Service
Post-traumatic stress disorder
Living through a traumatic event often changes how you see yourself and the world.
If it feels as though your body stayed “stuck” in the past, or as though you are permanently on alert, know that these reactions are normal adaptations of your nervous system to abnormal events. They are a sign that your internal alarm stays on to protect you from the next dangerous — or potentially dangerous — event. Unfortunately, that makes daily life extremely hard, and it is deeply painful to keep reliving a traumatic event.
Post-traumatic stress disorder arises when a person has been exposed to an event that threatened their physical or psychological integrity (or someone else’s). Unlike an ordinary memory, a traumatic memory is stored in fragments, and that is what produces the following symptoms:
- Re-experiencing. Flashbacks, nightmares or intrusive thoughts.
- Avoidance. Deliberate effort to avoid the places, people or feelings tied to the trauma.
- Hyperarousal. Disturbed sleep, irritability, startling easily, constant vigilance.
- Changes in mood and thinking. Feeling detached, losing interest, or negative beliefs about yourself: “I am in danger”, “It is my fault”.
The work
Getting your daily life back under your control
A key idea in this work is your “window of tolerance”: what your alarm system considers safe. Trauma tends to narrow that window, tipping you quickly into hyperarousal or hypoarousal.
- Recognising the signs that you are leaving your comfort zone.
- Using regulation strategies to come back into it.
- Gradually widening that window, to move freely again.
The three phases
Stabilisation
Getting a sense of safety back. Psychological education, grounding techniques, daily habits, managing crises.
Regulation
Taming intense emotions. Heart-rate coherence, tracking triggers, writing work, mindfulness meditation, physical activity.
Reintegration
Picking your life back up. Gradual exposure to stressors, rebuilding self-esteem, plans for the future.
Why us
Why psychoeducation for trauma
The psychoeducator is the professional of the here and now. Unlike other approaches, our expertise works inside the reality of your daily life.
- Shared lived experience. We do not simply hand you exercises to do alone; we accompany you, we model regulation strategies, and we live the stages of change alongside you.
- Expertise in the everyday. We work on your actual capacity to adapt. Taking public transport again, going back into a public place, rebuilding a routine: we help turn theoretical capacity into concrete skill.
- Support in the action itself. Our presence keeps the exposure therapeutic rather than overwhelming, adjusting the regulation tools in real time.
Practical terms
Fees
- Opening a file$30
A file-opening fee, payable to cover the initial call, the creation of the client file and holding a place in one of our psychoeducators’ schedules.
- Assessment meeting$175
A 90-minute meeting to assess needs.
- Follow-up meeting$120
A 50-minute meeting to work on the needs identified at the assessment.
- Desensitisation session$180 + travel if required
An 80-minute session working on desensitisation to triggers, of which roughly 50 minutes is active desensitisation.
Where this service is offered
Available anywhere in Quebec by teleconsultation.
- Montréal
- Saint-Eustache
- Oka
- Sainte-Marthe-sur-le-Lac
- Deux-Montagnes
- Boisbriand
- Rosemère
- Bois-des-Filion
- Sainte-Thérèse
- Blainville
- Mirabel
- Saint-Jérôme
- Lachute
- Saint-Colomban
- Prévost
- Saint-Sauveur
- Morin-Heights
- Sainte-Adèle
- Val-Morin
- Val-David
Frequently asked
What people ask us most
Do insurers reimburse these services?
Usually yes, but it depends on the plan. We suggest checking whether yours covers psychoeducation or “mental health professionals”. If your plan mentions only psychology, call them to clarify. We are not psychologists.
Do you take SAAQ, CNESST or IVAC files?
Yes. For more detail, see our page on SAAQ, CNESST and IVAC files.
Do you do in vivo desensitisation?
Yes. Getting past a trauma does not always come from talking about it; often the brain has to relearn through experience that the danger has passed. The method means exposing yourself gradually, safely and in a controlled way to the situations, places or objects you have avoided since the event. The goal is to break the link between those triggers and your brain’s fear response. As we often put it, the alarm system is faulty: it has to relearn when to sound, and when not to.
Do I have to have in-home meetings?
No. We recommend it where possible, but trauma follow-up can run entirely online. What matters is that you are comfortable with whichever mode you choose.
Can desensitisation happen remotely?
Ideally we are with you in the field. We know that is not always possible, geographically or financially. In that case we recommend involving someone close to you as a companion for the first outings. We bring them into the follow-up meetings to explain their role. The desensitisation plan is built accordingly, and follow-up happens weekly to take stock of progress.
The first phase is about feeling safe
Stabilisation, then regulation, then reintegration. One step at a time, beside you.
Or call directly: 438-403-6597