Trauma means different things to different people; it’s less about what happened to you and more about how you experienced it. Ultimately, I see trauma as anything that happened to us that overwhelmed our ability to cope or find a sense of safety. 

If you have trauma, some of these symptoms may sound familiar:

• flashbacks or nightmares

• dissociation (think of “going blank” or “zoning out”) or lapses in memory

• difficulty regulating emotions, including feelings of depression and anger or irritability

• feeling on edge or hypervigilant

• struggling in interpersonal relationships

• low self-esteem or negative self-perception

• avoiding people, places, or scenarios that upset you or remind you of the trauma

• problems with setting or maintaining boundaries

• difficulty maintaining healthy relationships 

• social anxiety or generalized anxiety

• difficulty with being alone or fear of abandonment

Trauma therapy is individualized to your needs, symptoms, and circumstances, so it can look different for different people. And each session may look quite different from the last, as we adapt treatment to your strengths and struggles. 

I have trained in multiple trauma-focused modalities, and I combine these with pieces of traditional talk therapy and modern somatic approaches to create a treatment style that fits you. For example, you and I may use Dialectical Behavioral Therapy (DBT) to learn skills to manage intense emotions; mindfulness skills to learn to attune to your mind-body connection; or Brainspotting or EMDR to dive deeper into your emotions and life experiences so you can finally feel free from what’s been haunting you or holding you back.

We will always begin by forming a solid therapeutic relationship. It’s so important for you to feel comfortable in our connection; your sense of safety is my top priority. I welcome feedback about how I can make your experience better!

I’m excited about the opportunity to support you on your journey towards trauma recovery! The first step is to schedule a 20-minute consultation, so we can meet and see how we connect. The connection between a therapist and client makes all the difference in therapy, so if either of us decides we are not the best fit, I’ll be happy to provide you with referrals so you can get the care you need.

How long you spend in therapy can vary based on your needs and goals. I’ve worked with some trauma survivors for a short period of time (6-8 sessions), and with others, for much longer (20+ sessions). I am trained in forms of therapy (Brainspotting and EMDR) that tend to help people experience relief more quickly than traditional talk therapy; most people don’t need years to recover from trauma if they’re getting effective treatment.

While some people come to therapy to focus on one specific event (and therefore might finish their course of therapy in a shorter period of time), others choose to meet with a trauma specialist for an extended period of time to process multiple traumatic events or simply to have a safe space to come back to as needed when triggering events happen. 

If you are interested in making progress as fast as possible, or if your symptoms are severe and you need relief, I recommend you consider a trauma intensive. This is a premium format for trauma therapy, where it’s possible to condense months of progress into a few days.