Phone: 403-244-3344    Email Administration at admin@aislingonline.com Dr. Litvack at willa.litvack@aislingonline.com Located in northwest Calgary, near the University of Calgary, the Foothills and Alberta Childrens’ Hospitals, and Market Mall Aisling Psychology & Counselling Dr. Willa Litvack Registered Psychologist © 2011 AISLING BY: NETMATRIX Dr. Litvack has special interest in working with adults who have experiencing trauma in childhood. Her approach to treatment is integrative and is individualized to meet the unique needs of each client. Psychological trauma is caused when an individual experiences an event that:  • Involves real or perceived threat to the physical and/or psychological safety of the self or others. • Elicits feelings of fear and helplessness. • Overwhelms the individual’s self-perceived ability to cope, physically, cognitively or emotionally. Psychological trauma may be caused by : • One-time occurrences, such as car accidents, violent attacks, sexual assault, natural disasters, and extreme medical crises. By physical, psychological and/or sexual abuse . By living in an environment that is physically or emotionally unsafe and unpredictable. This can apply to adults but more often is the experience of children whose caregivers are neglectful or erratic, or who are subjected to or witness verbal, physical or sexual violence.* This type of experience is often referred to as complex or developmental trauma. The effects of trauma manifest physically, emotionally, intellectually, behaviorally and interpersonally.  They may appear immediately after the event or events or may not be apparent for months or even years. Consequently, individuals may not immediately associate their symptoms with the trauma and often report just feeling crazy. Thus, it is important to keep in mind that post-traumatic symptoms are normal reactions to abnormal events, a consequence of the way our brains process and encode traumatic events. TRAUMA & ABUSE