Trauma Therapy Program

The Trauma Therapy Program is a specialized trauma-focused therapy service  for persons with childhood histories of trauma. The program offers confidential, time-limited and primarily group-based psychotherapy to adults who have experienced childhood interpersonal trauma including physical, sexual, emotional abuse and/or neglect that occurred between the ages of 0-18. The program fees are covered by OHIP and service are available between the hours of 9am-5pm. We do not provide crisis services or long-term therapy.

The Trauma Therapy Program is composed of an interdisciplinary team of trauma therapists with backgrounds in psychiatry, psychotherapy, psychology, social work, and nursing. Women’s College Hospital is a teaching facility and students training in these professions may also be involved in the provision of therapy.

We are committed to promoting an environment where everyone is treated with dignity and respect and can live their lives free from violence and all forms of discrimination. The Program follows a stage-based approach to healing from trauma as outlined by Judith Herman in her book Trauma and Recovery.

Through a feminist anti-oppressive framework we work collaboratively to promote trauma-focused therapy while supporting the unique needs of individuals.

Typical goals addressed during assessment and therapy:

• Explore and learn about the impact and symptoms of trauma;
• Learn new coping strategies to manage overwhelming emotions, anxiety, numbing, dissociation, flashbacks, urges to self-harm, suicidal thoughts and other trauma symptoms;
• Better understand and identify difficult patterns in relationships and learn to negotiate boundaries;
• Improve self-care and self-soothing capacities.

Group therapy is a primary modality of treatment in the Trauma Therapy Program with a focus on relational therapy. As such, it is not equipped to provide acute stabilization of mental health symptoms and requires individuals to have adequate affect regulation skills so as to be able to form and maintain a therapeutic relationship with the therapist and other participants.

The Trauma Therapy Program is not a domestic abuse or sexual assault treatment program. The focus of therapy is directly related to managing impact of symptoms related to childhood trauma. Physical and emotional safety is paramount to therapy and to maximize the benefits of the therapy and to mitigate any risks of harm.

Individuals will be assessed based on the following criteria to be considered for the program:

• Identify with a history of childhood trauma
• Are being referred by a Physician or Nurse Practitioner providing ongoing care
• Not in acute crisis (e.g. housing instability, unsafe relationships)
• No recent psychiatric hospitalizations
• No acute symptoms that interfere with ability to attend regularly and/ or get full benefit of therapy (e.g. acute psychosis, severe substance use, excessive case management needs)
• Ability to keep regular appointments and attend in a timely manner
• Capacity to engage in treatment and maintain guidelines (e.g. confidentiality)
• Ability to communicate with the treatment provider, treatment team and other patients in a respectful manner
• Clinical rationale and capacity to formulate goals for trauma therapy

Access to our Trauma Therapy Program services requires a referral by a Physician or Nurse Practitioner providing ongoing care. Every newly referred client is invited to a Trauma Therapy Program orientation session and attendance is required in order to be considered for our services. A subsequent intake interview will determine whether Trauma Therapy services are a good fit, starting with the Resourced and Resilient Group. Following this group, individuals will be offered an exit interview and will be assessed for further treatment.