I used to have precisely this problem. I was hospitalised for quite a long time (a couple years) a long while back now. I was seeing a psychologist in the hospital - and she didn't want me talking about my childhood memories - especially my childhood memories of my mother.

At the time I was furious. Those memories were occurring to me outside the therapy sessions - and I knew that those memories were what were really flooring me. I thought that getting better meant that I had to talk about those memories. But she wouldn't. I asked her how I was supposed to get better if I couldn't talk about those things. She said that the purpose of her seeing me in the hospital was for me to get to be stabilized well enough for discharge. That the work on those memories would come, but it would come much later down the track once I was stabilized.

For me... The stabilization came from DBT skills. I learned a whole variety of coping strategies for when I'm struggling with intense emotions / memories. Writing and breathing are two coping strategies, to be sure. I use both of these. But there are many, many other coping strategies, too. Coping can be about... Trying one thing, that not really working, trying another thing, that not really working, trying lots of things until one finds some relief. Different strategies work best for me at different times. I'm learning (gradually) how to listen to my body in order to figure out what it needs / what is most likely to be helpful at the time. It is hard work, and it is an ongoing process.

DBT skills are typically taught in a group setting, but there is nothing to prevent your individual therapist teaching you them in a one on one therapy situation. It takes 6 months to go through all the skills and most people find a benefit to going through them twice. Establishing good coping skills is a significant achievement and I really can't overstate the HUGE difference that it has made in my life. It really is very important to get the coping strategies working well so that one can cope with trauma processing. And even when the trauma processing starts sometimes one needs a little time out from it to revisit ones coping skills...

Could you talk to her about wanting to increase your coping skills such that you are able to process trauma?