Online Trauma Counselling: Who I Work With and How We Can Work Together

Online trauma counselling for adults healing from complex trauma, childhood trauma, and relational trauma. My approach is called the Integrative Trauma Recovery Model™, which combines EMDR, IFS-informed parts work, and somatic approaches.

Is it possible to do EMDR online? I hear this question often in free consultations. The simple answer is yes — it works for about 85% of my clients. Some of them live in Alberta, others in Vancouver, the Okanagan Valley, or Victoria. Some live in Manitoba or rural Saskatchewan. Others in California or Pennsylvania. Some as far away as Spain, India or Australia.

This approach works for many different reasons. Some clients couldn’t find the right support locally. Some feel safer at home than in a counsellor’s office. Some live with disabilities that make in-person counselling hard to access.

What they share is that they were looking for an integrative approach — not standalone EMDR, but EMDR, parts work, and somatic approaches combined. An approach that respects the nervous system and how trauma affects the body. And a counsellor with lived experience in trauma recovery, not just training in it. A counsellor who can be with sexual abuse without getting overwhelmed. A counsellor who is grounded, even if your story feels too much to you.

I also offer income-based pricing — because geography shouldn’t be the only barrier I help remove.

During my own healing, I worked with practitioners in other countries. Not because no one closer was available — but because their approach was the right next step for where I was. Geography wasn’t the question. The right fit was. I still work this way. It shapes how I think about distance in this work.

Who I work with

I work mainly with adults who want to heal relational and complex trauma — or who have an intuitive sense that they might have it. Not children, not adolescents. I rarely work with single-incident trauma. Most of the people I work with lived in traumatic environments, not just through a single traumatic event.

These are the communities I work with most often. Each links to a more specific article if you want to go deeper before reaching out.

Adults with complex trauma

Complex trauma stems from sustained woundings in environments we couldn’t escape — ongoing childhood abuse, domestic violence, co-parenting with an abusive ex-partner, or being targeted by racism, xenophobia, ableism, homophobia, or transphobia. It doesn’t heal the same way single-incident trauma does. It requires a more layered approach, a longer preparation phase, and a trauma-focused practitioner who understands the difference.

Read more: IFS and EMDR for complex trauma.

Adults with childhood trauma

Childhood trauma — also called developmental trauma or adverse childhood experiences — shapes the nervous system, the sense of self, the capacity for relationship, and the patterns that feel inescapable in adulthood. Some feel like their inner world is fragmented. Others don’t.

Many of my clients arrive having tried counselling before and felt it didn’t reach what it needed to reach. That gap is often the difference between approaches that work with thoughts and approaches that work with the nervous system, the body, and the parts that carry the earliest wounds.

Healing childhood trauma often requires approaches that go beyond traditional talk therapy. My work includes parts work therapy for childhood trauma, EMDR for childhood trauma, and an understanding of why CBT isn’t enough for childhood trauma when experiences have shaped the nervous system and sense of self in early development.

Read more: Healing childhood trauma as an adult.

Adults healing from relational trauma

Healing from abusive relationships or relational trauma is not about fixing what was wrong with you. There was nothing wrong with you. The work is about rebuilding what the relationship eroded — the sense of self, the capacity to trust your own perceptions, the parts that were activated and are still running patterns shaped by the harm. Read more: Healing relational trauma.

Not all relational trauma becomes complex, especially if it happened in adulthood and you already had a wide enough window of tolerance. Other factors that influence complex trauma are severity, duration, and the meaning made of what happened. Whether your experience sits closer to a contained relational wound or has layered into something more complex, the approach adapts to what you are actually carrying. Learn more: Goals for trauma recovery.

How online trauma counselling works in my practice

Online sessions are how I work with most of my clients as they move through their recovery. The Integrative Trauma Recovery Model™, my approach to trauma counselling, integrates EMDR, parts work, somatic approaches, and anti-oppressive practices. Its flexibility allows me to adapt to each client’s experience of trauma — which is often layered and rarely fits as neatly into boxes as psychology suggests.

Read more about how I work: Integrative Trauma Recovery Model™.

My work is founded in EMDR and somatic parts work therapy for trauma. Though I adapt it to what has happened to my clients. EMDR and IFS for trauma recovery look different for complex trauma than for relational trauma. The more complex your experience, the more likely you’ll benefit from a multimodal approach. This nuance matters to meet your needs. For all clients, the therapeutic relationship is the foundation — not a backdrop. Healing happens in a healthy therapeutic relationship.

I follow Judith Herman’s phased model — safety and stabilization, processing and mourning, reconnection — applied flexibly to what actually happened to you. You don’t need to tell your most traumatic story first – often never. We start with what is difficult right now – overwhelming emotions, nervous system dysregulation. Read more: Healing trauma.

Why online trauma counselling works for recovery

The therapeutic relationship is the most important healing mechanism in trauma recovery — and relationship travels. I can observe changes in posture, breathing, facial expressions, and nervous system state through video. I can guide clients through my approach remotely. Many clients find that being in their own space — familiar, comfortable, sometimes with a pet nearby — actually supports trauma recovery. The nervous system is already in an environment it knows.

Research comparing teletherapy and in-person therapy has found no meaningful difference in client outcomes, supporting the effectiveness of online trauma counselling. This aligns with what I see in practice: the quality of the therapeutic relationship matters more than the physical location of the work.

One honest limitation of online trauma counselling

This doesn’t work for everyone in every circumstance. If you are currently in a relationship or home environment where privacy cannot be guaranteed — or where the person causing harm might be present — please assess honestly whether online sessions can be conducted safely before we begin. This is something we can explore in the free consultation.

I do not offer text or chat-based therapy for trauma work. The non-verbal cues that trauma counselling depends on are not visible in text. I use a secure video platform, Jane.app, that complies with privacy regulations in Canada, the United States, and Europe.

How to begin

I offer a free consultation for new clients — to explore your history, what you are carrying, and whether working together makes sense. If we decide to proceed, the first session focuses on your current symptoms, your goals, and what your nervous system needs now. Not on telling your most difficult story first.

Sessions are delivered via secure video. You need a device with a camera and microphone and a private space where you won’t be interrupted.

Curious whether this could work for you? Book a free consultation.

Book a free consultation online — let’s explore whether working together makes sense

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