Joanna's story- finding her path in trauma work.
Hi everyone and welcome to our next instalment of the Pathways to Psychology blog. Today we hear from Joanna Bieszczad, a UK-accredited CBT (cognitive behavioural therapy) therapist and EMDR (eye movement desensitisation and reprocessing) practitioner who has specialised in trauma for over 15 years. She holds four university degrees in Psychology, Counselling, CBT, and Sport Psychology, bringing both depth and breadth to her clinical expertise.
Over the years, Joanna has developed her own highly effective approach to treating trauma, blending CBT and EMDR techniques. She is passionate about supporting the next generation of therapists and is launching a training programme designed to give practitioners practical, confidence-building tools for trauma work. Find out more and join the waiting list here: www.traumatrainingacademy.com/waitlist We hope reading about Joanna will inspire you on your own journey to a successful career in Psychology.
Joanna Bieszczad
Finding My Path in Trauma Work
When I finished my training, I remember feeling a mixture of excitement and fear. Excitement because I had finally stepped into a profession I deeply cared about. Fear because I knew there were whole areas where I didn’t feel equipped — none more so than trauma.
Like many of my peers, I worried that I might do more harm than good if I worked with clients who had experienced something deeply traumatic. What if I re-traumatised them? What if I couldn’t contain them, or didn’t know what to say? Underneath it all was a feeling of helplessness — the sense that we had not been given enough practical teaching on how to work with trauma.
I brought this concern to supervision one day. I was lucky — my supervisor at the time, who I still believe is one of the finest CBT therapists I have ever met, didn’t just reassure me with words. She invited me to shadow her in her sessions.
That was the turning point.
I watched as she worked with people who hadn’t just been through one traumatic event but multiple. I saw her guide them through re-living, carefully and compassionately, and I witnessed the shifts happening right in front of me. It was the most powerful training I could have asked for. Suddenly, trauma work wasn’t just something to be feared — it was something that could be done, and done well.
Those sessions built my confidence. When I returned to my work in the IAPT (Improving access to psychological therapies) service, I started taking on clients with PTSD (post traumatic stress disorder). Before long, whenever a trauma case came in, it was sent my way. Not because I was fearless, but because I now had a map — a lived example of what good trauma therapy looked like.
That experience set the foundation for everything that came after. When I left the NHS and moved into private practice, referrals from insurance companies followed. Many of their clients had been through road traffic accidents or workplace incidents, which meant the majority of my caseload was trauma-focused. The more I worked in this area, the more skilled and confident I became.
It was while I was still working in the NHS that I first came across EMDR and completed my initial training in it. Later, as I moved into private practice and continued specialising in trauma, I began experimenting, adapting, and blending elements of EMDR (particularly bilateral stimulation) with CBT techniques. Over time, I developed my own way of working with trauma — one that suited me and, more importantly, worked for my clients.
Today, my recovery rates, measured by the IES-R (impact of events scale revised) scale, are close to 100% for single-incident trauma. That statistic still amazes me, but it also reinforces what I felt in those early sessions with my supervisor: trauma therapy, done well, is life-changing.
Now, a new chapter is opening. I’ve always been someone who enjoys trying new things, testing approaches, and finding creative ways to solve problems. With the results I’ve seen, I feel a responsibility to pass on what I’ve learned so that other therapists can feel confident in this work too. That’s why I’ve created a training programme — combining the techniques I’ve found most effective from CBT and EMDR — designed to give therapists practical tools they can start using straight away. (If you’d like to hear more or join the waiting list, you can find details here: www.traumatrainingacademy.com/waitlist).
Looking back, my journey unfolded step by step: from identifying a gap in my knowledge, to learning from a gifted supervisor, to building confidence through experience, to developing my own approach and teaching others. None of it was clear at the beginning, but the path revealed itself as I walked it.
If you’re just starting out in your career, here’s what I would want you to take away from my story:
- It’s okay not to know everything after training. What matters is noticing where the gaps are and being honest about them.
- Don’t be afraid to ask to shadow. Watching my supervisor at work was the single best learning experience of my career, and it changed everything.
- Invest in CPD (continuous professional development). Training after your degree isn’t just about adding tools to your toolbox; it’s about building confidence. And when you feel confident, your clients feel safe and contained.
Working with trauma can feel daunting at first. But it is also some of the most rewarding work you can do. To see a client move from being defined by what happened to them, to reclaiming their life and their future — that transformation is nothing short of extraordinary.
And you don’t need to have it all figured out from the start. You just need to take the first step, keep learning, and trust that the path will open before you.
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