SAMSKARA
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~ Counselling & Trauma Therapy
Welcome.
My name is Samantha, but most people call me Sami. It's good to have you here.
I am a social worker specialising in counselling for adults who are affected by trauma, including survivors of childhood sexual abuse, those experiencing grief/loss and victims of crime. I am based in Perth, Western Australia.
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Are you a survivor of childhood sexual abuse?
â–¹Perhaps you’ve never disclosed the abuse to anyone, because you’ve felt ashamed.
â–¹Perhaps you did disclose, but you were not believed, and so you shut down.
â–¹Perhaps you’re having flashbacks, nightmares or intrusive thoughts.
â–¹Perhaps you struggle to feel safe or to trust others.
â–¹Perhaps the abuse is impacting your intimate relationship/s.
â–¹Perhaps you are becoming easily triggered by sounds, smells, images, people, places.
â–¹Perhaps you’ve tried counselling but it just felt like you were repeating your story over and over and you don’t feel any better.
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We can work together to lessen the impacts of trauma and help you acquire tools to self-regulate and feel more peace, joy and connection.
"Trauma blocks love and connection and healing our wounds provides access to the love and good that is inherent to us all"
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Frank G Anderson, MD. Transcending Trauma
1) Survivors of childhood sexual abuse- counselling to help you reduce the impacts of trauma from the abuse.
2) Victims of Crime-I am an approved counsellor with Victims Services NSW. I offer counselling to help you recover from the psychological impacts of an act/s of violence.
3) Adults experiencing trauma and related mental health symptoms- If you have experienced any kind of trauma (distressing event), including violence, neglect, grief, loss, emotional or physical abuse, counselling may be beneficial to help you process both the psychological and the somatic impacts.
4) National Redress Scheme participants- If you have accepted an offer of redress, you may choose to work with me. Access to counselling and psychological care is one of the 3 components of redress provided through the scheme. If you are in Western Australia and you have accepted an offer from the National redress scheme, you may have received a lump sum payment which you can use for counselling, with a counsellor of your choice. I am an experienced social worker and trauma counsellor providing face to face or phone counselling in this area.
5) NDIS participants - NDIS participants can receive counselling and therapy services through a social worker. I would love to work with you if you have a self-managed or plan managed fund and if you have 'Capacity Building' as part of your NDIS plan. Counselling sessions can be held outside in nature or in one of my therapy spaces, Fremantle or South Guildford (wheelchair accessible).
What is trauma?
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Trauma is any distressing event/s that overwhelm a person’s ability to cope and causes feelings of helplessness. Trauma is very common and can be experienced in many situations including (but not limited to) emotional, physical or sexual abuse, violence, neglect, witnessing an accident, being bullied, being subjected to discrimination, living through a natural disaster, fighting in a war. Trauma might be a single incident trauma (such as living through a natural disaster) or complex trauma which occurs when the trauma occurred repeatedly and was sustained over a longer period of time, such as child sexual abuse.
“Hopelessness and isolation are the core experiences of trauma. Power and reconnection are the core experience of recovery”
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Judith Herman
Trauma may show up in many ways
-Apathy
-Anxiety
-Anger
-Depression
-Dissociation
-Issues with intimacy
-Issues with trusting people or feeling safe
-Mood swings
-Numbness
-Post traumatic/PTSD symptoms such as nightmares and flashbacks
-Shame
-Self-harm
-Substance use to cope
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If you are experiencing any of the above, please contact me to make a plan where we can reduce negative psychological and somatic (bodily) symptoms of distress and begin a healing journey.