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Healing After Gender-Based Violence: How Trauma Therapy in London, Ontario, Can Help

a patient hold their therapist's hand during a session of trauma therapy in london ontario

Healing after gender-based violence (GBV) is a personal and complex journey. Trauma therapy can be a powerful tool in supporting survivors as they rebuild their sense of safety, identity and autonomy. In this blog, you’ll learn about ways trauma therapy in London, Ontario, can help! 


First, we need to understand GBV which is a term that refers to any harmful acts directed at individuals based on their gender. This term covers a wide range of abuse such as:

  • Domestic and intimate partner violence (IPV)

  • Sexual assault and harassment

  • Human trafficking

  • Harmful cultural-based practices


Survivors may suffer from physical, psychological, emotional, social, and economic trauma.


Symptoms can persist long after the violence ends and without intervention, a survivor could be at risk of these symptoms worsening over time. Being a survivor of this trauma may leave you with psychological impact which may look like:

  • Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD)

  • Anxiety and/or depression

  • Low self-worth and shame

  • Flashbacks and/or nightmares

  • Isolation and disconnection from support systems


How Does Trauma Therapy in London, Ontario, Help?


  1. A Safe Space

    This is a crucial first step offered in trauma therapy. Having the opportunity to feel seen, heard, and soothed allows clients a non-judgmental, confidential and empowering space where survivors can begin to tell their stories; if and when you are ready.  


  2. Validation

    All of the therapists at Bold Lotus Trauma Therapy are trained in trauma-informed and trauma-responsive approaches that help affirm a survivor’s reality and dismantle self-blame and shame that often is internalized after the abuse. This is an important step in healing.


  3. Understanding Trauma Responses

    It is common for survivors not to realize that their altered reactions to specific environments, people, or social situations, reactions they would not have had prior to the trauma, are, in fact, a normal response to abnormal experiences. Common manifestations of this response include: dissociation in certain moments, hypervigilance and avoidance when feeling unsafe, uncertain of an environment, or when experiencing a loss of control.


  4. Rebuilding a Sense of Safety and Control 

    Experiencing gender-based violence often results in a profound loss of control. Trauma therapy is a crucial path to reclaiming your agency, establishing healthy boundaries, and rebuilding both bodily autonomy and trust.


  5. Regulating Emotions and Coping with Triggers

    With Bold Lotus therapists,  you will learn grounding techniques, mindfulness and emotion regulation strategies to help you manage intense emotions and flashbacks.


  6. Processing the Trauma

    Your healing journey begins with a collaborative conversation with a Bold Lotus therapist to determine the most supportive treatment plan. Together, you and the therapist will select a modality based on your readiness and therapy goals from options such as: Trauma-Focused Cognitive Behavioural Therapy (TF-CBT), Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing (EMDR), Somatic Therapies (body-based approaches), and Narrative or Expressive Arts Therapy. The ultimate goal of these methods is to help you integrate the trauma, ensuring it no longer defines your identity or controls your daily life.


  7. Restoring Relationships and Rebuilding Trust

    Your experiences may have caused you to lose trust in others. Therapy can help you reconnect to safe people and support in rebuilding intimacy and navigating family or community responses to the violence.


  8. Supporting Identity and Empowerment

    Survivors may struggle with self-worth, gender identity, or roles after the trauma. Therapy will support you in reclaiming your identity beyond the trauma, celebrating your resilience and strengths, and setting goals for the future.


Trauma Therapy can’t erase what happened, but it can help transform how you live with and beyond your trauma. With the right support, you can move from a place of surviving to one of thriving. Bold Lotus Trauma Therapy is committed to supporting survivors in reclaiming their voice, power, and future. If you are navigating the aftermath of trauma or are considering therapy for the first time, we welcome you. Bold Lotus Trauma Therapy is a dedicated starting point for healing and growth. To explore how our therapists can guide and support your unique journey, please schedule a free consultation at Bold Lotus Trauma Therapy. 


If you or someone you know is in immediate danger, seek emergency services (9-1-1). If you or someone you know is seeking crisis or further support in London Ontario, here is a list of free crisis services offered 24/7:

  • Regional Sexual Assault and Domestic Violence: 519-646-6100 ext 64224

  • Anova- 24 crisis and supportive line: 519-642-3000

  • CMHA Crisis Centre and Reachout: 519-601-8055



 
 

LAND ACKNOWLEDGMENT

We acknowledge that the land on which we gather is the traditional territory of the Attawandaron, Anishinaabeg, Haudenosaunee, and Lunaapeewak peoples who have longstanding relationships to the land, water and region of southwestern Ontario. The local First Nation communities of this area include Chippewas of the Thames First Nation, Oneida Nation of the Thames, and Munsee-Delaware Nation. Additionally,  there is a growing urban Indigenous population who make the City of London home. We value the significant historical and contemporary contributions of local and regional First Nations of Turtle Island (North America).

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