Trauma Therapy & Nervous System Regulation in Málaga and Online
When your nervous system has spent years adapting to stress, trauma, loss, pressure, or difficult life experiences, simply “thinking differently” is often not enough.
My work helps you understand what your body learned to do to survive — and gently create the conditions for safety, regulation, healing and lasting change.
Sessions available in English, French and Spanish, online or in Málaga city centre.
If you recognize yourself in one of these situations, this is for you
Always "On"
You struggle to relax.
Even during moments of rest, your mind keeps scanning, planning, anticipating or worrying.
Emotional Overwhelm
You experience anxiety, panic, irritability, emotional outbursts or feel like your emotions take over.
Numbness & Disconnection
You feel disconnected from yourself, your body, your emotions or the people around you.
Repeating Patterns
Despite years of personal development or therapy, you find yourself repeating the same emotional reactions, relationship patterns or coping mechanisms.
Trauma does not always look like trauma
In reality, trauma can also result from prolonged stress, emotional neglect, difficult relationships, chronic pressure, medical experiences, grief, loss, burnout, or growing up in an environment where you did not feel fully safe, seen, or supported.
Common symptoms include:
- Anxiety and chronic stress
- Hypervigilance
- Difficulty relaxing
- Emotional overwhelm
- Shutdown and numbness
- People pleasing
- Perfectionism
- Difficulty setting boundaries
- Chronic tension in the body
- Sleep disturbances
- Feeling stuck despite understanding your patterns intellectually
When the nervous system remains in survival mode for too long, these reactions can become automatic. Trauma recovery often involves helping the nervous system regain flexibility and a sense of safety.
What changes can you notice
As your nervous system becomes more regulated…
Clients often report:
- Feeling calmer and more grounded
- Less anxiety and emotional reactivity
- Better boundaries
- Improved sleep
- Greater self-confidence
- More emotional resilience
- Increased ability to enjoy life
- Feeling more connected to themselves and others
- Greater capacity to handle stress without becoming overwhelmed
The goal is not to eliminate all stress.
The goal is to help your system recover the flexibility to respond rather than react.
What is trauma?
Trauma is not only about what happened to you.
Trauma can be understood as both:
- what happened that should not have happened, and
- what needed to happen but did not happen.
For some people, trauma results from a specific event. For others, it develops through chronic stress, emotional neglect, criticism, lack of support, bullying, medical experiences, loss, or growing up in an environment where they did not feel safe, seen, understood, or protected.
Ultimately, trauma is less about the event itself and more about how the nervous system adapted in order to survive it.
How do I know if I have trauma?
Many people with unresolved trauma do not identify themselves as “traumatized.”
You may benefit from trauma-informed work if you experience:
- chronic anxiety or stress
- emotional overwhelm
- people pleasing
- perfectionism
- difficulty relaxing
- hypervigilance
- feeling disconnected from yourself
- recurring relationship patterns
- strong reactions that seem bigger than the situation itself
You do not need to have experienced a major traumatic event to benefit from this work.
How do I know if my nervous system is dysregulated?
Signs of nervous system dysregulation may include:
- difficulty switching off
- chronic fatigue
- feeling constantly on edge
- anxiety or panic
- emotional numbness
- difficulty concentrating
- sleep disturbances
- digestive issues
- feeling overwhelmed by everyday situations
A dysregulated nervous system is often stuck in survival responses such as fight, flight, freeze or shutdown.
What is Heart Rate Variability (HRV) and how does it relate to trauma?
Heart Rate Variability (HRV) measures the variation in time between heartbeats.
In general, higher HRV is associated with greater nervous system flexibility and resilience, while lower HRV can sometimes be associated with chronic stress, trauma, burnout, or nervous system dysregulation.
Although HRV can provide useful information, it is only one indicator among many. We focus on your lived experience and symptoms rather than trying to optimize a single number.
Is trauma therapy only for people who have experienced major trauma?
Will I lose control during hypnosis?
No.
Hypnosis is a natural state of focused attention. Throughout the session, you remain aware of what is happening and can choose to stop, speak, move, or open your eyes at any time.
Most clients are surprised by how normal hypnosis feels.
Can I get stuck in hypnosis?
No.
Even if a session were interrupted, you would simply return to your normal waking state, much like waking up from a daydream or becoming aware after being absorbed in a book or movie.
What does hypnosis feel like?
The experience varies from person to person.
Some people feel deeply relaxed. Others feel focused, calm, heavy, light, detached, emotional, or highly aware of their inner world.
Many people are surprised to discover that they remain conscious throughout the process.
The goal is not to “lose consciousness” but to access a state where the conscious and unconscious mind can work together more effectively.
Do I have to remember a traumatic event for healing to happen?
No.
Trauma healing does not require remembering every detail of the past.
In many cases, the focus is less on revisiting the event itself and more on helping the nervous system complete responses that were interrupted and develop a greater sense of safety in the present.
Can this help with anxiety?
Yes. Anxiety is often closely connected to nervous system dysregulation and survival responses. Trauma-informed nervous system work can help clients better understand and regulate these patterns.
Do you work online?
Yes. Sessions are available online and in person in Málaga.
What languages do you work in?
English, French and Spanish.
What to expect
Healing happens at the pace of safety
Our work may include:
- Understanding your nervous system patterns
- Identifying triggers and protective responses
- Expanding your capacity to feel and process emotions
- Releasing old emotional burdens
- Building self-regulation skills
- Reconnecting with your body
- Processing unresolved experiences
- Creating new experiences of safety and connection
Every treatment plan is personalized.
Some clients benefit primarily from coaching and nervous system work.
Others integrate hypnotherapy, emotional release techniques or deeper trauma processing.
How to get started
1. Book a Free 15-Minute Consultation
This is a free first consultation and this step is optional, if you’d like for us to get to know each other first! We’ll briefly discuss your situation, answer your questions and determine whether my approach is the right fit for you.
2. Attend Your First 90-Minute Session
Together, we’ll explore your history, current challenges, nervous system patterns and goals for the work.
3. Receive a Personalized Treatment Plan
Depending on your needs, your sessions may combine hypnotherapy, coaching, nervous system regulation, emotional release work and practical tools you can apply in daily life.
4. Build Safety, Regulation and Lasting Change
As the nervous system becomes more flexible and regulated, deeper emotional healing and transformation often become possible.
Testimonials
“My husband and I love each other, but have been “parents” for 10 years. I was no longer comfortable with him touching me and I didn’t know how to get us out of this distance. After only 3 sessions with Catherine, I can say that we’re on our path: Tonight we went out and came home like teenagers in love!” – Nathalie, Lyon
“I was fearing that moving forward in my relationship would mean losing my identity and the end of my personal projects. With Catherine’s help, I was able to solidify myself as a person and bring that strength into my relationship. I’ve also discovered that my personal projects can fuel my connexion with my partner. ” – – – Eva, San José
“For the first time ever, last night I was finally able to have a calm discussion with my partner. I was able to speak up and express my thoughts and needs. Because I was calm open to hear his thoughts, he was also open to hear me out. We were able to work our issue together and I now feel more confident in being able to communicate with him.”
– Marie, Paris
Embark on a journey of Self Discovery and Self Love. Give yourself the means to finally be happy.
The relationship you have with yourself is often reflected in the way you experience the world around you.
If you frequently feel unseen, unsupported, unimportant or disconnected, these experiences may be linked to old wounds and nervous system patterns that developed long before you became aware of them.
As you learn to understand your inner world, regulate your nervous system and respond to yourself with greater compassion, the way you relate to others — and the way others relate to you — often begins to change as well.
The safety, connection and peace you have been searching for externally often begin with what happens inside.