SERVICES & SPECIALTIES
INDIVIDUAL THERAPY
When there is a lot going on in life, many people find it hard to cope. Maybe you feel like you want to escape your life or you worry a lot, have intense anxiety, fear something bad is about to happen, and self esteem/worth is at a low.
I provide a safe, transformative space for individuals to explore what keeps them stuck and help them move forward for a richer more robust life and improved relationships. Some issues addressed in individual therapy include:
- Anxiety, dissociation, depression
- Traumatic Experiences & PTSD
- Grief & Profound Loss
- Self-esteem / Low self worth
- Emotional regulation & Anger Management
- Relationship struggles / Loneliness
If any of these sound true for you, I want you to know that you're not "crazy." And even though you might feel alone in your struggle, what you are going through is common and it's okay to ask for help. You don’t have to keep putting yourself last, caring for everyone else before you take care of yourself. Let’s talk and collaborate how to get you back into full authentic living!
MILITARY VETERANS
Does life feel like it is too much… the dread, the anxiety, the overwhelm and it’s harder and harder to stay present? The trauma in your life’s past may feel like it keeps coming up and controlling your present day like it is happening right now despite knowing it is in the past. Trauma comes in many forms, many are easy to see (overt) and many seem invisible (covert), but in both forms it tears at the core of who we are and casts a fog over the good things in life and exacerbates negative experiences.
I will meet you where you are with compassion and gentle questioning and some light humor sprinkled in. Living with trauma is no fun and I will help you heal and integrate more peace and ease into your life. Lets dig in and roll up our sleeves to get you where you want to be!
Relationship Therapy
Are you longing for more safety and emotional intimacy in your relationships? Does your partner seem to be drifting away or are you both getting into arguments all of the time? Is your family feeling friction and home life is not the peaceful sanctuary you’d envisioned?
I help couples and families gain awareness of emotions underlying the turmoil and renegotiate relationships to get to an understanding of what it all means to each individual in the dynamic and the system as a whole. Helping people know the vocabulary of emotions and sink into their bodies to renegotiate certain patterning of body responses can help repair relationships for more connection and authenticity.
EMDR Therapy
EMDR is a memory-based trauma therapy approach. Memories are stored by association and form "memory networks" that link present experiences (I.e. “getting rejected by a partner”) to past experiences (i.e. “my parents weren’t there for me when I was little”). When you are triggered by your present circumstances, we can assume that there is a related memory from the past that hasn't been properly processed. When a memory isn't processed properly, it is due to the fact that there were high arousal states at the time of the event and our beautiful brains will store our inadequately processed past memories with all the emotions, sensations, images (flashbacks), thoughts, and beliefs.
During EMDR, these inadequately processed memories and their stored components are neutralized. Any useful information is adaptively stored and available to inform future experiences (I.e. “I’m safe”), whereas information that is no longer useful is discarded (I.e. “I’m not safe”). Imagine that your brain is taking out the trash or decluttering as a storage solution! After EMDR, present experiences (that were related to your trauma) should no longer trigger highly aroused emotional states.
Somatic Experiencing
Somatic Experiencing offers a framework to assess where a person is “stuck” in the fight, flight or freeze responses and helps resolve these fixated physiological states. This modality helps facilitate completion of self-protective body responses and the release of stunted survival energy bound in the body, which are trauma symptoms. Sessions involve a client tracking their own experience & the practitioner offering a body-centered approach by gently guiding clients to develop increasing tolerance for difficult bodily sensations and suppressed emotions.
Somatic Experiencing works from the outside edges inward to the core of the trauma. While the pace may be slow, the discharge and release of traumatic activation from your nervous system can be very powerful. With this release your nervous system can return to a healthier range of resiliency and healing can take place for more authentic daily living.
IFS Therapy
Internal Family Systems (IFS) - is a model of therapy that sees the mind as a collection of different parts that have unique qualities and hopes for the true SELF of the individual. The grounding assumptions is that there are no bad parts, only parts forced into bad roles that no longer serve the individual. When a client learns how to heal these wounded parts, they experience more peace and harmony with a better understanding of themself. The individual lives their life led by the SELF rather than by activated parts of self.
RELATIONSHIP / ATTACHMENT-BASED THERAPY
The goal of attachment-based therapy is to help you develop a secure attachment style, which is shown with a solid sense of self, increased self-esteem, ability to regulate emotions, communicate feelings, and trust in self and others. Many times people are raised in homes where they weren’t heard, seen, or understood, and this can lead to insecure attachment. Let’s get some secure attachment on board so you can have the connections you long for! Here are some issues you may experience with insecure attachment:
Low self-esteem
Strong fear of rejection
Avoidance of commitment
Difficulty being vulnerable
Codependency
Jealousy and preoccupation
Struggle to communicate boundaries and need
Finding yourself in the same hot-and-cold or "toxic" relationship over and over
4 ATTACHMENT STYLES
SECURE: (low anxiety and low avoidance) individuals are emotionally attuned and available, consistent and stable in relationships, balanced and flexible in disagreements, comfortable with closeness and commitment but don't feel dependent on others for self-worth, trust easily, and communicate directly.
PREOCCUPIED / ANXIOUS: (high anxiety and low avoidance) individuals desire high amounts of closeness and intimacy, are sensitive to rejection, struggle with effective communication, need reassurance to feel loved, and often feel anxious about where they stand in a relationship.
AVOIDANT: (low anxiety and high avoidance) individuals want to maintain some level of emotional/physical distance, are less emotionally attuned and available, are very self-reliant, resist emotional intimacy and commitment, and fear losing their independence.
FEARFUL / DISORGANIZED: (high anxiety and high avoidance) individuals feel like they need a relationship but cannot trust it, can be hot and cold, are highly anxious, strongly fear rejection, and have low self-esteem.