OUR SERVICES

Trauma

EMDR • Accelerated Resolution Therapy • Internal Family Systems • Attachment • DBT • CBT • Polyvagal

We can help with:

  • CPTSD

    Trauma from childhood related to family of origin and attachment can follow individuals throughout their lives and become an unwelcome guest blocking healthy relationships and overall life satisfaction. Mana therapists will use compassionate inquiry to help you make sense of your past and give you the skills you need to understand your patterns and ultimately heal.

    Learn more about CPTSD

  • PTSD

    Many traumatized individuals struggle with the triggering emotional residue of traumatic memories. At Mana, we are trained in both EMDR and ART to desensitize and reprocess traumatic memories. We pair eye movement therapy with other models such as DBT, IFS, CBT, psychodynamic, and narrative to provide you with a complete approach to trauma recovery.

    Learn More About emdr and art

  • Betrayal Trauma

    Individuals who experience betrayal can have identical symptoms that fit the clinical presentation of PTSD. Specialized support is needed to help heal the wounds of betrayal and regain trust in the self after gaslighting and other forms of emotional abuse. Mana therapists have been trained by pioneers in the betrayal trauma field, Dr. Kevin Skinner and Dr. Stefanie Carnes, and can help you move forward.

    Learn more about betrayal trauma

  • Internal Family Systems

    Individuals who have experienced a traumatic past are often fragmented and compartmentalized to protect themselves against intense painful emotion of the past. Using Dr. Richard Schwartz’s and Dr. Janina Fischer’s respective groundbreaking clinical parts work, Mana therapists can help you understand your inner ecosystem of parts to return you to wholeness and self-leadership.

    Learn more about parts work

  • Polyvagal

    An aspect of good trauma work is understanding and working with various states of the nervous system. We will help you understand your arousal states with Polyvagal theory and teach you evidenced-based grounding techniques derived from DBT and CBT to help you learn to regulate your nervous system. Learning to regulate is often a precursor to trauma desensitization work in EMDR, ART, and IFS.

    Learn more about polyvagal
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Our Approach

At the core, trauma is disconnection. Traumatic experiences cause a disconnection from the authentic self, making way for dysfunctional coping behaviours that can create problems in life. Having been trained directly by world renowned trauma expert Dr. Gabor Mate, and coming from a family of first responders, Ryan knows first hand how psychological trauma can negatively impact lives. Experiencing trauma can make someone feel stuck, fearful, and hopeless. Trauma can create a life based on surviving not thriving. It is important that individuals seek a skilled trauma therapist to help resolve the many psychological, emotional, cognitive, and physical symptoms associated with trauma. Ryan and his associates have countless years of experience treating trauma and have worked in some of Canada’s most esteemed trauma programs. Ryan and his associates are trained in several leading trauma therapies, including Internal Family Systems Therapy, Accelerated Resolution Therapy,  Polyvagal Theory, Compassionate Inquiry, Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing (EMDR) therapy and much more to help clients live free of trauma.

Have I Experienced Trauma?

More often than not, people tend to minimize the painful experiences in life as a way to cope with difficult emotions. This leads people to underestimate the lasting impact that traumatic experiences have on the way we think and behave. Life is a journey filled with both positive and negative experiences that shape who we are. Unfortunately, some experiences can leave a lasting impact on our mental, emotional, and spiritual well-being, giving rise to psychological trauma. More often than not, individuals that enter therapy have experienced some degree of trauma whether it is more overt “big T” trauma such as physical or sexual abuse or covert “little t” trauma like neglect.

Psychological trauma is a complex response to an event or series of events that overwhelms an individual's ability to cope. To put it simply, trauma is what happens inside of you because of what happened to you. Emotional, somatic, cognitive, and behavioural scars can remain long after the event. Here are some examples of big T and small t traumas:

  • Physical or sexual abuse

  • Natural disasters

  • War or conflict

  • Car accidents or serious injuries

  • Loss of a loved one

  • Chronic neglect or exposure to violence

  • Bullying

  • Betrayal

  • Relational dysfunction

  • Stigma and marginalization

The degree to which an individual experiences symptoms of trauma can vary person to person. Often re-experiencing symptoms, avoidance behaviours, alterations in mood and thought, and changes in physical arousal present differently, which is why an individualized treatment plan from a trained trauma expert is critically important.