All of our services are virtual and free of charge. No diagnosis or referral is required.
Our Programs
Wherever you are on your healing journey, we’re here to support you.
Online Group Programs
Resiliency & Recovery
Using a body-focused approach, Resiliency and Recovery builds a foundation of hope and healing. Together as a group, participants learn stress reduction methods focusing on breath, body and mind-centred tools to build emotional strength and establish a sense of wellness and calm.
Resiliency and Recovery is the foundation on which all of our programs are built. Wherever you are on your healing journey we recommend starting here.
Session One: Investing In Healing
Session Two: Setting Routines and Managing Your Day
Session Three: Trauma and the Body
Session Four: Emotions — What the Heck Are They?
Session Five: Emotions — Part Two
Session Six: Boundaries — Part One
Session Seven: Boundaries — Part Two
Session Eight: Self Compassion
Lean-in For Connection
The journey towards healing requires community and education. Lean-In for Connection offers strategies for developing connections, navigating difficult interactions, and building healthy relationships.
Drawing from Traumatic Loneliness and Feel Heard & Understood exercises, Lean-In for Connection explores ways to relate to one another through the work of Brené Brown on shame, love and belonging; Dr. Daniel Fisher’s work on Emotional CPR; and Dr. Rosenberg’s Non-Violent Communication.
Session One: Relationships and Attachment for Trauma Healing
Session Two: Bringing Meaning To Life
Session Three: How Do We Treat Each Other
Session Four: When Things Go Badly In Relationship – What To Do
Session Five: What Makes For Great Relationships
Session Six: We Are Just Beginning To Connect Without Getting Triggered!
Session Seven: The Importance of Joining
Session Eight: Creating a Healthier More Satisfying Life
Meditation
We have come to understand that trauma sits in both the mind and body – with psychological, physical, and physiological impacts. A mindfulness and meditation practice gives us the opportunity to learn more about our personal experience and relationship to our trauma, and to regain our ability to navigate our lives with this new understanding.
The program is designed to help cultivate a personal meditation practice that feels accessible and tailored to the needs of each individual. The meditation program is extremely effective and compliments therapeutic services, providing more range and techniques for managing trauma.
Session One: Introducing Ourselves to Mindfulness and Meditation – The Basics
Session Two: The Impact of Trauma on The Brain and Body + Meditation through the Trauma Lens
Session Three: The Science of Stress + The Power of the Breath
Session Four: The Mindful Approach: Neuroplasticity + Being vs. Doing
Session Five: Emotional Awareness and Turning Towards
Session Six: Deepening and Diversifying our Practice
Session Seven: Cognitive Tools + Hindrances
Session Eight: Self-Compassion and Beyond
Anger Regulation
Using a mindful approach, Anger Regulation addresses the impact of strong emotions, whether these emotions are anger, sadness, fear, shame, or disgust.
Together the group learns how to recognize the early warning signs of triggers and develop strategies that will give you the skills you need to tame the inner landscape of strong emotions, so they do not rule your life.
Session One: Understanding Anger – Introduction to Mindfulness
Session Two: Anger Triggers, SUDS Scale and Mapping
Session Three: Energy Model, Understanding the Nervous System
Session Four: Emotional Regulation, including grounding and DBT techniques
Session Five: Spirit and Inspired Action, the relationship between Beliefs, Expectations, Control, SUDS and Anger
Session Six: Acceptance, Wu Wei and Beliefs: Perfectionism, Competitiveness, Pleasing, Care Taking, and Fixing.
Session Seven: Ego, Suffering, Humility, Exploring Empathy, Compassion, and Forgiveness
Session Eight: Communication and Application
Future Offering
Personal Growth Book Club
Creating a sense of belonging and a safe space to share experiences, ideas, and opinions, the Personal Growth Book Club supports an environment of ongoing learning and contemplation through the richness of books. This program is dedicated to celebrating, inspiring and supporting personal development and self-discovery.
Our Personal Growth Book Club is experiential and interactive, designed to engage discussion about books that focus on reflection and growth.
SMART Recovery
The SMART Recovery 4-Point Program supports recovery from addiction and addictive behaviours, including drug abuse, drug addiction, substance abuse, alcohol abuse, gambling addiction, cocaine addiction, prescription drug abuse, sexual addiction, and problem addiction to other substances and activities.
Based on addiction science the program focuses on SMART’s tools for change. In SMART we focus on learning coping skills that work well short- and long-term. We focus on present-day events and the root causes of self-destructive behaviours.
Trauma Practice’s SMART Recovery Program is delivered in partnership with the Mental Health and Addiction Services of Ottawa our trusted Ontario-based SMART Recovery provider.
One: Building and maintaining the motivation to change
Two: Coping with urges to use
Three: Managing thoughts, feelings, and behaviors in an effective way without addictive behaviors
Four: Living a balanced, positive, and healthy life.
Self Directed Program
The Trauma Recovery Program is a self-help resource for trauma survivors. This self-guided program is available online as a complement to our group programs, or for those working with a therapist or other professional and looking for additional material to support their recovery journey, daily.
It can be difficult to know how to help someone who has experienced trauma. If you are looking for resources to help you support a family member, friend, or client after trauma The Trauma Recovery Program is a great place to start.
This program is generously provided to our clients by the Traumatology Institute and WhatisPTSD.com.
Have questions about Trauma Practice and how our programs work?
We’ve got answers.
Trauma is the outcome of an event or repeated enduring experiences that completely overwhelm an individual and their ability to cope, feel safe, and mobilize resources to recover on their own. Not all trauma survivors need individual therapy to recover.
What we do know is that people can recover when given the right care.
Our programs are designed to assist those experiencing:
- PTSD
- Compassion Fatigue
- Anxiety and Isolation
- Related mental health disturbances including depression, emotional
regulation, anger management and more
Trauma in society is more common than you think. It can happen to a family member, friend, work colleague, often unknown to those around them because of shame and stigma.
Trauma Informed Care is an approach, based on knowledge of the impact of trauma, aimed at ensuring environments and services are welcoming and engaging those seeking support.
Trauma Practice aims to offer programs that address the symptoms or conditions resulting from a traumatizing event(s).
Through group programs and public access to self-help resources, Trauma Practice is reaching out to marginalized and vulnerable community members who are falling through the cracks of an overburdened system.
We have tailor made groups and resources for all community members ranging from caregivers to first responders, family members grieving the loss of a loved one to members of the military or police forces. Whether you are a health care professional or someone who may be experiencing inter-generational trauma, we have tools and resources to assist you in your journey to healing.
We believe in equitable access. Our programming is geared to help trauma survivors along with their families and friends with a safe place to land
We offer trauma-informed services in:
- Group Support Programming
- On-line Trauma Resiliency Programs
- Interactive tools and resources
- Meditation and Self-Care Tools for Growth After Trauma
- Trauma Informed Yoga-Workshops and Seminars
- Research and Professional supports
Please visit Our Programs to see our present offerings.
Please direct all of your inquiries and interest in application through our website’s Sign up button or email info@traumapractice.org. All submissions are confidential.
Once your inquiry has been received a member of our team will contact you directly to discuss your needs as well as which of our programs may be best suited for you.
Due to the COVID-19 pandemic and physical distancing restrictions our in-person programming is presently on hold. We are pleased to be able to offer our programming through a secure online platform. Please visit Our Programs to see our present offerings.
We work with clients and communities across Ontario. Our administrative office is located in the heart of North York in Toronto. For our address and contact information click here.
Dr. Anna Baranowsky is the Founder and President of the Trauma Practice for Healthy Communities.
Karen has been working in the wellness industry for over twenty years serving in the fields of nutrition, yoga and, more recently, psychotherapy. She has dedicated many years to trauma-informed training and brings that awareness into the communities she serves. 
Carla is dedicated to working with people in many capacities to revolutionize how we care for our minds, bodies and ourselves.