I am Deborah Crozier,  a person-centred counsellor (CFACCPH), Chartered Fellow member of the Accredited Counsellors, Coaches, Psychotherapists and Hypnotherapists. The founder and project lead at A Positive Start CIC, which I started in 2008, initially as a trauma informed training program and progressing to a Community Interest Company in Hawick in 2017. I’m passionate about learning, currently studying a postgraduate masters degree in contemporary drug and alcohol studies at UWS and about to launch my first book ‘When I’m Gone’, exploring the experience, aftermath of non-fatal strangulation in a DV setting and the healing journey that followed …  Available September 2024 from our Lived Learning website. 

Don’t be fooled by the illusion of intelligence, learning is available to anyone who is curious and looking for answers.  It’s important to remember that you are the expert in your own life, you know how you feel, what works and what doesn’t work for you. Learning provides each of us with a deeper understanding and for me & the team at APS, it helps us to continuously improve the services that we seek to provide for our community.
We highly recommend and encourage you to become curious about your own mental health and wellbeing, we will support and encourage you on your journey of self- discovery.  There is some excellent research out there to support recovery, I highly recommend  Dr Dan Siegel’s comprehensive Interpersonal Neurobiology (IPNB) delivered online by the Mindsight Institute, Dr. Stephen Porges Polyvagal Theory,  Dr. Peter Levine’s Somatic Experiencing and Trauma Recovery, all are available online. If you enjoy reading -, Dr. Bessel Van Der Kolk’s ‘The body keeps the score’ is an excellent read and a good place to start. The good news is, the latest trauma knowledge is incredibly exciting and offers positive advancement for survivors of trauma, adverse childhood experiences, and Complex Post Trauma Stress and Post Traumatic Stress with their recovery.

Complex Post Trauma Stress Response has shaped my own journey, leading to a passionate purpose and a commitment to helping others. Understanding offers some relief. I work together with my clients help them make sense of what has happened to them. Together we will learn how trauma impacts the mind and body, how it influences every aspect of our lives and relationships. We will find ways of managing the symptoms of trauma, learn how to regulate the nervous system to improve health, emotional wellbeing & overall quality of life. Recovery is a journey that takes time, the prize for recovery is healing, inner peace & the ability to experience joy, which is definitely worth the effort. My role is to support and encourage self-care compassionate enquiry and self-awareness. There is no magic wand, no quick fix. The answers are available to each of us, it is a matter of taking responsibility for our own healing, doing the work and putting the effort in to find those answers. When you are ready, and only when you are ready – I’d be honoured to be invited to support you on your journey.

I empathize with the clients I work with, helping them to recognise the many physical and often debilitating symptoms that occur naturally following trauma, as our sympathetic nervous system natural defences kick in.  The feeling of a lack of control, anger, overwhelm, confusion, hypervigilance, shame, panic, anxiety, guilt, sadness, defeat, hopelessness and worthlessness that can result from prolonged periods of trauma when our nervous system gets stuck in survival mode.

It is not possible to avoid trauma, pain is part of being human. When we take time to invest in ourselves,  becoming self-aware we can learn  how to manage the symptoms of trauma, making room for healing. Our services are person-centred. I offer a safe, non-judgement, sale and confidential space to clients, one to one and face to face, or online, encouraging them to decide what feels right for themselves. Whenever appropriate, I may suggest EFT (emotional freedom technique), a gentle, non-invasive, useful tool for regulating emotions and processing trauma. Ultimately, my clients are encouraged to decide what is best for themselves, I hold the space, so we can explore thoughts and feelings, gently and safely together.

Like all things in life, our service will not be suitable for everyone, We offer a 60 minute free initial assessment, an opportunity to ask questions and decide together what is best for you, the individual. For more details follow this link

Funded by Cycling Scotland and in collaboration with Teri Bikes in Hawick, we offer a Cycling for mental wellbeing project for clients who would benefit from a loan of a bicycle & accessories. Contact us for details. Ts & Cs apply.

If you are interested in learning more about the lived experience of Trauma and its impact, I invite you to enrol on our CPD Accredited Trauma Informed TRUST with Lived Experience Insight course