Trauma and PTSD
Online Trauma & PTSD Therapy
Careful, paced psychotherapy for the effects of traumatic experience, including intrusive memories, hypervigilance and avoidance.
Psy. Moustafa Kamel, Psychotherapist. Online sessions of 50 minutes in English and Arabic.
How trauma continues to operate after the event
Trauma is not measured by how serious an event looks from outside. It is defined by what happened to the nervous system at the time and by what has been possible since. Two people can go through the same event and be left in entirely different places.
What persists is often a body that has not been informed that the danger is over. Startling at ordinary sounds. Scanning rooms. Sleeping lightly. A memory arriving with the full force of the present rather than as something recalled. Long stretches of numbness in between, which people frequently find more disturbing than the distress.
Single events and complex trauma
Some people come after one identifiable event: an assault, an accident, a medical emergency, a bereavement in violent circumstances, war, or a journey undertaken in danger.
Others come with complex trauma, where harm was repeated and took place inside relationships that should have been safe, often during childhood. The effects are usually broader: difficulty regulating emotion, an unstable sense of self, dissociation, and relationships that swing between too close and too far. This work takes longer and requires more care in how quickly we approach the material.
I have worked extensively with migrants and refugees, including people whose trauma is bound up with displacement, loss of home and uncertain status.
What people notice
- Intrusive memories, flashbacks and recurring nightmares
- Avoidance of places, people, conversations or reminders
- Hypervigilance, being permanently on alert and easily startled
- Emotional numbness, or feeling detached from yourself and your surroundings
- Irritability and anger that arrive faster than expected
- Shame, self-blame and a conviction that you should have handled it differently
- Sleep disturbance and physical tension held for years
- Difficulty trusting people, and difficulty in intimate relationships
How the work is done
Trauma work begins with stability, not with the story. In the early phase we focus on safety, sleep, grounding and emotional regulation, so that there is enough capacity to approach difficult material without being overwhelmed by it. Rushing that phase is the most common way trauma therapy goes wrong.
When there is enough footing, we work with the memory and its meaning at a pace you set, in a depth-oriented and integrative way, using structured evidence-based methods where they fit the individual. You are never required to give a full account of what happened in order to be helped. Control over what is said, and when, stays with you.
I work with the training I actually hold, in depth-oriented psychotherapy with specialised training in trauma-focused intervention. I do not offer methods I am not trained in, and if a specific protocol would serve you better than what I provide, I will tell you so and help you look for it.
What can realistically change
The aim is not to erase memory. It is for the event to become something that happened to you in the past rather than something that keeps happening. People describe fewer intrusions, a body that settles sooner, less avoidance, and the return of a sense of authorship over ordinary life.
Practical details and urgent situations
Sessions are 50 minutes by secure video, in English or Arabic, usually weekly. A private space matters more than usual in this work. Sessions are held online. Whether I can work with you depends on where you are living at the time of the sessions and on the professional and legal requirements that apply there, so it is worth telling me your location when you first write.
Therapy is planned work, not emergency care. If you are in immediate danger, or you are thinking about ending your life and feel unable to keep yourself safe, contact your local emergency number or your nearest emergency department. Ongoing therapy can begin once you are safe.
You set the pace of this work
A first conversation does not require you to describe what happened. It is about deciding whether and how to begin.