At Ādarśa, we specialise in helping people heal from trauma. Based in Brunswick and Strathmore, Melbourne, our approach goes beyond traditional talk therapy — working with both the mind and the body to address trauma where it is actually held.
Whether you’re dealing with a single distressing event or the cumulative effects of difficult experiences over many years, we can help you find a path forward.
How Trauma Affects the Mind and Body
Trauma is not just a psychological experience — it is a whole-body experience. When something overwhelming happens, the nervous system can become stuck in a state of high alert, shutdown or disconnection. This is the body’s way of protecting you, but over time it can create ongoing difficulties that affect every area of your life.
You might recognise some of these signs:
- Feeling constantly on edge, anxious or hypervigilant
- Emotional numbness or a sense of disconnection from yourself and others
- Intrusive memories, flashbacks or nightmares
- Difficulty sleeping or concentrating
- Physical symptoms like chronic tension, headaches or stomach problems
- Avoiding people, places or situations that remind you of what happened
- A persistent feeling that something is wrong, even when you can’t explain why
- Difficulty trusting others or maintaining close relationships
These are normal responses to abnormal experiences. They are signs that your nervous system is still carrying what happened — and with the right support, it can learn to let go.
Our Approach to Trauma Therapy
At Ādarśa, our founder and lead psychologist Sharna Arti takes a somatic, body-centred approach to trauma therapy. This means we don’t just talk about what happened — we work directly with how trauma is held in your body and nervous system.
This approach is grounded in the understanding that the body keeps the score. Unresolved trauma often lives below conscious awareness, showing up as physical tension, emotional reactivity or patterns of behaviour that feel automatic and hard to change. Somatic trauma therapy helps bring these patterns into awareness and supports the nervous system in completing the natural process of release and recovery.
Depending on your needs, sessions may draw on:
- Somatic psychotherapy — working with body sensations, movement and the nervous system
- EMDR (Eye Movement Desensitisation and Reprocessing) — reprocessing traumatic memories so they lose their emotional charge
- Havening Techniques — using touch-based methods to reduce the intensity of traumatic encoding
- Somatic Experiencing — supporting the body’s innate capacity to resolve trauma
- Schema therapy — addressing deeply held patterns and beliefs that developed in response to early experiences
- Mindfulness — building present-moment awareness and the capacity to stay grounded
- Breathwork — using the breath to regulate the nervous system and access held emotion
This integrative approach means your therapy is shaped by what actually works for you. There is no one-size-fits-all protocol — every person’s experience of trauma is different, and the therapy reflects that.
Types of Trauma We Work With
Trauma comes in many forms. At Ādarśa, we work with people experiencing:
Single-event trauma — such as an accident, assault, sudden loss, natural disaster or medical emergency. Even a single event can leave a lasting imprint on the nervous system.
Complex trauma — the cumulative effect of repeated difficult experiences, often occurring in childhood or within relationships. This might include emotional neglect, abuse, bullying, or growing up in an unpredictable or unsafe environment.
Developmental trauma — early experiences that disrupted healthy attachment and emotional development. This can show up later in life as difficulty with relationships, emotional regulation, self-worth or identity.
Vicarious or secondary trauma — the effects of being exposed to other people’s trauma, common among healthcare workers, first responders, carers and helping professionals.
Grief and traumatic loss — when loss is sudden, violent or complicated, the grieving process can become intertwined with trauma responses.
We also work with people who may not identify their experience as “trauma” but recognise that something from the past is still affecting how they feel and function today. You don’t need a diagnosis to benefit from trauma therapy.
What to Expect
Your first session is about getting to know each other. Sharna will take time to understand your experience, your history and what you’re hoping to get from therapy. There’s no pressure to share more than you’re comfortable with — building safety and trust comes first.
Trauma therapy at Ādarśa is not about reliving painful experiences. It’s about helping your nervous system process and release what it has been holding, at a pace that feels manageable for you. Sharna will check in with you regularly and adjust the approach based on how you’re responding.
Sessions are typically 60 minutes. Some people notice meaningful shifts within the first few sessions, while deeper or more long-standing patterns take longer to work through. The pace is always guided by you.
Between sessions, you may notice changes in how you feel, sleep or dream. This is a normal and healthy part of the healing process.
Why Choose Ādarśa for Trauma Therapy in Melbourne?
Body-centred approach: While many therapists use cognitive approaches to trauma, Ādarśa’s foundation is somatic psychotherapy. We work with the body and nervous system directly, which research increasingly shows is essential for lasting trauma recovery.
Multiple modalities: Sharna is trained in EMDR, Havening, Somatic Experiencing, schema therapy and breathwork. This means she can draw on whichever approach best serves you in any given moment, rather than relying on a single technique.
Transpersonal perspective: For those who are open to it, Sharna’s work can include transpersonal and spiritual dimensions of healing — something few trauma therapists in Melbourne offer.
Safe and supportive environment: Healing from trauma requires a space where you feel genuinely safe. Ādarśa provides a calm, warm environment with the option of animal-assisted support from Kiron, our therapy dog.
Individual and group options: Alongside individual therapy, Ādarśa offers Soma-Psyche group classes in Brunswick — combining breathwork, somatic movement and mindfulness in a supportive group setting.
Experienced practitioner: Sharna Arti is a registered psychologist (MAPsych), somatic psychotherapist, breathwork facilitator and yoga teacher with deep experience in trauma-informed care.
Funding and Pricing
- Private sessions: $280 per hour
- Medicare rebates are available with a Mental Health Care Plan (up to 10 sessions per calendar year)
- Session packages are available for ongoing therapy clients
Please contact us to discuss your options.
Location
Ādarśa offers trauma therapy at two locations in Melbourne:
- Brunswick, VIC — inner north Melbourne, easily accessible from Fitzroy, Carlton, Northcote, Coburg and Brunswick East
- Strathmore, VIC — north-west Melbourne, convenient for Essendon, Moonee Ponds, Pascoe Vale and surrounding areas
We also serve clients from across greater Melbourne.
Book a Session
If you’re ready to begin working through trauma, or if you’d like to talk about whether trauma therapy is right for you, we’d love to hear from you.
Phone: 03 9007 2559 Email: sharna.psych@gmail.com Online: Contact us here