Ramona Proti

Living with unresolved trauma it is like living with a constant energy leak. We are not living only with the emotions, but also with the perceptions and beliefs that formed as a result of what happened to us or in our life. When we do not have the chance or someone to help us process our past or current stressful experiences, they leave traces in our body, distorting our self-image and what we believe is possible for us. Trauma is not only an event such as war, or an accident, an act of terrorism or abuse; trauma can also occur as we experience a loss, either a person dear to us, a job, or a part of our identity, being bullied, childbirth, adoption, illness or loosing part of our capacity because of a medical condition, etc. Trauma is a result of unprocessed past or present events or experiences and it can happen to anyone. 

Trauma lives in our subconscious mind, it shows up in our body, emotions, reactions, patterns of behaviour, habits. As a result, it may manifest in our lives as:

• anxiety and depression;
• holding back from fear of what others might think of us;
• always being hypervigilant and finding it hard to trust people;
• procrastinating;
• people pleasing;
• burn out;
• feeling lonely;
• chronicle illness;
• impostor syndrome;
• feeling unworthy;
• finding it hard to relax without feeling guilt;
• not asking or receiving help;
• hard time saying "no";
• hard time putting your needs/wants first;
• holding back from your feelings;
• needing substances to get through the day;
• communication breakdowns. 

I understand this can feel heavy at times, as these experiences can leave us depleted, less confident in our abilities, less motivated and can undermine our sense of self worth, belonging and our ability to feel secure in relationships. You might have brilliant ideas, but experiencing a hard time making decisions, trusting yourself or trusting that the world is a safe place, focusing and taking action. This is because unresolved experiences cause the nervous system to be in a chronic state of stress and dysregulation. 

Maybe you have tried various strategies and some may have worked, but over time they have run out of efficacy. So I am inviting you to be curious and ask yourself what if you did things differently this time and asked for help? What would it be to try and find other resources, more sustainable in the long term, to help you regain confidence, to make you feel less anxious, more motivated, more secure in relationships or to manage the stresses of life with more ease? Life is in continuous change and will carry on bringing unknowns to us, and I believe it is not about knowing it all or trying to figure everything by ourselves, sometimes we need others to help us on our healing journey. Until we work through our experiences and traumas, they will keep us stuck in our past, limiting our potential and who we are. Therapy gives us a better understanding of ourselves and how our past or current experiences link with how we feel, think, patterns of behaviours or habits and allow us to find new ways of being and enjoy life. 

If you want to know more about how we can work together, you can contact me at ramonaproti.counselling@gmail.com or 07735 508 726. We can then meet for an initial consultation, to help getting to know each other and give you the opportunity to ask further questions about therapy. I offer both long term and short term therapy. Therapy can be something people need over 6 to 12 weeks, up to one year or more, it all depends on your needs and matters you want to work on, so we would work together to determine when would be a good time to end. 

I have nearly 19 years experience of working children and families in health and social care, including adoption and my counselling practise is trauma informed, drawing on modalities which support my clients with their needs and goals in the session, including EMDR (Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing).  EMDR involves processing traumatic memories, to help you heal from trauma or other distressing life experiences. 

Adoption

EMDR sessions -£90 up to 90min session

I currently have additional space for in person and online sessions. 

Next steps: call or send an email to set an initial consultation. We'll talk about your past or present difficulties and what you would like to get out from the sessions and we'll establish the terms of our contract and frequency of sessions.