TRAUMA-INFORMED THERAPY FOR ADULTS AND TEENS

My Approach

IN-PERSON AND VIRTUAL THERAPY SESSIONS

Whether you’re exploring therapy for the first time or you’ve spent years doing therapy and are still feeling stuck, you’re in the right place. I support adults and adolescents who are frustrated or hopeless about how they are currently experiencing life, and need help to see how change is possible.

My approach blends EMDR, Somatic, and Ego State Therapies. My primary goal is to help you feel comfortable, supported, and hopeful.

COMPASSIONATE SUPPORT FOR

The Clients I Work With

Denise Evans, MSW, RSW therapist in Georgetown Ontario taking notes in her office

Therapy for Teens

The majority of my career has focused on working with teens. I have unique expertise in helping teens navigate the hardships that can come along with growing up. Social stress, self-perception, identity, anxiety, and the need to feel accepted, can all become extremely overwhelming during this stage of life. I am highly skilled at helping youth who feel driven by big feelings and find themselves either very depressed or overly reactive.

I approach therapy with teens as a collaboration where they have the freedom and security to explore their thoughts and emotions, to make sense of their experiences, and to improve their relationships. We work together to develop skills that will help them manage anxiety, sadness, anger, perfectionism, and overwhelm.

I use a range of therapeutic approaches, including DBT and CBT, but these techniques only become truly effective when you feel understood and connected. Our sessions are collaborative and engaging, filled with warmth, respect, and often a bit of humour.

Denise Evans Therapy waiting room plans and kleenex box

Therapy for Adults

Many of the adults I work with come to therapy carrying experiences that were never fully processed. Old patterns that still show up in relationships, persistent anxiety, low self-worth, or a sense of being “stuck” despite trying so hard to move forward. Others arrive in the midst of major life transitions, burnout, grief, or the ongoing impact of complex or relational trauma. My work with adults supports both those who are brand new to therapy and those who have done years of meaningful work but still feel like something hasn’t quite shifted.

I draw from EMDR, somatic approaches, parts work, and skill-building therapies like DBT and CBT. These methods become most effective when they’re paired with genuine connection, so our work is collaborative, warm, and thoughtful, often with room for humour as we navigate hard things together. My aim is to help you feel more regulated, more aligned with yourself, and more capable of creating the changes you’ve been striving for.

Denise Evans, MSW, RSW therapist in Georgetown Ontario

Support for Parents + Caregivers

Supporting a young person who is struggling can be extremely difficult. Caregivers come to me looking for guidance, clarity, and tools to better understand their teen’s emotional world, whether or not their teen is willing to attend therapy.

There are a few ways I work with parents and caregivers:

1. Supporting caregivers directly
Sometimes a teen isn’t ready for therapy, but the family still needs support. In these cases, I work directly with caregivers to help them make sense of what they are experiencing with their teen. I provide caregivers with information and insight on how to engage with their teen in a way that promotes connection and fosters change. I help caregivers feel less alone, as they often feel isolated in their experience.

2. Supporting caregivers while working with their teen
When I’m seeing a teen for therapy, and the teen provides consent, I include caregivers as needed so they can better understand the work their child is doing and learn how to support that process between sessions.

3. When caregivers need deeper support
If parents are looking for more in-depth guidance than the updates I can offer while working with their teen, or if their child does not consent to parent involvement, I refer them to my colleague, Clair Bowman. Clair has extensive experience working directly with caregivers and offers the dedicated support they’re seeking. Both Clair and I are extensively trained in Emotion-Focused Family Therapy (EFFT), an approach that gives caregivers powerful, practical tools for supporting their child’s emotional healing.

No matter the structure, the goal is always the same: strengthening the family system so everyone feels more connected, capable, and supported.

Theraputic Approaches

EMDR therapy is a cutting-edge mental health treatment technique designed to address traumatic memories and distressing life experiences. By guiding your eyes in specific movements, EMDR facilitates the processing of these memories, fostering healing and resolution. EMDR therapy is highly effective in treating a wide range of psychological challenges and traumas. From post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) and anxiety disorders to depression, phobias, and even performance anxiety, EMDR offers a powerful tool for addressing and resolving past experiences that continue to impact daily life.

Additionally, it can help individuals cope with grief and various forms of interpersonal conflict. By engaging the brain’s natural healing processes, EMDR therapy facilitates profound emotional healing and promotes lasting resilience, empowering you to live a more fulfilling and balanced life.

EMDR-Extended sessions (1.5-2 hours) are available for those who want more time to sink into the work - this can be especially helpful when exploring deeply held patterns or processing more complex experiences.
Somatic Therapy recognizes that trauma and emotion are not just stored in our minds, but also in our bodies. When past experiences haven’t been fully processed, the body can stay in patterns of tension, numbness, or hypervigilance. Through gentle awareness, movement, and body-based practices, somatic therapy helps release what’s been held, allowing the nervous system to find safety, balance, and ease.
Ego State Therapy is based on the idea that we all have different “parts” of ourselves - each shaped by our experiences and ways we’ve learned to cope. In therapy, we get to know these parts with curiosity and compassion. This can bring a deeper sense of understanding, self-acceptance, and foster the ability to shift old patterns that are no longer serving us.
Dialectical Behaviour Therapy is an evidence-based approach designed to support people who experience intense emotions, difficulty regulating their reactions, or patterns of overwhelm in relationships.

DBT blends Cognitive Behavioural Therapy (CBT) strategies with mindfulness practices, helping individuals notice their thoughts and emotions without judgment and respond in more intentional, grounded ways.

Core DBT skills include:

Emotion Regulation: learning to understand, name, and shift emotional experiences.

Distress Tolerance: navigating overwhelming moments without making things worse.

Interpersonal Effectiveness: improving communication, boundaries, and relationship balance.

Mindfulness: cultivating present-moment awareness and internal steadiness.
Emotion-Focused Family Therapy is grounded in the belief that caregivers play a powerful role in the emotional healing of their loved ones. EFFT helps parents and caregivers learn how to confidently and compassionately respond to their child’s emotional needs.

This approach teaches caregivers practical, research-supported skills to support emotional processing, reduce distress, and strengthen attachment-related security. It also focuses on identifying and reducing emotional blocks that may prevent caregivers from feeling fully effective or connected in their role.
I incorporate principles of Applied Positive Psychology, grounded in the rigorous science of human flourishing, to support deeper and more sustainable growth—not just symptom relief. I completed the Certificate in Applied Positive Psychology (CAPP) through The Flourishing Center, where I studied the six pillars of wellbeing: Positivity, Engagement, Relationships, Meaning, Achievement, and Vitality.

In therapy, I draw on APP to help you:

Identify and build on your personal strengths and values

Cultivate meaningful connection and purpose

Increase resilience and satisfaction by aligning with what truly matters to you

Foster a more embodied sense of vitality - mind, body, and spirit

This approach complements trauma work (like EMDR) and somatic therapy by uplifting a strengths-based mindset: not only do we heal what’s wounded, but we also intentionally create space for what can flourish.

Therapist offering EMDR and trauma-informed therapy in Georgetown Ontario writing on whiteboard

Does this sound familiar?

Many of my clients come to therapy wanting to understand themselves more deeply and create new ways of being in their lives.

They’re often:

Wanting to break free from old patterns that no longer serve them
Resolve impacts of trauma
Rebuilding self-worth and a sense of confidence from the inside out
Seeking more authentic, secure relationships
Finding ways to feel calmer, more connected, and at ease in their bodies
Learning to trust themselves

HOW THERAPY CAN WORK

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HOW THERAPY CAN WORK

The Process

Our first session is focused on understanding your story and what you hope to gain from therapy. Together, we’ll identify goals and begin to get a sense of the patterns and themes that show up in your life.

Ongoing sessions are 55 minutes in length and are paced to match your comfort and readiness.

Longer sessions (1.5-2 hours) are also available for those who want more time to sink into the work - this can be especially helpful when exploring deeply held patterns or processing more complex experiences.

You don’t have to have it all figured out to take the next step.

Therapist offering EMDR and trauma-informed therapy in Georgetown Ontario working on her laptop

Get in Touch

If what you’ve read feels like it might fit, send me a message and we can explore what therapy could look like for you.

BOOK A CALL