A compassionate, parts-oriented approach for complex trauma,

dissociation and overwhelming emotional states.

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Trauma-Informed Stabilization Treatment, developed by renowned trauma expert Janina Fisher, is a gentle, effective therapy specifically designed to support individuals living with complex trauma, chronic shame, dissociation, overwhelming emotions, relationship struggles, and long-standing survival patterns.

 

TIST blends neuroscience, Internal Family Systems (parts work), and somatic awareness to help you understand why you react the way you do, why certain feelings feel “too much,” and why old patterns take over even when you desperately want change. Instead of asking you to push through or revisit traumatic memories before you’re ready, TIST helps you build inner stability, self-leadership, and safety first: the foundation of real, lasting healing.

 

What TIST Helps With

 

TIST is especially helpful for people experiencing:

• Complex trauma and C-PTSD

• Chronic shame or self-criticism

• Feeling “too much,” “not enough,” or emotionally out of control

• Dissociation, numbness, or feeling disconnected

• Trauma-related anxiety and depression

• High reactivity or shutdown responses

• Relationship struggles tied to attachment wounds

• Feeling stuck in repeating patterns

• Childhood trauma, neglect, or emotional abuse

• Gaslighting, betrayal trauma, or traumatic relationships

 

How TIST Works

 

TIST is based on a simple but powerful idea: Trauma leaves behind “parts” of us that learned to protect, survive, or disappear — and those parts deserve understanding, not judgment.

 

During TIST, you and your therapist work together to:

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1. Build Safety and Stabilization

Before diving into anything painful, we focus on helping your nervous system settle. You learn grounding tools, somatic regulation, and new ways of responding to internal triggers.

 

2. Understand Your Parts with Compassion

TIST views reactions like shutdown, anger, self-criticism, avoidance, or intense emotion as trauma-generated parts — not flaws. These parts formed to help you survive.
Through therapy, we help you relate to them with curiosity, kindness, and boundaries.

 

3. Reduce Shame and Inner Conflict

Shame is one of the most painful legacies of complex trauma. TIST teaches you to recognize shame as a survival strategy, not a personal defect, which helps soften internal conflict and increase inner calm.

 

4. Reconnect to Your Adult Self

TIST strengthens your capacity to stay connected to your present-day self so that you, not your trauma parts, can make decisions and respond to life.

 

5. Heal Without Overwhelm

Unlike approaches that ask you to relive or retell traumatic events, TIST works gently.
You learn to stay present while understanding what happened to you, at a pace your nervous system can actually handle.

 

At Making Space Psychotherapy, our trauma therapists use TIST to help you understand your internal experience with compassion, clarity, and hope.

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Start Therapy with a TIST-Informed Trauma Therapist

If you are looking for trauma therapy in Hamilton, Burlington, or anywhere in Ontario, our clinic is here to help.
You do not have to navigate complex trauma or dissociation alone. TIST offers a path toward stability, clarity, connection, and self-compassion, one step at a time.

 

Book your first session or reach out to our Care Team to get matched with a TIST-trained therapist who feels like a good fit.​

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