Trauma can change the way we experience ourselves, our relationships, and the world around us. Whether your experiences involved a single overwhelming event or years of chronic stress, healing is possible. Therapy offers a safe, compassionate space to understand what you've been through, reconnect with your inner strengths, and move toward lasting recovery.

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I specialize in helping adults heal from trauma using evidence-based and body-centered approaches that address not only your thoughts, but also your nervous system and emotional experiences.

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Understanding Trauma

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Trauma is not defined only by what happened to you—it's also about how your mind, body, and nervous system responded to experiences that felt overwhelming, frightening, or inescapable.

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Trauma can result from experiences such as:

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• Childhood abuse or neglect

• Emotional abuse, emotional neglect, psychological abuse

• Domestic violence

• Relational trauma

• Sexual assault

• Medical trauma

• Serious accidents

• Natural disasters

• Grief and loss

• Chronic stress or repeated adverse experiences

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Even when danger has passed, your nervous system may continue responding as though the threat is still present.

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PTSD Symptoms

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Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) can develop after experiencing or witnessing a traumatic event.

 

Symptoms may include:

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• Intrusive memories or flashbacks

• Nightmares

• Avoiding reminders of the trauma

• Feeling constantly on guard or hypervigilant

• Being easily startled

• Anxiety or panic attacks

• Difficulty sleeping

• Irritability or anger

• Emotional numbness

• Difficulty concentrating

• Feeling disconnected from others

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These symptoms are not signs of weakness—they are adaptive survival responses that have become stuck over time.

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Understanding Complex PTSD (CPTSD)

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Complex PTSD often develops after prolonged or repeated trauma, especially during childhood or within relationships where safety was compromised. In addition to many PTSD symptoms, people with CPTSD may experience:

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• Persistent feelings of shame or worthlessness

• Difficulty trusting others

• Fear of abandonment

• Emotional overwhelm or emotional numbness

• Chronic self-criticism

• Difficulty regulating emotions

• Dissociation or feeling disconnected from yourself

• Relationship challenges

• Perfectionism or people-pleasing

• Feeling "stuck" despite understanding your patterns

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Many people with CPTSD spent years adapting to survive environments where they could not feel fully safe. Those survival strategies often continue into adulthood, even when they are no longer needed.​​​

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A Whole-Person Approach to Healing

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Trauma affects the brain, body, emotions, relationships, and nervous system. Because of this, healing often requires more than simply talking about what happened.

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My approach integrates several evidence-based therapies to help clients process traumatic experiences, develop emotional resilience, and restore a greater sense of safety and connection.

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EMDR Therapy

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Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing (EMDR) is a well-researched and evidenced-based therapy that helps the brain process traumatic memories that have become "stuck." Rather than reliving painful experiences repeatedly, EMDR helps reduce the emotional intensity of traumatic memories while strengthening more adaptive beliefs about yourself.

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Many clients notice decreased emotional distress, fewer triggers, and greater confidence after completing EMDR treatment.

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Internal Family Systems (IFS)

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Internal Family Systems (IFS) recognizes that we all have different "parts" of ourselves that developed to help us survive difficult experiences.

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You may notice parts that:

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• Criticize or judge you

• Try to keep you safe through perfectionism

• Avoid painful emotions

• Become anxious or overwhelmed

• Carry deep sadness or fear

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Instead of trying to eliminate these parts, IFS helps you understand their protective roles with curiosity and compassion. As healing occurs, these parts no longer need to work so hard, allowing your authentic, grounded Self to lead with greater confidence, calm, and clarity.

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Somatic Therapy

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Trauma is stored not only in memories but also in the body and nervous system. Somatic therapy helps you become aware of physical sensations, patterns of tension, and survival responses that may still be active long after the traumatic events have ended.

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By gently increasing awareness of the body's signals, clients learn to release chronic stress, reconnect with their bodies, and experience greater emotional regulation without becoming overwhelmed.

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Polyvagal Theory & Nervous System Regulation

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Polyvagal Theory helps explain why trauma affects our sense of safety, connection, and emotional regulation.

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When your nervous system perceives danger, it naturally shifts into survival states such as:

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• Fight

• Flight

• Fawn

• Freeze

• Shutdown

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These responses are automatic and protective. The goal of therapy is not to eliminate them but to help your nervous system become more flexible, allowing you to return to a state of safety and connection more easily.

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Throughout therapy, you'll learn practical nervous system regulation skills that may include:

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• Grounding techniques

• Breathwork

• Mindfulness practices

• Body awareness exercises

• Orienting to safety

• Self-compassion practices

• Emotional regulation skills

• Healthy boundary development

• Resourcing and stabilization techniques

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These skills help build resilience so that your nervous system can respond more effectively to life's challenges.

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What Treatment Looks Like

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Every person's healing journey is unique. Therapy begins by establishing safety, trust, and a pace that feels manageable for you.

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Together, we may work to:

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• Understand how trauma has affected your life

• Reduce anxiety and emotional overwhelm

• Increase nervous system regulation

• Process traumatic memories safely

• Strengthen healthy coping skills

• Improve relationships and communication

• Reduce shame and self-criticism

• Rebuild self-trust and confidence

• Develop greater emotional flexibility

• Create lasting change rather than simply managing symptoms

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Treatment is collaborative, compassionate, and tailored to your individual needs and goals.

 

You Don't Have to Carry This Alone

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Living with trauma, PTSD, or Complex PTSD can feel exhausting and isolating, but healing is possible. Recovery is not about forgetting what happened—it is about helping your mind and body recognize that the danger has passed and creating space for greater peace, connection, and hope.

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If you're ready to begin your healing journey, I would be honored to support you. Together, we can help you move beyond survival and toward a life that feels more grounded, meaningful, and fully your own.