Why is it that two similar people with similar backgrounds can experience the same trauma and have vastly different responses to it, such that one person ends up permanently disabled by overwhelming symptoms of PTSD while the other, seemingly, is fine? This is the question that sits at the heart of so much trauma counselling in Calgary and across Alberta.

More importantly, do both people have something to teach us? Are there skills and techniques involved, and can we learn steps for coping with damaging and even life-threatening situations so we come out strong, resilient and able to continue to live and love? These are the same questions that show up in counselling for trauma survivors in Calgary every single week.