Trauma Clinic

What is the CFIR Trauma Clinic?

The CFIR Trauma Clinic is a specialized service within CFIR dedicated to supporting individuals affected by a broad range of trauma-related symptoms. Staffed by clinicians extensively trained in evidence-based trauma therapies, the clinic offers care for both Complex/Long-Term Trauma and Acute/Single-Event Trauma. Clinicians are also experienced in treating conditions such as Acute Stress Disorder, Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD), Complex PTSD (C-PTSD), dissociative disorders (e.g., Depersonalization/Derealization Disorder, Dissociative Amnesia, Dissociative Identity Disorder), and trauma-related personality disorders.

As part of a collaborative Trauma Team, our Trauma Clinic clinicians engage in specialized peer consultation, ongoing professional development, and have direct referral access to other trauma-focused practitioners.

Recognizing that trauma impacts each individual differently—shaped by personal history and identity—CFIR practitioners use an integrative, client-centered approach. Treatment is co-created to reflect each client’s unique psychological needs and healing goals. Therapy may focus on developing emotional regulation, fostering secure relationships, reintegrating fragmented aspects of self, processing shame, and cultivating a sense of intrinsic self-worth.

Clients also have the option to access NeurOptimal® neurofeedback, a technology that supports nervous system regulation and may enhance the trauma recovery process.

Populations Served

The CFIR Trauma Clinic provides care for individuals with diverse trauma histories, including:

• Survivors of childhood abuse and neglect
• Survivors of sexual assault 
• Survivors of domestic violence and gender-based violence
• Individuals affected by narcissistic abuse, religious trauma, and/or cult involvement
• Those exposed to war and combat
• Survivors of critical accidents and medical trauma
• Individuals facing oppression, marginalization, systemic trauma 
• Frontline professionals, such as paramedics, police officers, physicians, and nurses

What’s Acceptance and Commitment, Compassion & Mindfulness-based therapies (ACT, MBSR)?

Acceptance and Commitment Therapy supports an individual to learn how to observe, be less reactive, accept and be non-judgmental of internal thoughts or emotional reactions. ACT supports you to act on the basis of core values as opposed to being entangled in the thoughts and emotional reactions that are at the root of your concerns. Developing a more compassionate outlook towards your self is also important for remediation of various mental health concerns. Treatment focuses on developing the capacity to observe, adopt a non-judgemental stance toward thoughts and feelings, and diminish reactivity, while anchoring the self in core values to promote clarity in thinking and action.

Psychological and Physiological Impact of Trauma

Hyperarousal (Over-Activation):

• Heightened alertness or hypervigilance
• Recurrent nightmares, night terrors, flashbacks
• Emotional overwhelm, panic, racing thoughts
• Irritability, anger, defensive responses
• Impulsivity, hypersexuality, substance abuse, self-harm, addictions 
• Suicidal ideation

Hypoarousal (Under-Activation):

• Persistent fatigue or excessive sleep
• Emotional numbness, social withdrawal
• Chronic shame or internalized self-criticism
• Cognitive difficulties (e.g., fogginess, inattention)

Other Effects:

• Dissociative episodes (e.g., detachment from body or surroundings)
• Unexplained somatic symptoms (e.g., chronic pain, fibromyalgia, involuntary movements)

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Evidence-Based and Trauma-Informed Approaches

Clinicians within the Trauma Clinic at CFIR utilize an integrative framework, incorporating a trauma-informed lens alongside empirically supported treatments tailored to the client’s needs and goals. Our Trauma Clinic therapists are trained in a variety of treatment modalities, including developmental and psychodynamic, somatic, and parts-based approaches.

Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing (EMDR):

EMDR is an evidence-based therapy that uses bilateral stimulation—such as eye movements, sounds, or taps—to help clients process traumatic memories. This reduces emotional distress and supports the development of more adaptive beliefs and emotional responses.

Somatic Experiencing (SE):

SE is a body-oriented approach that helps release trauma held in the nervous system. Through gentle awareness of physical sensations, clients gradually discharge stuck survival energy and restore a sense of safety and regulation.

Sensorimotor Psychotherapy (SP):

SP integrates body awareness with emotional and cognitive processing. It helps clients track posture, movement, and other bodily cues linked to trauma, enabling them to complete unresolved fight, flight, or freeze responses and build nervous system resilience.

Polyvagal Therapies:

Grounded in Polyvagal Theory by Dr. Stephen Porges, polyvagal-informed therapies work with the body’s autonomic nervous system to promote regulation and a sense of safety. These therapies help clients recognize their physiological states—such as shutdown, mobilization, or social engagement—and develop personalized strategies to move toward connection, calm, and emotional balance.

Parts Work Therapies (IFS, Inner Child Work, TIST):

Parts work therapies view the mind as made up of distinct internal “parts,” each carrying specific roles, emotions, and beliefs. Approaches like Internal Family Systems (IFS), Trauma-Informed Stabilization Treatment (TIST), and Inner Child Work help clients build compassionate relationships with these trauma-related parts to unburden protective parts and heal wounded ones. By fostering awareness and dialogue between parts, clients can reduce internal conflict, increase emotional safety, and promote healing. These therapies aim to strengthen the client’s core Self or inner leadership, allowing for greater integration, self-understanding, and emotional regulation. Inner child work often focuses on nurturing early developmental experiences to repair attachment wounds and foster wholeness.

Adjunctive Interventions

In addition to evidence-based psychotherapeutic modalities, the clinic offers NeurOptimal® neurotherapy, also know as neurofeedback. Neurotherapy is a non-invasive, empirically validated technology that usesreal-time EEG monitoring to help individuals self-regulate brain activity. By providing audio feedback when the brain shifts toward more regulated patterns, neurotherapy supports neuroplasticity and promotes improved emotional, cognitive, and physiological functioning. 

In trauma treatment, neurotherapy can help stabilize the nervous system by reducing hyperarousal, enhancing emotional regulation, promoting adaptive neural flexibility. It is particularly effective as an adjunct to psychotherapy for trauma-related issues and disorders, including PTSD and C-PTSD.

Clients interested in NeurOptimal® are encouraged to consult their therapist during their initial session for further information.