Virtual Trauma Therapist in Vaughan & Across Ontario
Therapy for Trauma, Nervous System Healing & Life Transitions
When was the last time you felt fully present in your own life?
If that question is hard to answer, you’re not alone. Most people have to stop and think about it. This page may be for you if some of this sounds familiar:
- You feel on edge even when nothing appears to be wrong.
- Relaxing feels unfamiliar, uncomfortable, or strangely unsafe.
- Small things bring a strong reaction, or sometimes no reaction at all.
- You feel disconnected from yourself, as though you're watching your life from a distance.
- You're tired in a way that sleep doesn't seem to reach.
- You've been through a loss, change, or difficult period and haven't had space to process it.
- Part of you knows something is over, while another part still responds as though it's happening.
You don’t need one specific event, a clear explanation, or a complete story to begin.
What is happening underneath
Trauma doesn’t always show up as a memory.
Sometimes it shows up as tension, numbness, exhaustion, trouble sleeping, a need to stay in control, or the feeling that you’re never completely here.
These responses aren’t signs that something is wrong with you. They’re ways your mind and body learned to protect you when something felt too much, too fast, or too hard to face alone.
For a long time, they may have helped you keep going. But protection can stay in place long after the situation changes. Your life may be safer now while your body is still braced for what might happen next.
THERAPY FOR TRAUMA
How trauma can show up
There isn’t always one event you can point to. More often it’s years of managing stress, adapting to hard circumstances, looking after other people, living through loss, or staying in situations where you felt overwhelmed, unsupported, or unsafe. From the outside, none of it may look like trauma. Over time, it still shapes how you see yourself, how close you let people get, and how safe the world feels.
THERAPY FOR NERVOUS SYSTEM HEALING
What your nervous system has been carrying
Your body keeps track of what you’ve been through. You might catch yourself bracing for problems, unable to relax, reacting strongly or going numb, or carrying tension and tiredness that never quite lift. You keep functioning. You meet every responsibility. And you feel drained, and further from yourself than you used to be. That isn’t weakness or failure. It’s what happens when a body has been under stress, and in charge, for a very long time.
THERAPY FOR LIFE TRANSITIONS
How life transitions can affect you
Change can shake you as much as a crisis can, including change you wanted. Becoming a mother, caring for someone, immigrating, a relationship ending or beginning, raising a neurodivergent child, a career shift, burnout, grief, or no longer recognizing who you’ve become. Each one asks you to adapt, usually more than anyone around you realizes, and often more than you’ve admitted to yourself.
How therapy can help
Many people come wanting to feel like themselves again. Steadier, more connected, less pulled around by what happened. Those are good goals.
The work doesn’t have to begin by telling the whole story or by going back to the hardest part. That surprises people. There’s an assumption that trauma therapy means describing the worst thing first.
We can start with what’s happening now. What helps you feel present. What pulls you away. What your body does when something feels unsafe.
In session, we move slowly enough that you stay connected to yourself. We make sense of your reactions without judging them or forcing them to change. Sometimes we look at the past. Sometimes we stay with what’s happening in your life today. You won’t be pushed to revisit anything before you’re ready.
Healing isn’t about erasing what happened, forcing forgiveness, or making yourself move on. It’s about understanding what your responses have been doing for you, and what they might need now, so there’s more room for your feelings, your body, and the life you’re living.
Life transitions can work in a similar way. Even wanted changes can unsettle your sense of who you are, or where you’re going. Therapy is a space to look at what’s ending, what’s changing, and what you need as you move.
What to expect
We start with a free 15-minute consultation. It’s short on purpose. You get a sense of me, I get a sense of what’s going on, and you decide from there.
You don’t need to explain everything. A recent reaction, a feeling of disconnection, or simply knowing you’ve been carrying something too long is enough.
Sessions are 50 or 80 minutes long and are held online, at a pace that feels manageable for you. You won’t be pushed to tell your story, revisit a painful experience, or go anywhere you aren’t ready to go.
All sessions are with me, Irina Carayannis, MACP, Registered Psychotherapist (Qualifying).
Frequently Asked Questions
Do I need a "big" trauma for this to apply to me?
No. Trauma isn’t defined by the size of an event but by its impact on you. Prolonged stress, loss, caregiving, or feeling unsupported can affect you as deeply as a single event. If it’s affecting you, it counts.
Will I have to talk about everything that happened?
No. You set the pace, and you don’t have to share every detail. We can work with what’s happening now without going into anything you’re not ready to talk about.
What does nervous system work mean?
Much of what we carry sits in the body rather than in our thinking: tension, restlessness, shutting down, exhaustion. Nervous system work means paying attention to that alongside what we talk about. It’s gradual, and it moves at a pace your body can manage.
Is therapy covered by insurance?
Psychotherapy services may be covered by extended health benefits. Coverage varies by plan, so please check with your insurance provider to confirm that services provided by a Registered Psychotherapist (Qualifying) are covered. I do not offer direct billing. You will receive a receipt with my registration number to submit to your insurer for reimbursement.