right, and only if it feels right for you.

This phase is about helping your nervous system feel steadier and more supported.
It often includes grounding, learning ways to support yourself when things feel overwhelming, building resources that help you cope, and creating a sense of safety in your body and environment.
When you feel ready, we work with the memories, emotions, or sensations that still feel overwhelming.
This may include EMDR, Rewind, or other trauma‑focused approaches.
However, if you never want to process or talk about your trauma, you don’t have to.
This stage focuses on reconnecting with your values, relationships, boundaries, and sense of self as your system begins to feel safer.
There are different approaches we can draw on, depending on what feels right for you. Some may include:
- Trauma‑focused ACT — helping you relate differently to difficult thoughts, feelings, and memories
- EMDR — working with the nervous system to process traumatic experiences
- Rewind — a low‑activation way of working with trauma memories
- Somatic awareness — noticing how your body responds to stress or trauma, and working with those sensations to support regulation and grounding