About Therapy

“Courage isn’t about knowing the path, it’s about taking the first step.” – Katie Davis

Getting started: Here’s how we’ll do it…

After our initial phone consultation and once we have decided that I am a good fit to help you, we will schedule our first session. Then I will email you a link to complete your intake paperwork.

When you arrive at our first session, I will greet you and get you settled in with a bottle of water or some hot tea. After reviewing some of the paperwork you completed online, we’ll get started.

Opening the door for you to tell me more…

I’ll then invite you to tell me more about what has brought you in to therapy, what is weighing heavy on your heart, holding you back, and keeping you stuck.

Many of the clients that I work with feel stuck because of experiences from their past. These are the memories that you often try hard to forget – attempting to push them out of your mind.

You may be feeling irritable, anxious, on edge, and having a hard time sleeping (perhaps even having nightmares).

You can feel it in your gut…

Every time you think of it, you cringe and tell yourself it was “no big deal… lots of people go through things… I should get it together.” Feeling like you can’t escape the trauma.

There are many ways we can experience trauma – be it from a one-time major incident, like a severe car crash, or relational traumas, such as domestic violence or physical, sexual, emotional abuse, or neglect in childhood.

These traumas, whether they are little “t” (smaller relational traumas) or big “T” (major) traumas, affect how we view ourselves and our relationships.

Childhood traumas impact our sense of safety and capacity to form close emotional relationships in adulthood – perhaps leaving you feeling depressed, causing problems at work, and never feeling fully alive.

We bring these experiences into our relationships as adults which can leave us in relationships that feel empty, distant and unfulfilling – or with so much conflict that it feels like you can’t stand another minute.

I will have lots of questions for you: how you spend your day, what your work is like, your family, your friends… even how you eat and sleep! You will set the pace, and I promise that nothing you can say will surprise or shock me – and you will never be judged.

Supporting you as we get to work…

Once I have a thorough understanding of what brings you in for therapy: the big or small traumas, the stresses of life and relationship, the losses and grievances… we will collaboratively choose your most important goals and get to work.

Together, we will unravel the patterns, behaviors, and painful experiences that are keeping you feeling unfulfilled, unheard, and hurting.

We’ll develop new skills, heal trauma, and build healthy, fulfilling relationships.

Helping you heal…

I help clients heal from trauma using attachment-focus EMDR.

The first step is meeting you where you are in order to foster a sense of safety and trust, and nurture the therapeutic relationship to facilitate healing.

During this phase of therapy, I use a client-centered approach where the client does most of the talking. I will not judge or try to interpret what you say, but I may restate your words to fully understand your thoughts and feelings.

When you are ready, the next phase is EMDR – Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing. The main concept behind EMDR is that it uses eye movements and other types of bilateral movements and bilateral stimulation to help someone process disturbing thoughts.

Bilateral stimulation can be visual, auditory, or tactile (touch); “bilateral stimulation” is a rhythmic left-right pattern that works by alternately stimulating the right and left sides of your brain. It is a safe technique that has a relaxation effect, decreasing anxiety. As you progress through EMDR, your thoughts become less “stuck” on whatever is bothering you, the problem seems smaller and further away, and you will experience decreased worry.

EMDR is the most highly researched form of therapy to date and has been proven time and again in clinical studies to be very effective for most people.

I would be honored to walk with you on this journey…

Therapy takes courage, and I will be here to support you every step of the way.

I will guide you with compassion, understanding, and empathy.

I will be honest with you, and I will be your biggest cheerleader.

Give me a call today, and let’s take that first step together: (805) 556-5532