Trauma Therapy

Careful, paced support for what happened and how it still shows up, with an accredited therapist by secure video.

Accredited therapists Fully confidential Evening & weekend times

Everything is confidentialWhat you say in a session stays in the session.

Secure video, Ireland-wideFrom wherever you feel comfortable, on any device.

No GP referral neededBook online in a couple of minutes.

Evening and weekend timesSessions that fit around work and family.

Something happened, and part of you is still living with it. That is what trauma tends to do. It shows up in your thoughts, your sleep, your mood, your body and the way you are with the people closest to you, sometimes years after the event itself is over.

Accredited therapists in Ireland can work with trauma, post-traumatic stress and related difficulties over secure video, so you can talk from home or anywhere private enough. No waiting room, no drive across the county. People all over the country attend this way, including many who live nowhere near a specialist service.

What are trauma and online trauma therapy?

Trauma is not really the event. It is what your mind and nervous system do afterwards when something overwhelming has happened and there was no way to process it at the time. Two people can go through the same thing and be affected very differently, and that is normal.

It can come from a lot of places:

Childhood trauma, abuse or neglect
Accidents, assault or other violence
A traumatic bereavement, or a birth that went badly
Frightening or harmful experiences in adult life, including at work or in a relationship

Online trauma therapy is the same work, delivered by encrypted video. You meet your therapist at a set time each week or fortnight, usually for 50 minutes, and the pace is set around what you can manage rather than around a fixed programme. Trauma responses are not the same thing as post-traumatic stress disorder or complex PTSD. Those are clinical diagnoses, and only an appropriately qualified professional can assess or give one. You can find plain descriptions of them through the HSE's mental health information.

How can I tell if unresolved trauma is affecting me?

Often you do not. You just notice that something is off. Common signs include:

Memories or images that arrive uninvited, nightmares, or feeling suddenly back in it
Avoiding places, people or conversations that bring it close
Being permanently on alert, jumpy, braced for something
Feeling numb, flat or oddly far away from yourself
Broken sleep, poor concentration, anger that surprises you, shame that does not lift

The less obvious effects matter too: low mood, anxiety, chronic tension in your shoulders or stomach, a very low opinion of yourself, and relationships that keep running into the same wall. Most people get in touch when it has stopped shifting on its own, or when it starts costing them at work or at home. You do not need a diagnosis to be seen. Therapy can support people living with PTSD, complex trauma, childhood trauma and things that happened in adulthood, whether or not anyone has ever put a label on it.

Not sure if this is the right fit?

A first session is just a conversation.

Book a session Find a therapist →

Which types of trauma therapy are available online?

Several well-researched approaches can be delivered by video.

Approach	What it involves
EMDR (eye movement desensitisation and reprocessing)	Working with a distressing memory alongside a form of bilateral stimulation, so it settles and loses some of its charge
Trauma-focused CBT	Working directly with the memory and the beliefs it left behind, with things to notice or try between sessions
CBT and acceptance and commitment therapy	Changing your relationship to difficult thoughts and feelings, and getting back to what matters to you
Narrative and attachment-based therapy	Making sense of the story and of the relationship patterns the trauma shaped

Mindfulness, self-compassion work and body-aware or somatic techniques often sit alongside these rather than replacing them. Which one suits you depends on what happened, what you are dealing with now, what you would rather not do, and what your therapist is actually trained in. NICE guidance on PTSD recommends trauma-focused CBT and EMDR for adults with PTSD. On the online question: research to date generally suggests that trauma therapy delivered by video can produce outcomes comparable with in-person work when it is delivered well, though the evidence is stronger for some approaches than others, and nobody can promise you recovery.

Is online trauma therapy suitable for me?

It suits a lot of people, particularly if you would rather do this at home, live a long way from specialist services, have mobility needs, or simply cannot get to a clinic during working hours. Worth thinking about before you start:

Somewhere private where you will not be overheard or walked in on
A reasonably steady internet connection and a device you are comfortable using
Whether you can settle yourself again after a session, and what you will do straight afterwards

Online is not right for everything. If you are in crisis, at serious risk of harming yourself, experiencing severe dissociation, or you need intensive or in-person care, video sessions are not the appropriate support and a good therapist will say so and help you find the right route. If you need help urgently, call 112 or 999, go to your nearest emergency department, or contact your GP. Samaritans is free on 116 123, and you can text HELLO to 50808 through Text About It.

What should I expect from online trauma therapy?

The first session is mostly about you and your therapist working out whether this is a fit. You will talk about what is going on now, some relevant history, what you want from the work, how confidentiality works, and what to do if you are ever unsafe. You do not have to tell the story that day. Say as much or as little as you can manage.

Stage	What usually happens
Assessment	Getting a picture of what happened and what you are living with now
Preparation	Building trust, steadying things, learning ways to ground yourself
Processing	Working with the memories themselves, at a pace you both agree
Integration and after	Making sense of it, planning for wobbles, ongoing support if you want it

None of this is done to you. It is agreed as you go, and the number of sessions varies a great deal depending on what you are carrying.

How do I choose a trauma therapist in Ireland?

Check accreditation or registration first. Look for membership of a recognised professional body such as the Irish Association for Counselling and Psychotherapy or, for psychologists, the Psychological Society of Ireland. Titles and scopes of practice differ between professions, and statutory registration for counsellors and psychotherapists is being established through CORU, so it is worth asking rather than assuming.

Reasonable questions to ask before you book:

What trauma-specific training do you have, and do you work online regularly?
What approach would you use with something like mine?
What are your fees, availability and cancellation terms?
What happens if online turns out not to be suitable for me?

One distinction that confuses people: psychotherapists and counsellors provide psychological treatment, while psychiatrists are medical doctors who can diagnose and manage medication. You may see one, or both.

Is online trauma therapy confidential and secure?

What you say stays between you and your therapist, with the usual limits. Those limits are mainly about safety: a serious risk of harm to you or someone else, concerns about a child or a vulnerable adult, or a court order. Your therapist should explain them in the first session, before you are asked to share anything.

Sessions run on an encrypted video platform, with a private link sent by email
Your therapist holds your address and an emergency contact, in case you ever need help during a session
Records and data are handled under Irish and EU data protection law, overseen by the Data Protection Commission

On your side: join from a room with a door, use headphones if there are other people in the house, and do not record sessions unless you have both agreed it.

Frequently asked questions

What technology and private space do I need for online sessions?

A laptop, tablet or phone with a camera, a decent connection, and somewhere you will not be overheard. Nothing to install, you click the link in your email. Plenty of people take their session from a parked car, and that is absolutely fine.

How much does online trauma therapy cost in Ireland?

Private fees vary by therapist and are usually published or given to you before you book, so ask if you cannot see them. Some health insurance policies contribute towards counselling, so it is worth checking your own. Free and low-cost options also exist, including HSE counselling services accessed through your GP, and Citizens Information sets out what is available.

How long does trauma therapy usually take?

It depends, genuinely. A single recent event may take a relatively short piece of focused work. Trauma that ran through years of childhood usually takes longer, and often includes a good stretch of steadying things before any processing starts. Your therapist should be able to give you a rough sense after a few sessions.

How can I take the next step towards trauma support?

If you are thinking about it, ask about an initial consultation or have a look at available online appointments with an accredited trauma therapist working with people across Ireland. Booking takes a couple of minutes and you do not need a GP letter.

When you make contact, share only what feels manageable. A line or two is enough. You can ask whatever you need to ask first:

What approach would suit what I am dealing with?
How does privacy work if I am at home?
What are the fees and when are you available?

Getting in touch about this is hard, and putting it off does not mean anything is wrong with you. Therapy is one step rather than the whole of it, and it will not undo what happened. What it can do is change how much of your life the past gets to take up, and you do not have to work that out on your own.