Trauma therapy in Ho Chi Minh City
Therapy for adults living with the effects of trauma, including complex trauma from childhood and family. In English or Norwegian, in person in Ho Chi Minh City or online.
- 50-minute sessions
- 90 USD per session
- Saigon Pearl, Binh Thanh or online
What is trauma therapy?
Trauma therapy is psychological treatment for the lasting effects of overwhelming or frightening experiences. It helps you understand why your body and mind still react as if the danger were present, work through what could not be felt at the time, and feel safer in yourself and with other people.
When the past is still present
Trauma is not only the event. It is what stays afterwards.
Some people come after a single frightening experience. Many come because of something that went on for years: growing up in a home where the people who should have kept you safe were also the people you feared. This is often called complex trauma or complex PTSD (cPTSD).
You do not need a diagnosis to start, and you do not need to be sure that what happened to you counts.
How trauma can show up
Always on alert
You scan the room, startle easily, and find it hard to relax even at home. Your body stays ready for danger long after it has passed. If the alarm is mostly about what might go wrong next, rather than what happened, anxiety therapy may fit better.
Close, and afraid of closeness
You want people near and push them away when they get there. Trust feels risky, even with people who have earned it.
Feelings that swing or go quiet
Anger, shame or sadness arrive fast and strong. Or you feel flat and far away, as if it happened to someone else.
Many people also notice headaches, stomach pain or tiredness that doctors cannot fully explain.
How I work with trauma
We start by making the work safe enough. That means going at a pace you can manage, and building some steadiness before we go near the hardest material. You decide how far we go and how fast.
I am trained in three approaches and move between them according to what you need:
- Intensive Short-Term Dynamic Psychotherapy (ISTDP) works with the feelings that were too much at the time, and the ways you learned to keep them away. The focus is on what happens in the room, not only on telling the story.
- Mentalization-Based Treatment (MBT) helps you make sense of your own reactions and other people’s intentions, which trauma often makes hard to read.
- Acceptance and Commitment Therapy (ACT) offers practical tools for difficult thoughts, feelings and body reactions when you need something concrete.
Trauma that happened in relationships often shows up in relationships, including the one with a therapist. That is part of what we work with.
Before moving to Ho Chi Minh City I worked in specialist mental health care in Norway, including an inpatient unit treating depression alongside trauma. About my training
Is trauma therapy right for me?
It may help if you:
- feel on guard most of the time, even when nothing is wrong
- react strongly to things other people seem to shrug off
- keep ending up in relationships that feel unsafe or distant
- grew up in a family where fear, silence or criticism was normal
- have tried to put it behind you and found that it does not stay there
If you are in immediate danger, or thinking about ending your life, weekly therapy is not the right place to start. Contact local emergency services or go to a hospital first.
Frequently asked questions
Do I have to talk about what happened in detail?
Not all at once, and not before you are ready. You decide how much you tell, and when. We go at a pace you can manage, and build some steadiness before we go near the hardest material. The work moves between what happens in you now, in the room, and what happened then, so in time we work through the story too.
What is the difference between trauma, PTSD and complex trauma?
Trauma here means the lasting effects of overwhelming or frightening experiences. PTSD (post-traumatic stress disorder) is a diagnosis for one pattern of those effects, such as reliving what happened, staying on alert and avoiding reminders. Complex trauma, or complex PTSD (cPTSD), usually describes what follows experiences that went on for a long time, often in childhood and within the family. It tends to shape how you see yourself and how close you can let other people come. You do not need a diagnosis to start.
How long does trauma therapy take?
It varies. Working through a single frightening experience is different from working through something that went on for years, and the second usually takes longer. Sessions are usually weekly. Ask me at the end of a first session and I will give you an honest estimate, then revise it with you as we go.
Can trauma therapy be done online?
Yes. We can meet online by secure video, or in person at Saigon Pearl, Binh Thanh, Ho Chi Minh City. Sessions are 50 minutes and cost 90 USD either way.
How does the first session work?
You can start with a free 15-minute call, to ask questions and see whether working together feels right. The first sessions are about understanding what brought you, what you hope for, and what is in the way. You can ask which approach would fit you, and I will give you a straight answer. You do not have to tell me everything at once.
Practical details
Trauma therapy is part of my individual therapy. Sessions are 50 minutes and cost 90 USD. We meet in person at Saigon Pearl, Binh Thanh, Ho Chi Minh City, or online. Sessions are in English, with Norwegian also available.
For more on how I work and how to begin, see Individual therapy.
Want to read more?
Two of my articles go further: Understand what makes you feel unsafe after traumas and Healing childhood family wounds.