I offer a variety of clinical services including individual, couple, and family therapy. I have worked as a therapist in a variety of setting throughout the past 18 years. At this time, I work mainly with adults and specialize in providing Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing (EMDR) therapy.
Weekly or bi-weekly therapy sessions may not be ideal or even realistic for people managing multiple aspects of life such as work, kids, and other obligations. Intensive EMDR therapy offers more flexibility in scheduling and may allow for faster progress. I offer EMDR therapy in an intensive format depending on patient needs.
Click here to link to a questionnaire to find out if EMDR Therapy is right for you.
About Trauma
What is trauma? Most people consider trauma to be events such as exposure to the violence of war, the sudden death of a loved one, experiencing an assault of some kind, ongoing abuse or neglect, and other things.
What I have come to realize over time, with training and experience, is the broader definition of trauma. Events that are unexpected and exceed our own capacity to cope push the nervous system beyond it’s ability to self-regulate. Ongoing stressful situations such as toxic work or family environments, childhood neglect, embarrassing or shameful experiences, could be traumatic to the body, mind, and spirit. When the nervous system is taxed beyond normal capacity, it may get “stuck” in fight or flight mode OR may drop into depression and disconnection. The result is often chronic anxiety, hyperawareness, difficulty sleeping, problems regulating emotions, fatigue, chronic pain, and illness.
BThe Body Keeps the Score: Brain, Mind, and Body in the Healing of Trauma indicates that we have learned that “trauma is not just an event that took place sometime in the past; it is also the imprint left by that experience on mind, brain, and body.”
It is imperative to pay attention to the mind-body connection when doing trauma work. Sensations from past trauma often become trapped in the body and must be addressed utilizing somatic approaches such as breathing techniques, grounding, and body awareness.
My approach to working with trauma incorporates the mind-body-spirit connection through the use of eye movement desensitization and reprocessing and somatic psychology. We first work to establish a felt sense of safety in the therapeutic relationship and environment. This begins with developing a trusting, therapeutic relationship as I learn about you and your experiences. We also work to create additional resources or “tools” to assist you in calming your body and mind outside of the therapy session. Together, we create the pace for our sessions and collaboratively navigate the path toward healing one step at a time.