Trauma can affect anyone—babies, children, teens, or adults—even if you don’t consciously remember what happened. The body and mind can hold memories of distressing events, which may show up as anxiety, emotional outbursts, numbness, or trouble connecting with others.
Attachment refers to the bonds we form with caregivers early in life. When these relationships are disrupted or unsafe, it can impact our ability to trust, feel secure, and regulate our emotions.
Distressing experiences can leave an imprint on both body and mind, sometimes showing up as anxiety, emotional outbursts, numbness, or trouble connecting with others. Trauma is not just about what happened, but how it is held within you.
Attachment refers to the bonds we form with our earliest caregivers. We are born primed for attachment, attunement and connection and this lays the foundation for our emotional regulation throughout the lifespan. When these relationships are disrupted or unsafe, it can impact our ability to trust, feel secure, and regulate our emotions throughout life. Trauma and attachment challenges can affect anyone, including infants and children—even when the details are not consciously remembered.
Trauma is a sensory experience. Even if we don’t recall the details, our bodies and brains can hold memories of distress. Trauma can arise from many sources, including:
At Lori Gill Psychotherapy, our therapists are highly trained in the most advanced, research-supported modalities for treating trauma and attachment challenges—including developmental trauma and complex trauma. Our team’s expertise goes beyond general counselling; we integrate the latest clinical neuroscience and trauma theory into every aspect of our work.
We tailor treatment to each individual, drawing from a range of evidence-based approaches, including:
We are dedicated to providing trauma treatment that is compassionate, effective, and deeply rooted in clinical science. Healing is possible—and we are here to guide you with expertise and care.
ATTCH staff are thankful to have received training in the Attachment, Self-Regulation, and Competency (ARC) Model through the Trauma Centre at JRI (founded by Dr. Bessel van der Kolk). Our staff completed a 3-day training in the ARC model with Trauma Centre at JRI’s Executive Director, Dr. Joseph Spinazolla and a 2-Day Training in the Sensory Motor Arousal Regulation Treatment (SMART) model with Dr. Elizabeth Warner. It was a fantastic training and one that we would highly recommend. Aspects of this training are covered off in a similar format through our core certification training: Day 1 Understanding the Foundations of Trauma and Attachment & Day 2 Phase-Based Clinical Applications to Promote Healing and Integration of Trauma and Attachment Dysregulation with Lori Gill, Founder and Lead Trauma Therapist, Attachment and Trauma Treatment Centre for Healing
Our founder and clinical director, Lori Gill, as well as our centre are listed on the ‘find and ARC provider’ website (providers can be sought out by city i.e., St. Davids, ON). You can search for a provider in your area using the following link: http://arcframework.org/for-parents-and-caregivers/parents-find-an-arc-provider/
The ARC model is an evidence based framework that aims to heal trauma wounds by raising awareness about trauma and its impact for children, professionals, and caregivers. There are 10 building blocks upon which the ARC framework are built upon (see image below). The ARC model is recommended by the American Academy of Paediatrics recommends the ARC model under their ‘suggested therapies for the traumatized child’ (p.13). Learn more about the ARC model and associated research findings on the Trauma Centre at JRI’s website:
Each of these building blocks are thoroughly expanded upon in the book by Blaustein & Kinniburgh: Treating Traumatic Stress in Children and Adolescents. This is a rich resource that offers a breadth of information to help professionals become adept at healing trauma and attachment dysregulation as well as worksheets to help children and youth better understand the impact trauma has at a neurological, physiological, and behavioural level and what they can do to become more empowered and create change.
I previously had a child I work with in residential treatment tell me that his “brain is broken” which was heartbreaking to hear but given my knowledge of neuroscioence I was able to reframe for him that, although his brain felt like it was broken our brain is actually quite brilliant in that it protects us when we experience overwhelming or terrifying events. I furthermore explained to him that as brilliant as our brain is, it sometimes become stuck perceiving that we remain in a state of danger even after the threat has passed and that we need to help it become unstuck through regulating our body and mind and changing the conscious messages we are sending ourselves. We proceeded to work through the handouts on ‘false alarms’ in the workbook which were quite reinforcing of the organic conversation that had come up that session. These tools help us to easily communicate the impact that trauma has and help us to form meaningful collaborative plans with children, youth, and their caregivers to reduce arousal, promote regulation, form meaning, and empower children, youth, and their caregivers to create sustainable changes.