English-speaking trauma therapy in Seville and online throughout Spain, supporting adults affected by childhood trauma, complex trauma, PTSD and attachment difficulties.
I offer English-speaking trauma therapy in Seville and online throughout Spain, supporting adults experiencing PTSD, complex trauma, developmental trauma and attachment-related difficulties.
You may be struggling with overwhelming emotions, anxiety, shame, dissociation, intrusive memories or longstanding patterns that affect your sense of self and relationships.
My integrative, trauma-informed approach combines exploring deeper emotional and relational patterns with nervous system regulation and attachment-based psychotherapy.
Therapy focuses on developing emotional safety, understanding protective responses and gradually working towards greater stability, connection and self-worth.
Not everyone who has experienced trauma recognises their difficulties as being trauma-related.
Sometimes the effects appear in our everyday lives, through the way we manage emotions, respond to relationships or feel about ourselves.
You might recognise some of the following experiences:
Becoming overwhelmed by emotions that seem disproportionate to the situation.
Feeling responsible for other people's feelings or finding it difficult to say no.
Experiencing persistent guilt, shame or a harsh inner critic.
Feeling constantly alert, anxious or unable to fully relax.
Becoming emotionally numb, disconnected or feeling as though you're not fully present.
Struggling with trust, abandonment fears or repeated difficulties in relationships.
Finding yourself shutting down, withdrawing or becoming highly reactive during conflict.
Experiencing intrusive memories, nightmares or strong emotional reactions without always understanding why.
These difficulties don't necessarily mean you have PTSD or complex PTSD. They can have many causes. However, for some people, they develop as ways of adapting to difficult, overwhelming or unsafe experiences.
Therapy offers an opportunity to explore these patterns with curiosity and compassion, rather than judgement.
You don't need a trauma diagnosis to seek support, and you don't need to have everything figured out before beginning therapy.
When Trauma Doesn't Look Like Trauma
Complex Trauma
Complex trauma often develops through repeated or prolonged experiences of emotional neglect, abuse, instability or feeling unsafe, particularly during childhood. It can also develop in environments where our emotional needs were consistently overlooked, dismissed or unmet.
These experiences can affect how we regulate our emotions, see ourselves and relate to others, often contributing to anxiety, shame, low self-worth, overwhelming feelings and difficulties with trust and relationships.
Therapy focuses on understanding how these experiences have shaped our emotional responses and developing greater emotional safety, awareness and regulation. Depending on individual needs, we may gradually explore and process traumatic experiences, helping to reduce their ongoing impact.
The aim is to develop a greater sense of stability, connection and self-worth, allowing us to respond to ourselves and others in healthier, more compassionate ways.
PTSD
Post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) can develop after experiencing or witnessing a traumatic event or series of events that overwhelms our ability to cope.
It can leave the nervous system in a heightened state of alert, leading to flashbacks, nightmares, intrusive memories, anxiety and a persistent sense of danger, even when we are safe. People may also avoid situations, places, memories or conversations that remind them of what happened, or experience emotional numbness and disconnection.
Trauma-informed therapy focuses on understanding these responses, developing emotional safety and strengthening our ability to manage distressing feelings. Depending on individual needs and readiness, therapy may also involve gradually processing traumatic memories to reduce their emotional impact.
The aim is to help individuals feel safer, more grounded and less controlled by past experiences, allowing them to reconnect with themselves and their everyday lives.
Why Is Trauma Therapy Different from Traditional Talking Therapy?
Understanding why we feel or behave in certain ways can be an important part of therapy. However, when we've experienced trauma, insight alone may not always be enough to change our emotional responses.
You might understand intellectually that a situation is safe, yet still experience intense anxiety, fear, shame or an overwhelming urge to withdraw. These reactions can be connected to patterns of protection that developed during earlier difficult experiences.
Trauma-informed therapy considers not only our thoughts and feelings, but also how our nervous system responds to stress, how we experience emotional safety and how past experiences shape our relationships.
An important part of my approach involves helping clients recognise their triggers, understand their emotional responses and develop ways of managing overwhelming feelings.
For individuals who have experienced complex or prolonged trauma, we may first focus on establishing greater emotional stability and a sense of safety before exploring difficult memories more deeply.
The aim is not simply to understand the past, but to gradually reduce its impact on the present, allowing for greater emotional flexibility, self-worth and connection with others.
How I Work: A Trauma-Informed and Attachment-Based Approach
My approach is integrative, trauma-informed and attachment-based, recognising that our early experiences and relationships can have a lasting influence on how we understand ourselves, regulate our emotions and connect with others.
Therapy is a collaborative process. Rather than focusing only on symptoms, we explore the deeper patterns, beliefs and emotional responses that may be contributing to your present difficulties.
Understanding Emotional Responses and Protective Patterns
We may explore how experiences of emotional neglect, criticism, rejection or unpredictable relationships have shaped your responses to stress, conflict and emotional closeness.
Reactions such as people-pleasing, emotional withdrawal, heightened anxiety or intense self-criticism may once have served an important protective function.
Understanding these patterns can help us begin developing different ways of responding.
Developing Emotional Safety and Regulation
For people who experience emotional dysregulation, dissociation or overwhelming feelings, establishing a greater sense of emotional safety is particularly important.
We work on recognising triggers, understanding how your nervous system responds to stress and developing strategies that help you remain more connected to yourself during difficult moments.
Exploring Deeper Experiences and Longstanding Beliefs
As you develop greater emotional stability, therapy may involve exploring painful experiences, attachment difficulties and beliefs about yourself that developed through earlier relationships.
This might include feelings of shame, unworthiness, responsibility for others or fears of rejection and abandonment.
We work at a pace that takes account of your individual needs, emotional capacity and goals.
The therapeutic relationship itself is also central to this process, offering a consistent and supportive space in which difficult experiences can be understood and new ways of relating can gradually develop.
Trauma-Related Difficulties I Work With
Emotional Dysregulation
People-Pleasing and Difficulty Setting Boundaries
Depresssion and Anxiety
Low self-Worth and Negative Self-Beliefs
Anxiety and Hypervigilance
Flashbacks and Intrusive Memories
Relationship and Attachment Difficulties
Nightmares and Sleep Difficulties
Avoidance and Withdrawal
Emotional Numbness and Disconnection
Shame, Guilt and Self-Criticism
Difficulties with Identity and Sense of Self
Getting Started
I offer a free 20-minute initial consultation, giving us an opportunity to talk about what you're currently struggling with and what you would like to focus on in therapy.
It also gives you the chance to understand a little more about how I work, ask any questions you may have and consider whether working together feels right for you.
There's no expectation to share anything you're not comfortable discussing, and therapy always moves at a pace that takes account of your individual needs.