Colleen - Adelaide Trauma & Narcissistic Abuse Therapist

Colleen - Adelaide Trauma & Narcissistic Abuse Therapist Helping clients heal from Trauma, PTSD, C-PTSD, and Narcissistic Abuse with a compassionate and holistic approach.

Based in Adelaide, offering online and in-person sessions. Start your journey toward recovery and personal growth today. Colleen Brown, a Trauma and Narcissistic Abuse Recovery Specialist based in Windsor Gardens, Adelaide, offers a transformative therapeutic experience. With over a decade of expertise, she helps individuals heal from Trauma, PTSD, C-PTSD, and Narcissistic Abuse. Colleen's nurturi

ng and holistic approach provides a safe space for emotional exploration and personal growth. Offering online and in-person sessions, she supports clients in confronting past traumas and embracing new possibilities. Start your healing journey with Colleen Brown, the compassionate therapist dedicated to empowering you.

One Decision That Shifted EverythingBy 2010, something in me started quietly reaching for more.I had a laptop that could...
25/07/2025

One Decision That Shifted Everything

By 2010, something in me started quietly reaching for more.

I had a laptop that could play DVDs, and every now and then, I’d do a yoga class in my bedroom.
And it made me feel… different.
Not fixed.
But softer. Calmer. More me.

Eventually, I decided to try Bikram yoga again.
And this time, it stuck.

I committed to twice a week.
Every Tuesday and Friday evening after work,
90 minutes on the mat. Just me.
It was bliss.

The thing about yoga is, it changes you from the inside out.
But when you’re still living unconsciously,
those internal shifts don’t always look “graceful.”

For me, they came out as outbursts. Breakups. Walkouts.
Even what I now call tower moments - sudden endings and dramatic exits.
I wasn’t mature enough yet to navigate the change softly,
so I did what I’d always done
I let things fall away completely.

I changed jobs.
Moved house.
Fell away from old friends.
Made a few new ones.
But also, for the first time, I started spending more time alone.
And I liked it.

After practicing Bikram consistently for about a year,
so much had shifted inside me.

I was still working a job that didn’t fulfill me, it paid the bills, but it left me empty.
And I could feel this deep sense of not being satisfied anymore.
I didn’t know what I truly wanted.
The only thing I knew I liked, the only thing that made me feel “normal” - was yoga.

And then one night,
standing in front of the mirror at the studio,
I had a single thought.

I should be a yoga teacher.

And just like that,
one decision changed the direction of my life for years to come.

Is this the happy-ever-after chapter?
Ha… not even close.

But it was the start of something.

Stay tuned. 🌸🤍










Friendly reminder for anyone who needs it today…~ Progress over perfection~ Rest over hustle~ Self compassion over self ...
21/07/2025

Friendly reminder for anyone who needs it today…

~ Progress over perfection
~ Rest over hustle
~ Self compassion over self criticism

Save this as your intention for the week.

🤍

Healing isn’t easy.It asks you to feel what you’ve avoided.To face the parts of yourself you don’t want to see.When I fi...
18/07/2025

Healing isn’t easy.

It asks you to feel what you’ve avoided.
To face the parts of yourself you don’t want to see.

When I first started self-inquiry, I wasn’t ready for what was underneath.

After those first glimpses of peace
after that yoga class cracked me open
I didn’t know what to do with what surfaced.

So I went back to what I knew.
Back to what, deep down, I believed I was worthy of.

I ended up with an abusive man who didn’t want me to have any friends or do anything without him.
But he had been through so much himself, and surely he didn’t mean to hurt me… right?

I worked in jobs that drained me and did nothing for my soul.
I wasn’t living consciously at all.
It was autopilot - take what I can, and be “happy” with that.

The thing is, that might be enough for some people.
But deep down, it wasn’t enough for me.
I just didn’t have the voice then to scream it out loud.

And I know now I wasn’t alone in feeling that way.
So many of us get stuck in that quiet place
not in full-blown crisis anymore,
but not really free either.
Those years didn’t look like healing.
But they were part of it.
Sometimes, we have to live through what we don’t want
to slowly remember we deserve more.














I often find myself saying this to clients ~ in the heavy moments of feeling like they 'should have known better' or 'sh...
18/07/2025

I often find myself saying this to clients ~ in the heavy moments of feeling like they 'should have known better' or 'should have seen the signs'. The list of self-blame can feel endless.

But here’s what I gently remind them: you didn’t know, because you’re not that kind of person. You don’t intentionally harm, deceive, or betray others so why would your radar have been tuned to expect that from someone else?

And that doesn’t make you foolish. It makes you human. It speaks to your goodness.

You simply don’t know what you don’t know… until you do.

And when you do finally see it, you can meet yourself with tenderness instead of blame. Because that awareness came at the exact moment it was meant to and not a second earlier.

🤍🙏

Sometimes healing means outgrowing people, places, and versions of yourself. And that’s ok. 🪬🤍
15/07/2025

Sometimes healing means outgrowing people, places, and versions of yourself. And that’s ok. 🪬🤍

Do you have any rituals that feel sacred to you?For me, it’s a bath.It’s something I’ve loved for years.Anywhere in the ...
13/07/2025

Do you have any rituals that feel sacred to you?

For me, it’s a bath.
It’s something I’ve loved for years.
Anywhere in the world, whether I’m at home or in a hotel, I find it so soothing and relaxing to just soak.
I’ll add Epsom salts or a few drops of essential oil, and listen to soft music in the background.

I NEVER have the bathroom lights on.
Ever.
I prefer dim lighting with fairy lights or a candle ~ so I can really soften, and feel like I’m retreating.

This is a ritual for me because it’s something I do just for me ~
to relax, to unwind, to simply be for a little while.

Maybe a bath isn’t your thing.
But I wonder… is there something that brings you back to you?

Even for a moment.
Even on the harder days?

It’s been two weeks since I shared a piece of my story.I didn’t mean to stop. But something happened.And it broke me ope...
05/07/2025

It’s been two weeks since I shared a piece of my story.
I didn’t mean to stop. But something happened.

And it broke me open in ways I didn’t see coming.

These past two weeks have been full of shock
grief
love
raw conversations
unexpected memories
and a kind of acceptance that doesn’t come gently, but comes anyway.

It’s the kind of growth you don’t choose.
But it shapes you all the same.

And somewhere in all of it
I met parts of myself I hadn’t seen in years.
And for the first time, I didn’t turn away.
I softened. I cried. I surrendered.

So today’s story isn’t from the past.
It’s from right now.

This version of me
sitting in the stillness after something painful
and letting it shape me.

I’ll return to the other chapters of my story in time.
But for today, this is what I have.
And maybe that’s enough.

Sometimes trauma doesn’t show up as flashbacks or panic.Sometimes, it shows up as not knowing what you feel at all.You d...
02/07/2025

Sometimes trauma doesn’t show up as flashbacks or panic.
Sometimes, it shows up as not knowing what you feel at all.

You don’t have the words.
You can’t describe what’s wrong.
You just feel... off. Disconnected. Numb.

This is called alexithymia -
a Greek word that means “no words for feelings.”
And it’s incredibly common in trauma survivors.

It’s not a flaw.
It’s a nervous system adaptation - one that protected you when emotional safety wasn’t an option.

If you weren’t taught how to feel,
you weren’t failing.

You were coping the only way you knew how.

And healing begins not with pressure,
but with patience.
With permission to start listening inward, one feeling at a time.

The thing about trauma is ~ it doesn’t just stay in the past.It shows up in your present.~ In your relationships.~ In ho...
29/06/2025

The thing about trauma is ~ it doesn’t just stay in the past.
It shows up in your present.

~ In your relationships.
~ In how you react.
~ In how safe you feel inside yourself.

And sometimes it takes things from you - friendships, jobs, confidence, even parts of your identity - before you’ve had the chance to understand why.

This is for the version of you who still carries that loss.
You weren’t failing.
You just didn’t know how to do it any differently yet.

You’re allowed to grieve what was taken.
That’s part of healing too.

Facing Myself in the MirrorThe first yoga class I ever did was in 2007.It was at Bikram Yoga Burleigh Heads on the Gold ...
20/06/2025

Facing Myself in the Mirror

The first yoga class I ever did was in 2007.
It was at Bikram Yoga Burleigh Heads on the Gold Coast.
I lay in savasana at the end,
and for the first time in years… I cried.
Not just tears - a release.

I felt something I hadn’t in so long:
Peace.
Stillness.
Hope.

And so I kept going.
Class after class.
Something in me knew it was good, knew it was healing.
But what they don’t tell you about yoga
is that it quietly, gently, relentlessly teaches you to face yourself.

And I wasn’t quite ready for that.

The raw feelings, the grief, the silence
the memories my body had been holding.

So I did what most people do.
I found my way back to my comfort zone.
Back to the chaos.
Back to the drinking, the self-sabotage, the people who didn’t really see me.

It felt familiar.
It felt like what I was worthy of.

Right?

But here’s the truth I now share with many of my clients:

Healing isn’t linear.
You will tip your toe into something new and beautiful
and then retreat.
You might crash.
Fall back into old patterns.

That doesn’t mean you’ve failed.
It means you’re human.

I will never tell you that healing is easy.
Because it’s not.
It will ask you to feel what you’ve avoided.
To face parts of yourself you don’t want to see.

But it’s worth it.
And you are worth it!

Self worth is forgiving the version of you who didn’t know better..who settled, over gave, and repeated the same pattern...
20/06/2025

Self worth is forgiving the version of you who didn’t know better..
who settled, over gave, and repeated the same patterns just to feel loved.

It’s not shame.
It’s not regret.
It’s the quiet decision ~ I don’t accept that anymore.

I know how overwhelming it can feel to carry the weight of trauma, to question your worth, and to wonder if true healing...
19/02/2025

I know how overwhelming it can feel to carry the weight of trauma, to question your worth, and to wonder if true healing is even possible. I’ve been there.

For years, I struggled with addiction, trying to numb the pain I couldn’t put into words. I know what it’s like to feel lost in cycles of self-destruction, to crave freedom but not know where to begin. My own healing journey led me to explore deep emotional work, holistic healing, and trauma recovery ~ and ultimately, to dedicate my life to helping others break free from their own pain.

Now, as a trauma-informed psychotherapist, I guide people through complex trauma, narcissistic abuse recovery, and emotional healing. But my work isn’t just about therapy ~ it’s about understanding, connection, and transformation.

I genuinely love my work and am so grateful for every single brave soul I have had the honour of working with. Sharing your story isn’t easy and I don’t take that lightly 🙏🤍

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Kent Town, SA

Opening Hours

Monday 8am - 8:30pm
Tuesday 8am - 8:30pm
Wednesday 8am - 8:30pm
Thursday 8am - 8:30pm
Friday 8am - 6pm
Saturday 9am - 4pm

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