Why should I trust you? Therapy vs. Trauma-informed Coaching
What exactly is trauma-informed coaching?
How is it different from therapy or counseling?
How do I decide which modality of help is best for me?
WHY SHOULD I TRUST YOU?
These are really important questions to ask, and it is equally important to interview whichever practitioner you are leaning towards before you trust your vulnerable moments with them. Listen to how your body feels when you speak with them. Do you feel at ease, or tense? Do you feel the innate desire to open up, or are you hesitant based on their tone or body language? Allow your intuition to lead you towards a safe, reputable practitioner that can subsequently lead you to your own self. And if you find yourself triggered without safety and co-regulation, encourage yourself to let them go and find a new practitioner who can properly assist you.
So what’s the difference?
A therapist or counsellor often focuses on recognizing and understanding your trauma with specific methodology that will help you understand your past and come to terms with what happened. Therapy focuses on mental health diagnoses, concerns, behavioral problems through communication, and skill building. It is essential to have a certified professional work with you through acute trauma.
That is not who I am, nor is it my area of expertise. Being dutifully aware of my own capability to ‘cause no harm’ is essential in this type of care. Ego has no place in trauma treatment. When a practitioner is out of their depth, recognizing and referring them to someone else who can help them appropriately, is a fundamental responsibility that should be taken very seriously.
Trauma-informed Coaches have a working understanding about what trauma is, how to define it, and how to understand and recognize survival behaviours and personalities. There is a clear understanding of the presence of trauma in the coach-client relationship and how to approach the present and the future with directed trauma-informed self-inquiry and goal setting, while being sensitive to context. Having an awareness of neuropsychological trauma responses are important when restructuring the effects of harm in relation to potential healing; knowing the difference between teaching someone and helping them learn themselves with sensitive awareness can maximize their own potential. Coaches, trauma-informed or not, should never be working actively with someone who is in acute trauma stress, addiction, hyper-vigilance, or paranoia unless they have had specialized training and supervision.
So where do I fall in line with all of this? I am a coach who is trauma-informed and dedicates my practice to helping those who have tried ‘everything’. I am often the last resort for those seeking help and recognize the deep need for emotional injury recovery and mindful co-regulated self-education. Emotional health and empowerment beyond the trauma story is limitless with the right direction and knowledge of why you behave the way you do, and how to use it towards empowerment instead of perpetuating your own suffering.
Just as some of you are guided by your faith and religion, I am a spiritual student of vibration. I witness the sounds and vibrations of energy when you speak of your pain. I intuitively allow my senses to guide care with extensive trauma-informed language, providing and teaching safety as we dive into your vulnerabilities.
Working with me you get a little bit of everything. We connect with somatic practices that allow you to recognize and integrate emotion through your body, while deep diving into your autonomic nervous system patterns with compassion and curiosity. We explore boundaries, core beliefs, language, impact, and awareness through a growth mindset allowing a space for your coping strategies to expand into safety patterns.
As a coach, teacher, and healer, I have just under 5000 client hours and 6 six years’ experience coming into 2022 working clients through trauma, emotional mindset, health and wellness. Within this timeframe I taught stress management for the Coquitlam School district 43 for 3.5 years, as well as taught spiritual development & meditation classes, while seeing clients 1:1 within my home office.
I have spoken on educational platforms, sponsored political events, hosted retreats, numerous workshops on trauma, mind-body connection as well as developed my most recent group program “Screw Coping, I want to Thrive” creating space for other coaches and the like to become trauma-informed themselves. I currently support corporate companies with their staff stress management, as well as have been involved with a non-profit organization for the last 2 years supporting early childhood educators within the Kelowna community.
What I’ve learned through my experience is that we all carry a lot of shame without understanding why. Shame does not discriminate with gender, race, religion, culture or financial status. Whether you grew up in a healthy, happy home, or are survivors of abuse and neglect. Shame finds it’s way into your psyche and will direct your attention creating a bubble around you that will either cause the placebo effect of protection pushing people away, or trap you inside your anxieties. My goal is not to crack you open and send you on your way, my intention is to witness your shame and suffering, providing you a blueprint on HOW to be on your way. We will work together to turn those “who and why” questions into forward movement with tools that you can lean into for the rest of your life.
We are not meant to move through emotional injury or trauma recovery alone. The process of understanding your pain and suffering is a life-long journey, and one that cannot be forced or integrated without patience and awareness of your personal safety. Becoming mindful of what happened to you, why you behave the way you do, and how to effectively manage your emotional recovery is a game changer in life. When you’re ready to lean into trauma-informed coaching with compassionate curiosity, I welcome the conversation.
Until then, keep leaning into that intuition. Interview your coaches, counsellors and therapists. Feel how your body reacts to anothers body language … and follow me on Instagram or facebook for tips and tricks to get you started on that awareness piece.
Much love, health and healing,
Lea Morrison
