To be a trauma informed therapist means to understand how past traumatic or distressing experiences can impact a person’s social, emotional, psychological, and physical well-being. I recognize that trauma is not just an event from the past, but it completely shifts the way a person feels, thinks, and interacts with the world in the present moment.

A trauma informed approach in therapy includes:

• Creating Safety- I prioritize physical, emotional, and relational safety, ensuring that clients feel secure and respected in session.

• Recognizing the Impact of Trauma- I acknowledge how trauma can influence emotions, behaviors, relationships, and the nervous system. Body work can also be very important in healing.

• Building Trust and Collaboration- I foster an environment where clients feel heard and validated, collaborating on therapeutic goals and respecting boundaries.

• Avoiding Re-Traumatization- I am mindful about how certain therapeutic interventions may unintentionally trigger distress. I will attempt to adapt or go at a pace that feels comfortable to you in order to avoid overwhelm or flooding.

By integrating these principles in session, I hope to provide a space where healing can unfold at a pace that feels right to you. Whether you are navigating past trauma, dealing with stress, or just seeking personal growth, I am here to support you with care, support, and sensitivity.

Working from a psychodynamic perspective means to explore how unconscious parts of ourselves and past experiences can shape how we relate with others in the present. This approach is grounded in the idea that we are greatly impacted from what happens in our early relationships, particularly with our caregivers. By examining patterns from the past, we can gain insight and awareness that can help us to make meaningful changes.

As a therapist using this perspective, I will work collaboratively with you to attempt to uncover hidden feelings, unresolved conflicts, and recurring patterns that may be showing up in your relationships today and impacting your overall well-being. By exploring these deeper dynamics, we can work towards increased self awareness, self-nurturing and coping, and emotional and relational growth.

An attachment based perspective is similar to a psychodynamic perspective in that it explores dynamics from early childhood relationships, particularly with caregivers. The goal while holding an attachment based perspective in mind is to better understand what we learned from early relationships. Were these relationships too overbearing, inconsistent, inattentive, disorganized, preoccupied, or stable and secure?

Through exploration of our early childhood attachments, we can have more insight into what comes up for us in relationships today, and how to move towards feeling more secure in our relationships with others.

Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing (EMDR) is a type of therapeutic intervention used in session with clients to help people heal from trauma or distressing experiences.

When someone experiences trauma, one’s brain can have difficulty fully processing the event, which can lead to symptoms that can persist long after the event has taken place. EMDR can help the brain to process these memories and put the sequences of the traumatic events back together in a more cohesive manner, which can decrease emotional charge and promote healing.

During an EMDR session we will focus on identifying a traumatic or distressing event and exploring associated belief systems to the event. We will also use bilateral body stimulation to support processing. Bilateral body stimulation can be done in an array of different ways and we will figure out what feels most comfortable for you.

EMDR is known to be particularly effective for trauma, anxiety, PTSD, and other distressing experiences and many people report feeling significant relief in just a few EMDR sessions.

Internal Family Systems (IFS) is a therapeutic approach that involves identifying different parts that can exist within ourselves. The idea behind IFS is that we all have different parts of ourselves, or inner voices that can influence how we think, feel, and behave. These different parts are often shaped by past experiences and serve many different purposes for us.

An important part of IFS is to work towards viewing the different parts of ourselves in a non-judgmental and compassionate manner, understanding what these parts have done for us throughout our lives thus far.

Usually, certain parts that exist inside of us can become stuck in old patterns that no longer serve us. The goal throughout IFS is to allow all parts to exist and work together in order to create more balance, heal emotional wounds, release old patterns, and build a healthier relationship with the self.

Mindfulness meditation is a practice that can be beneficial for many people looking to improve their emotional wellbeing but can also be particularly helpful for those who suffer from anxiety, stress, chronic pain, or just those looking to create more mental resilience, or spiritual growth.

Mindfulness meditation is a practice that helps us to become more aware of the present moment in a calm and non-judgmental way. This process involves becoming more aware of your thoughts, feelings, body sensations, and continually coming back to the present moment, as many times as you need.

There is no such thing as being bad at meditating. Meditating is a simple concept, but can be challenging at times. That’s okay. The goal of mindfulness meditation is not necessarily to clear your mind completely, but rather to observe yourself with curiosity and compassion when attempting to focus on the present moment.

Through this process you will learn more about what you feel or what you may need moment to moment, and you will build upon your ability to control your monkey mind instead of it controlling you. Overall this practice will decrease anxiety, create more calm, improve stress, and improve focus.