Depth-oriented trauma psychotherapy with Sarah Cushing, RP (CRPO #15706): EMDR, IFS-informed parts work, and somatic approaches. In person at 100 Centrepointe in Nepean/Ottawa, or virtually anywhere in Ontario. Sessions are 50 minutes at $170.
Plenty of people function well and still carry something unresolved. The sleep is off, the anger arrives faster than it used to, closeness feels risky, or the body keeps sounding an alarm nobody else can see.
Trauma therapy is not about retelling the worst thing that happened to you until it hurts less. It is about changing how your nervous system holds it, so the past stops running the present.
EMDR (Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing) is a structured, evidence-based approach for memories that still carry a charge in the present. I completed my basic training through an EMDRIA-approved program and work as an EMDR-trained clinician.
We do not begin with the worst memory. We begin with stabilization: resourcing, regulation, and a clear map of what we are working toward. Reprocessing starts when you have the internal footing for it.
Most people arrive describing an internal argument: the part that wants change, the part that shuts it down, the part that keeps everything functioning so nobody worries. Parts work treats each of those as protective rather than pathological.
The aim is not to remove the protectors. It is to understand what they have been holding, and to loosen their workload so you are not run by strategies you formed at fifteen.
Trauma is stored as much in breath, posture, and sensation as in narrative. We pay attention to what happens in your body as we talk: where the tightening lands, when the numbness arrives, what happens when you slow down.
This is practical work, not mystical. Titration, orienting, and pacing so the session stays inside your window of tolerance.
My background in anthropology and sociology shapes how I think about symptoms. Culture, gender expectation, sport, family structure, migration, and workplace demands are not background noise; they are often part of what produced the adaptation in the first place.
Naming that context is frequently the point at which self-blame starts to loosen.
In-person sessions are held at 100 Centrepointe in Nepean/Ottawa, serving Nepean, Barrhaven, Centretown, Westboro, Kanata, and Orleans. Virtual sessions are available to anyone located in Ontario. Clients must be 16 or older.
Direct billing is available with some insurers and benefits packages, so ask and I can check your specific plan. Psychotherapy provided by a Registered Psychotherapist is HST exempt.
Therapy outcomes vary from person to person, and no particular result can be guaranteed. This is not a crisis service. If you are in crisis, call 911, go to your nearest emergency department, or contact the 988 Suicide Crisis Helpline.
A free 15-minute consultation is the simplest way to find out whether this approach fits what you are carrying.
