Hear what our client's have to say about the Centre:
*****
My therapist was intuitive to my needs, a good listener. She gently drew me to places I needed to go and helped me connect with my alters and in so doing helped me to work with them as a part of an integral team. It has been an incredible journey of the soul and I am very grateful.
*****
My therapist’s kind and non-judgmental expression is what first (and always does) pleased me. There was no right or wrong answers. She is relentless on getting to the core issues. Her good note-taking ensures nothing gets forgotten or overlooked – she’ll come back to it eventually.
*****
What I liked about therapy was that my therapist gave me the full responsibility of my wellness. When she didn’t know something, she would say so, although it didn’t end there. Together we would search for a viable solution that worked for me. My therapist taught me that the answers to my questions in life are inside me and that the solutions are simple, but simple is not always easy. The best thing I learned from my therapist is that it is indeed a “good day”! For 35 years life has contradicted that idea and now I see my life was a whole bunch of not so good “things”. My therapist showed me how to establish a good solid and practical life of happy times that are not at the expense of someone else.
*****
I am a client at the Centre for Abuse and Trauma Therapy, and currently only paying a small fee for services. Being a person on disability and raising two teenage daughters would make it impossible for me to get the help I so desperately need paying a full fee.
Being a client of the Centre has changed my life. I have been in pain all my life, suffering from severe childhood abuse, that has crippled me in many ways in my adult life. Depression, anxiety and hopelessness have plagued me since as far back as I can remember. The worst of course was not being the mother my children deserved. Not being able to get an education, or hold down a job has left me and my children in poverty.
Since I have started going to the Centre my life has changed so much. I have hope and an alleviation of my physical symptoms. I have a part-time job and more energy than I have ever known. The best part is that I am able to be there for my children when they need me. I wish I could describe to you how much my life has changed… I can just say that my world was always in black and white, but now I see in colour.
I know I still have a long way to go, but with my therapist, I know that my life will keep on getting better. The Centre has also helped my children because of learning better parenting skills, and relationship skills that already have shown positive results. I also hope in the future that I can help others who have suffered like me, to pay it forward.
*****
It took me a long time and some prodding from my daughter to consider getting counselling but I’m really glad I did. The personal attention and perspective provided a balance that will be long-lasting for me.
I always went in (to therapy) with dread and came out feeling much better. The physical ambiance of the Centre felt very comfortable and safe. My therapist’s empathy and intelligence helped me so much. I felt I could tell her anything. She provided insights and strategies I can still use to help me through tough times.
*****
I am a 56 year old client of the Centre for Abuse and Trauma Therapy. The work I have done with my therapist about the extensive sexual, physical and psychological abuse I experienced in my formative years has been life changing. Despite trying other forms of therapy, I have had a life-long struggle with depression, PTSD, and dissociative symptoms, all of which have had a very limiting effect on my life.
Working with my therapist has finally allowed me to unravel the underlying experiences which so profoundly affected my life and to, little by little, undo their crippling effects. My therapist's ability to help me do this in a safe and manageable way has been amazing.
I am still in therapy. This would be extremely difficult for me to do were it not for the sliding fee schedule at the Centre. Even the minimal fee I pay for therapy combined with fuel expense to travel from Perth are significant to me. Receiving this therapy has resulted in a huge improvement in my quality of life. I believe that if I complete this therapeutic work I will be able to lead a full and productive life in the years still left to me.
In closing I would like to emphasize the very particular skills and knowledge base which the Centre offers. From my own experience with various well-educated therapists over the years, I can assert that the kind of understanding and help I have received from my therapist is rare indeed. The Centre for Abuse and Trauma Therapy is an invaluable resource, both to individuals and to the community. I am a firm believer in the ‘ripple effect’ of healing and hope that the Centre will be able to continue its important role in that process.
*****
I would like to share with you the life-altering experience I have had working with my therapist. I found her to be the most insightful, strong and committed therapist I have encountered in a long and arduous journey to find someone that could pinpoint the nature of my suffering. Her approach to healing is powerful and immediately effective.
I have had dozens of therapists over the years, yet I remained unwell. The last many years I have spent in a rigid addictions model of therapy. Although I have managed to remain drug and alcohol free for ten years, I was still fragmented, frustrated, and continually tormented by lingering feelings and behaviours that were not addressed in my addiction recovery process. I knew there was something missing but I did not know what, and gradually came to the conclusion that I must be insane. I felt I had to keep this assumption to myself and it became my terrible secret, one that I was burdened with on a daily basis and that greatly impacted the living of my life.
I have come to know that trauma and addiction are intricately linked and feed off of one another. The devastating feelings and flashbacks resulting from the ritualistic sexual abuse I endured begged to be dealt with. That is where the addiction to medicating those feelings come in. I nearly died trying to cope with those feelings with alcohol and drugs. Trauma is the trigger. Addiction is the trap.
There was no one like my therapist decades back, doing the work that would have helped me wade through the terrible maze of Post Traumatic Stress Disorder and sense of overwhelming disconnectedness, I suffered.
I am sixth-three years old and was only recently diagnosed with PTSD and Dissociative Identity Disorder. What a waste of my life! How it would have been different if there had been help for me when I needed it.
I am personally aware of how damaging the Band-Aid approach is. Long term therapy is needed to sort through it all. I was not aware at the time how injurious the lack of understanding and minimizing of my abuse by my previous therapists was. But I do now. It encouraged more self-loathing and self-blame for what happened to me as a child. All the decisions I ever made in my life were based on those feelings about myself.
Many of my friends have also been immensely helped by my therapist. I am deeply grateful for the peace, sense of self, and the compassion for my own suffering that has resulted from the work we have done together. My life has been forever changed. It is high time this work was available to everyone.
*****
I am a survivor of childhood trauma abuse. I am a single mother of three. My children’s child support had to be court ordered after a lengthy/costly court battle. I live with a spinal cord injury and am on disability.
The Centre for Abuse and Trauma Therapy Inc. has been phenomenal in my healing process. I would not have been able to reach the heights of my healing without the low fee that they accept for my therapy. This therapy has allowed me to live through the horrific past of my childhood traumas. This therapy has helped me manage the burdens that the abuse has on my financial aspects.
*****
My therapist made me feel comfortable enough to be able to talk about the reasons for me being the way I was and she was patient and helpful when I needed her to be. She has helped me so much I can’t thank her enough. I see and feel things differently now and only hope I can continue to apply the things she has taught me in the future.
*****
I always went in to therapy sessions with dread but came out feeling much better. The physical ambiance of the centre felt very comfortable and safe. My therapist’s empathy and intelligence helped me so much. I felt I could tell her anything. She provided insights and strategies I can still use to help me through tough times. If I hadn’t been assigned to someone with my therapist’s qualities and skills I probably wouldn’t have stuck it out....
*****
While working with my therapist at the Centre, I liked the feeling of completing myself and healing myself. My therapist helped me work on techniques to keep my messages to myself loving and positive. I also gained knowledge of why and how I was reacting to abuse as a child and how it continued to affect me as an adult. The care and sensitivity with which I was given was beautiful. When there were times I felt that I was not getting "It", eventually I would come through that. I would–and do–highly recommend trauma and abuse therapy to heal oneself.
*****
There are so many things I loved about my therapy. First I am forever grateful to have been able to pay what I could afford. What a wonderful gift! Also having a feminist and client centered approach to therapy allowed me to feel safe and respected at all times. Having someone like my therapist who was very knowledgeable about my issues–as a person with dissociative identity disorder and a history of ritual abuse–was amazing, to say the least. She gave me a great gift: the ability to understand myself. She was my teacher as well as my therapist, showing me ways to take care of myself. Through her kind, strong yet gentle manner I was able to explore my inner world. To know my true self and to love the person I was in the past, and the person I am today. I have made so many life changing decisions in therapy, and I am so much happier because of it. My children also gained by my ability to be a better Mother. Thanks to my therapist for your bravery to tackle that which so many fear; you are our Hero.
*****
I really liked the support people I met in the office of the Centre while I waited for my appointments. Thanks! The pamphlets and literature available was very helpful too. I really liked being able to make a cup of tea. It made me feel more at home, especially the occasional treat.
*****
I liked that I was always received as a valued woman in society, that I was believed, and that I had worth. The Centre is a safe, trusted environment. My therapist understood my trauma and was able to help make sense of my past, present and future.
*****
Abuse is real, and it still does continue to happen to people; the only way for it to stop is to bring it out into the open, and expose the truth. The Centre has helped me expose my truth and make me feel like a valued person.
