Abuse Recovery | Future Focus Counselling Center : Future Focus Counselling Center
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What Is Abuse Recovery?

Abuse recovery is the ongoing process of healing after surviving harm. For many people, the effects of abuse show up in ways that don’t always seem connected at first:

  • Feeling constantly on edge or waiting for something bad to happen
  • Difficulty trusting others or setting boundaries
  • Guilt, shame, or a sense of being “too much” or “not enough”
  • Flashbacks, nightmares, or distressing memories
  • Numbing out or feeling disconnected from yourself and others
  • Chronic anxiety, depression, or self-blame

None of this means you're broken. These are signs of a nervous system that had to adapt in order to survive. And healing is possible.

Types of Abuse We Work With

Abuse takes many forms, and no two survivors have the same story. What matters is how it impacted you—not whether it “counts” by someone else’s standard. At Future Focus, we offer counselling support for:

  • Emotional Abuse: Constant criticism, gaslighting, manipulation, or being made to feel worthless or invisible
  • Physical Abuse: Harming, threatening, or using force in ways that create fear, injury, or control
  • Sexual Abuse: Any unwanted sexual attention or contact, including violations of consent or coercion
  • Psychological Abuse: Isolation, verbal attacks, intimidation, or using fear to control and undermine
  • Verbal Abuse: Name-calling, yelling, put-downs, or threats that erode your sense of selfe
  • Childhood Abuse: Abuse or neglect during early development, often linked to long-term struggles with trust, identity, and emotional regulation
  • Narcissistic or Coercive Control: Patterned emotional abuse where one person dominates or devalues another in intimate or family relationships
  • Religious or Spiritual Abuse: When power and faith are misused to shame, control, or silence you

You may have experienced one form of abuse—or several. You may still be unsure whether what happened “counts.” That’s okay. If it hurt you, we take it seriously.

A Trauma-Informed Approach to Healing

Trauma-informed therapy means we meet you where you are—not where someone else thinks you should be. We move at your pace. We prioritize your sense of safety and control. And we recognize that your symptoms are not the problem; they’re the body’s way of protecting you.

Here’s what that looks like in practice:

  • We start by helping you feel safe
    Before diving into painful memories, we focus on helping you feel steady in the present. This includes tools for grounding, calming your body, and building emotional regulation.
  • You’re always in the driver’s seat
    You don’t have to talk about anything before you’re ready. We don’t force disclosure, and there’s no pressure to revisit the past unless and until it feels helpful to do so.
  • We work with the body as well as the mind
    Abuse lives in the nervous system. Modalities like EMDR, Brainspotting, and Internal Family Systems (IFS) help access and release trauma in ways that feel contained, respectful, and non-retraumatizing.
  • We make space for all of you
    That includes the parts of you that are still hurting, angry, scared, or confused. We also honor the parts of you that carried you through—the protective parts that helped you survive.
  • We don’t pathologize your pain
    We don’t see you as disordered or damaged. We see someone who has been through too much, likely with too little support. That’s not your fault—and it’s never too late to begin healing.

    • What happened to you matters, how you heal matters too.

    At Future Focus Counselling Center, we support survivors of abuse with trauma-informed therapy in Kamloops, as well as online sessions across British Columbia and Washington State. Whether your experiences are recent or decades old, you are welcome here.

    If you're ready to explore healing at your pace, we invite you to book a free 20-minute consultation. Our practice director will place you with the right therapist. You don’t have to carry this alone. You are not too much. And healing is possible.

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