Trauma & PTSD Therapy

What this is

Working with the aftermath of something frightening or overwhelming — at a pace you set, not one I set for you.

Trauma is not only the event. It is what the event left running afterwards: the sleep that will not come, the startle that arrives before you have decided anything, the ordinary Tuesday that suddenly feels unsafe for a reason you cannot name. People often arrive believing they should be over it by now. That belief does more damage than the memory.

Let me be straight about the limits of this, because you deserve that before you book anything. I do not diagnose PTSD. That belongs with a doctor or a psychiatrist. If you already have a diagnosis, or you are already under someone’s care, I work alongside that — not instead of it, and not in competition with it. If something you tell me suggests you need medical or psychiatric care, I will say so plainly rather than keep you in my room.

What it can help with

People usually come to me carrying some version of this:

• Sleep that breaks — trouble falling asleep, waking at the same hour, dreams you wake up bracing from
• Being permanently on guard, scanning rooms, sitting where you can see the door
• Reactions that arrive faster and bigger than the situation deserves, then leave you ashamed of them
• Going numb, or watching yourself from slightly outside, as if the day is happening to someone else
• Avoiding places, people, sounds, or conversations because of what they pull up
• The aftermath of a single event — an accident, an assault, a loss, a medical emergency
• The aftermath of something long-running rather than sudden, including things that happened in childhood
• Living in a country where frightening things have happened to a lot of people, and being told that means yours does not count

That last one matters here. Shared hardship is not a reason your experience does not deserve attention.

What a session is like

The fear that keeps most people out of this room is that they will be made to relive the worst thing in detail, in front of a stranger, on day one. That is not how I work.

You decide what you say and when. We start with what is happening now — the sleep, the reactions, the avoidance — because that is what is costing you today, and because it can often be worked with before we go anywhere near the details. Some people eventually want to tell the whole story. Some never do, and still get somewhere. Both are fine.

You can stop at any point. You can say “not that” with no explanation owed. If something starts to feel like too much in the room, we slow down and steady it before you leave — I will not send you out the door mid-wave.

Depending on what suits you, this may draw on talking work, cognitive behavioural therapy, EFT, hypnotherapy, or Time Line Therapy. I will explain anything before we use it, and nothing happens to you without your say-so.

Practical details

• In person at Center St. Elie, Antelias, or online
• In person or online 9:00am–7:00pm · online only 7:00pm–11:00pm, Beirut time
• To book: message on WhatsApp or call 03-267-243

This work often suits online sessions well, because being in your own space can make it easier to stop, breathe, and stay in control of the pace.

Common questions

Will you make me talk about what happened?

No. You set what gets said and when, and you can leave things out permanently. Plenty of useful work happens on how you are living now without a full account of the event.

What if I start crying, or freeze, or cannot finish a sentence?

Then that is what happens, and it is not a failure of the session. Part of my job is to notice it before you do and slow things down. You will not be left to pull yourself together alone.

Is this a treatment for PTSD?

I am not going to dress this up. Therapy and coaching are complementary approaches, not a medical treatment, and I will not promise you an outcome or quote you numbers. What I can tell you is what happens in the room and why people come back. If you need a diagnosis or medication, that is a doctor’s work, and I will tell you so.

It happened years ago. Is it too late, or too small?

Neither. Time does not decide whether something still has a grip on you, and there is no severity threshold you have to clear before your experience is worth an hour of attention.

Is what I say private?

What you tell me stays between us, with the limits any responsible therapist has: if there is a serious risk to your life or someone else’s, or a court requires disclosure, I may have to act on it. I would rather you know that now than discover it later.

If you need help right now

This is not an emergency service, and I am not available around the clock. If you are in immediate danger or thinking about ending your life, please contact 1564 (Embrace Lifeline, 24/7) or 140 (Lebanese Red Cross), or go to your nearest emergency department. That is the right call, and it is not an overreaction.