Guiding Frameworks
The feeling of safety IS the treatment.
~ Dr. Stephen Porges
A number of perspectives guide Sarah’s work. The following philosophies or frameworks form the foundation on which various therapies are implemented:
Trauma-informed care
As has often been said, recovering from trauma is like climbing Mount Everest – you don’t attempt it in flip flops and a t-shirt. Training, titrated acclimatization, and the proper gear and support are required for the climb and the descent.
Similarly, particular external (systemic) and internal (self) conditions are required for therapy to unfold. Preparation involving safety in the world and within oneself, stabilization, self-regulation, and skill building typically occurs before moving into deeper trauma processing. Titrated, gradual exposure to resolve traumatic activation in smaller doses helps to build the capacity to work with and resolve bigger thresholds.
Also, helping parents, partners or caregivers work on their attunement, self-regulation, consistency, and ability to provide the conditions to develop earned secure attachment is crucial to helping others (like children, youth, partners, pets, or other loved ones) recover from trauma as well.
Finally, therapeutic progress also may require addressing gaps in neurosequential development before being able to progress to other goals (for e.g., developing greater regulation in the brain stem may be necessary before attempting more cognitive strategies).
Anti-oppressive practice
Privilege, discrimination, and power and control dynamics harm everyone, including those who have benefitted from them, whether unconsciously or not. Naming and addressing these inequities and other differences as they occur in the therapeutic relationship is an important part of fostering safety and trust.
Four Directions
Many traditional peoples refer to the medicine wheel as a framework that honours the different facets of life. This includes addressing and healing the mind, body, emotions, and spirit/soul (or, alternately, the mind, body, emotions, and relationships, with spirit/soul at the centre and nature/animals/culture/language/community on the outside). Trauma recovery involves addressing disconnection and wounds at each of these levels, where relevant.
