Trauma Counselling Perth

At Energetics Institute in Inglewood, Richard and Helena Boyd work with people whose lives have been shaped by traumatic experiences, complex trauma, and ongoing nervous system strain. Their work is grounded in psychotherapy and body based approaches, because trauma does not only live in memory. It often lives in the breath, the muscles, posture, startle response, shutdown, and the way a person scans the room before they even realise they are doing it.

For one client, the first sign was not panic. It was that he could not sit through dinner after coming back from site without feeling trapped by ordinary family noise. For another, it was not obvious fear. It was the fact that every time someone asked, “Are you okay?” her whole throat tightened and she immediately said yes, even when she was barely holding herself together. For another, the problem looked like over-functioning at work and collapse at home. These are the kinds of patterns that bring people to trauma therapy.

Trauma Does Not Always Announce Itself Clearly

People do not always arrive using words like post traumatic stress disorder, complex ptsd, or traumatic stress disorder ptsd. They often talk about what the trauma is doing instead.

They may describe:

• constant alertness
• sleep that never feels deep enough
• strong reactions to tone of voice or conflict
• periods of numbness or disconnection
• distressing memories
• shame they cannot explain
• feeling unsafe in situations that other people seem to handle easily
• problems staying present with loved ones
• a body that feels switched on long after the danger has passed

Healthdirect notes that PTSD can develop after serious or frightening events and that complex trauma arises from repeated or prolonged exposure, particularly where there is coercion, fear, or abuse. It also notes that complex trauma can affect trust, emotional control, identity, and relationships over time.

What We See In Practice

Trauma in Perth does not arrive in one standard form.

A FIFO worker based between Perth and the Pilbara may look completely steady on the surface. He gets to site, does the job, keeps the routine, stays functional. Then he gets home on day two of break and finds himself furious because the television is too loud, the kids are everywhere, and he cannot get his body to settle. He tells us, “Nothing is wrong, but everything feels like too much.” That is not simply irritability. That is often a system struggling to downshift from prolonged activation.

A woman in her forties may come in for “stress” and only later realise that what she is calling stress has a history. She does not think of herself as someone with trauma. But she has spent years managing around past experiences of control and fear. She apologises too quickly, freezes when challenged, and feels a rush of heat through her chest whenever she has to say no. Once those responses are recognised as trauma reactions, the work changes.

A first responder may not describe a single defining event. Instead, they talk about accumulation. Too many scenes. Too many notifications. Too many moments where the body had to stay sharp and move fast. That is often where vicarious trauma and cumulative trauma need to be named properly, not reduced to burnout.

These examples matter because they show that trauma does not only look like flashbacks in the obvious sense. It can look like relationship strain, emotional reactivity, shutdown, chronic tension, and a life organised around avoiding activation.

Our Trauma Counselling Approach

Our trauma counselling is trauma informed, body-aware, and paced carefully. We do not treat every client as if the same method should be applied in the same order. Some people need more stabilisation before memory work. Some need help recognising bodily sensations and building emotional regulation. Some need support to make sense of traumatic memories that still feel raw and disorganised. Others need help with the quieter effects of trauma, such as emotional distance, distrust, or chronic over-functioning.

This is why our work often begins with:

• understanding your current trauma symptoms
• noticing how trauma shows up in the body
• identifying triggers and protective responses
• building coping strategies
• using grounding and orienting
• reducing the sense that your system is always one step away from alarm
• helping you regain control over reactions that currently feel automatic

Blue Knot, the Australian National Centre of Excellence for Complex Trauma, emphasises that complex trauma treatment often needs a broad, relational, and body-aware model rather than a narrow symptom-only approach.

That is close to how Richard and Helena Boyd work. Trauma recovery is rarely about forcing disclosure. It is about helping the person feel enough safety and internal steadiness that the work can actually be metabolised.

Evidence Based Trauma Treatments And Where We Fit

The Australian Psychological Society identifies several evidence based treatments for PTSD, including trauma-focused CBT, cognitive processing therapy, prolonged exposure therapy, and eye movement desensitisation and reprocessing. Healthdirect also lists trauma-focused psychological treatment as a key part of treating ptsd.

At Energetics Institute, we are clear about our role.

We provide trauma support, psychotherapy, and counselling for people living with the effects of trauma, including:

• single incident trauma
• complex trauma
• long-term relational trauma
• symptoms consistent with c ptsd
• chronic activation, shutdown, and dysregulation
• trauma patterns affecting healthy relationships, work, and well being

We are not a clinic of trauma psychologists, and we are not AHPRA-registered psychologists. We do not diagnose and we do not provide medico-legal reports. Some people will need formal diagnosis, assessment, or medication support. Where that is needed, we are clear and direct about it.

Our contribution is different. We offer a comprehensive approach that includes psychotherapy, body-based regulation, and trauma-informed relational work. Depending on the client, that may draw from:

• cognitive behavioural therapy
• body psychotherapy
• trauma stabilisation work
• relational psychotherapy
• schema therapy
• narrative therapy
• grounding and regulation methods
• carefully paced work with memory and meaning

Trauma Support In Perth And WA

Good local support matters. Trauma work should feel grounded in the reality of WA life.

In Perth, people may be carrying the pressure of long commutes, FIFO transitions, emergency service exposure, family violence, or histories that stayed hidden for years because “getting on with it” felt like the only option. Regional and remote clients often carry a different layer again, including isolation, site culture, and fewer immediate supports.

If someone is in crisis in metro Perth, the WA Mental Health Emergency Response Line operates 24 hours on 1300 555 788. In regional WA, Rurallink provides after-hours support on 1800 552 002. In an emergency, call 000.

Your First Session

The first session is not about proving your trauma or forcing yourself to say everything at once. It is about understanding what is happening now, what has brought you in, and what kind of support is likely to help.

We look at:

• current symptoms
• key stress points in daily life
• the impact on relationships and functioning
• whether the presentation looks more like classic PTSD, complex trauma, or another trauma-related pattern
• what pace feels possible
• what kind of support is needed first

For some people, the first phase is stabilisation. For others, it is beginning more direct trauma work. Either way, the aim is not pressure. It is fit.

See Trauma / PTSD Counselling in Action