Attachment Trauma Therapy
Attachment-focused therapy in Ottawa for early relational wounds. In person and online.
✓ Same-week ✓ Direct billing ✓ Sliding scale ✓ Licensed therapists
Book a free consultationAttachment-focused therapy in Ottawa for early relational wounds. In person and online.
✓ Same-week ✓ Direct billing ✓ Sliding scale ✓ Licensed therapists
Book a free consultationEvery clinician is registered with the College of Registered Psychotherapists of Ontario (CRPO) or the Ontario College of Social Workers and Social Service Workers (OCSWSSW).
We want therapy to be financially accessible for everyone. Reduced rates are available case-by-case based on need and availability.
We submit directly to most major insurers, so you don't pay out of pocket upfront.
Our office is in Ottawa. All client records are stored in Canada and handled under PIPEDA and PHIPA.
Therapy is a space to slow down and look at what's underneath. These are some of the patterns people bring into the room.
FOR WHEN SOMETHING FEELS OFF
You want connection. But when you get close to someone, something shifts — anxiety ramps up, you start looking for signs that it's going to go wrong, or you pull back before they can hurt you. Intimacy and threat feel linked in a way you can't logic your way out of.
You take up very little space. You become what the other person needs, or what you think will keep them close. Your own preferences, feelings, and limits get smaller and smaller. You've done this so long you're not sure what you actually feel anymore.
Even when there's no evidence for it, the fear is there. You wait for the other shoe to drop. You prepare for rejection before it's offered. You test people without meaning to, or you hold back parts of yourself to limit the damage when it ends.
Attachment trauma therapy at Auren Wellness uses the therapeutic relationship itself as a central tool for healing. This isn't incidental — it's intentional. When attachment wounds develop in a relational context, healing also happens in a relational context.We may use EFT (Emotionally Focused Therapy) and attachment-based approaches to help clients understand the strategies they developed in response to early relational experiences and how those strategies are showing up now. This involves slowing down the moments of activation — when closeness triggers fear, when vulnerability triggers withdrawal — and exploring what's underneath them with compassion rather than shame.Somatic approaches are also integrated. Attachment trauma is held in the body's nervous system: the flinch, the freeze, the disconnection. Body-based work helps regulate the nervous system's response so that the emotional and relational work can actually land.Healing from attachment trauma is not linear. It requires time, consistency, and a therapeutic relationship that can tolerate the moments when trust is tested. That's something we take seriously.For clients whose attachment trauma is rooted in early childhood specifically, see our page on childhood trauma therapy in Ottawa.
Email, phone, or fill out our booking form. There's no script and no pressure. You can share as much or as little as you want.
A real person, not a bot, will reply as soon as we can with a few options for a free 15-minute consultation.
We listen. You ask questions. No paperwork, no obligation. If we're not the right match, we'll point you toward someone who might be.
Direct billing where possible. Evening and weekend availability. Virtual or in-person in Ottawa.
Sessions are 50 minutes in length. Rates vary by therapist and are confirmed during your free consultation. We accept e-transfer and credit cards, and direct-bill most insurers.
Sliding-scale spots are available based on need. Ask during your free consultation.
Same 50-minute format, structured for two participants and shared concerns.
Registered Psychotherapist and Registered Social Worker services are covered by most extended health plans in Canada. We recommend confirming your specific coverage before your first paid session. Sun Life, Manulife, Canada Life, Green Shield, and most major insurers include coverage.
We direct-bill where your insurer allows it. Otherwise, you pay at the time of session and submit the receipt for reimbursement.
Every session generates a receipt listing the provider's license number, suitable for insurance reimbursement.
In-person sessions are held at our Ottawa office. Virtual sessions use a secure, PIPEDA-compliant video platform. You can switch between the two.
We ask for 24 hours notice on cancellations. Late cancellations and no-shows are charged the full session fee.
After the free 15-minute consultation, your first paid session is intake-focused. Bring questions, anything you have already tried, and any goals you have in mind.
QUESTIONS
Attachment trauma is harm to the early bonds that teach us whether relationships are safe, through neglect, inconsistency, separation, or hurt from caregivers. It can shape how you connect, trust, and feel secure with others as an adult.
Signs can include fear of abandonment, difficulty trusting, pushing people away, anxiety about closeness, or staying in relationships that don't feel good. These patterns often make sense once you understand their roots.
It usually develops from early relational experiences with caregivers who were frightening, unavailable, inconsistent, or absent. Later relational harm can reinforce these patterns. It reflects what you adapted to, not a flaw in you.
Healing happens largely through relationship, including a safe, consistent therapeutic relationship, alongside attachment-based and somatic work. Over time, your nervous system can learn that closeness and trust are possible.
Attachment-based and relational approaches, often combined with somatic work or EMDR, tend to fit attachment trauma well because the wound is relational. We pace the work to your sense of safety.
Attachment patterns can shift toward greater security over time, often described as earned security. It takes consistent relational experiences, and therapy is one place that change can take root.
Because it's woven into how you relate, attachment work generally unfolds gradually over time rather than in a few sessions. We respect that pace and build trust as the foundation of the work.
It can drive cycles of anxiety, avoidance, or distrust, including difficulty getting close, fear of being left, or repeating familiar but painful dynamics. Naming these patterns is often the first step to changing them.
Attachment style describes your general pattern of relating, which everyone has. Attachment trauma refers to the early relational harm that can push a style toward insecurity. Therapy can address the underlying wound, not just the label.
Yes. Attachment-focused therapy works well over a secure video platform, and a consistent virtual relationship can itself be reparative. We offer both in-person sessions in Ottawa and virtual sessions across Ontario.
Therapy is a longer-term relationship. If you're in acute distress, please reach the services below first. They are free, confidential, and available right now.
