Trauma Therapy for Adults

Your past doesn’t have to define you.

Serving Arizona, California, & Idaho

 

“I don’t recognize myself.”

“I don’t feel like I can relax in my relationships.”

“I’m constantly on edge.”

“I get upset over the smallest things.”

 

Painful past experiences can leave lasting impacts—even if we didn’t realize how painful they were at the time.

You might be seeing these impacts in your relationships, feeling like you can’t trust the people closest to you or isolating yourself even though you truly desire connection. Sometimes the impacts are in our physical bodies: difficulty sleeping, upset stomach or headaches, or feeling constantly on edge.

These may be things you’ve been living with for a long time.  You might have tried other strategies or even gone to therapy before to help address them…but they keep coming back up. You have a sense that something from your past is still at play, and you’re ready to address it at its source.

Trauma looks different for everyone.

I understand that the word “trauma” can sometimes be jarring; if you feel like your experience doesn’t meet some kind of standard for pain, you might discount it as “not serious enough.” But that fact is: if it felt traumatic, it was traumatic. And if you’re still experiencing the effects of it today, therapy can be a powerful tool to help you move forward.

I specialize in working with a variety of different kinds of trauma, including:

  • Natural disasters

  • Sexual abuse (childhood and adult)

  • Non-consensual sexual experiences

  • Developmental or relational trauma, including neglect

  • Social injustices or discrimination

  • Near-death experiences

  • Sports injuries or surgical recovery

  • Military or first responder experiences

  • Vicarious trauma in helping professionals

How EMDR therapy works

Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing (EMDR) is a holistic form of therapy used to decrease the effects of painful memories and experiences. Using tapping or eye movements, EMDR bridges both sides of your brain in order to desensitize the feelings and emotions you’re experiencing, helping your brain to reprocess and re-store the memories.

EMDR is an incredibly powerful form of therapy, and one of the best parts is you don’t have to rehash the details of what you’ve been through. You don’t even have to share them with me if you don’t want to. This method taps into your brain’s own abilities to heal itself; I’m simply here as a guide on that process.

When you’re able to sit with and work through the impacts of your past, they begin to lose their power over you.

You begin to feel like you can move forward, like you can respond differently to the people you love, like you can thrive in spite of what you’ve experienced. EMDR can help make that a reality.

Additional Methods

Brainspotting

Brainspotting can help rebalance your nervous system, decrease that feeling of constant overdrive, and process & release stored emotional stress.

Somatic Experiencing

Your body sends many messages when you are anxious or burnt out. SE will help you connect to your body and access greater empathy for yourself.

Your past is a part of you. But it doesn’t define you.

 
 

Common questions about EMDR & trauma therapy

 

  • There is no way to “measure” trauma. It may be tempting to think what you’ve experienced isn’t “bad enough” to “qualify” as trauma, but there is no black and white criteria for what it is or is not.

    Sometimes trauma occurs and when we didn’t even realize at the time that’s what it was. If you’ve experienced something in your past that’s affected your sense of safety, confidence, or joy—and if those things are showing up in your day-to-day life—then it can be described as trauma.

  • Talk therapy can be a wonderful tool to begin confronting the effects of trauma. However, research shows us that trauma is actually stored in our bodies. When this goes unaddressed, it can be difficult to truly move forward from the past.

    I’m trained in holistic, body-based methods that target not only the thoughts, feelings, and emotions you’re experiencing as a result of trauma, but also where it’s stored in your physical body. This can result in deeper, more complete healing.

  • It’s incredibly important that you feel comfortable with your therapist. Click this link to schedule a free consultation with me and have a chance to decide if we’ll be a good fit. I’ll answer any questions you have and, if we’re a good match, we’ll book your first appointment and begin our work together. (And if we’re not, I’ll gladly refer you to another clinician who might be!)

More questions? Check out my FAQs page.