What I Specialize In

Trauma can come from many different sources in our life and isn’t always obvious. Trauma can come from:

An unstable or unsafe environment

Separation from a parent

Serious illness

Intrusive medical procedures

Sexual, physical, or verbal abuse

Domestic violence

Neglect

Witnessing accidents, war or other traumas

Cognitive:

Intrusive thoughts of the event that may occur out of the blue

Nightmares

Visual images of the event

Loss of memory and concentration abilities

Disorientation

Confusion

Mood swings

Behavioral:

Avoidance of activities or places that trigger memories of the event

Social isolation and withdrawal

Lack of interest in previously-enjoyable activities

Physical:

Easily startled

Tremendous fatigue and exhaustion

Edginess

Insomnia

Chronic muscle patterns

Sexual dysfunction

Changes in sleeping and eating patterns

Vague complaints of aches and pains throughout the body

Extreme alertness; always on the lookout for warnings of potential danger

Psychological:

Overwhelming fear

Obsessive and compulsive behaviors

Detachment from other people and emotions

Emotional numbing

Depression

Guilt – especially if one lived while others perished

Shame

Emotional shock

Disbelief

Irritability

Anger

Anxiety

Panic attacks

So you’ve got trauma, what do we do about it?

Obviously the answer to that question is going to vary on a case by case basis. Generally the plan is as follows:

Processing through the event- I know this sounds horrible and uncomfortable but processing through the event is where we start to take the power away from the trauma. I promise to make this as comfortable as possible and to go at your own pace. I frequently use Accelerated Resolution Therapy here to make this step more manageable.

Processing the emotions and symptoms related to this event. Whatever symptoms and feelings come up surrounding these traumas, we’ll work through them. Then we’ll move to working on emotional regulation (calming yourself if you become triggered) and desensitizing yourself to these triggers.

From there we can work through any other lasting impacts of trauma; such as guilt, low self-esteem, loss of trust and more. I’ll teach you coping skills and how to navigate the world with “trauma brain”.

Working through traumas, as you can see, is quite a process and sometimes it feels worse before it feels better because we have to revisit the bad stuff. I, unfortunately, see clients give up before the magic happens. So my biggest piece of advice is to stick it out and know that working on traumas is not a quick process.

Anxiety can impact our lives and hold us back from experiences and enjoying our life to its fullest potential. Anxiety sometimes looks like:

Feeling nervous, restless or tense

Having a sense of impending danger, panic or doom

Having an increased heart rate

Breathing rapidly (hyperventilation)

Sweating

Trembling

Feeling weak or tired

Trouble concentrating or thinking about anything other than the present worry

Having trouble sleeping

Experiencing gastrointestinal (GI) problems

Having difficulty controlling worry

Having the urge to avoid things that trigger anxiety

Anxiety sometimes manifests as generalized anxiety (feeling a bit anxious about everything all the time) or in ways that may look more like a specific phobia.

Either way, we’ll work to get to the root of the anxiety, give you coping skills and teach emotional regulation. Accelerated Resolution Therapy can also come into play to help in some cases. The idea is to lower the distress so that the anxiety no longer impacts your life or bothers you so much.

Grief work wasn’t something I intentionally got into or planned to focus my work on. However, I saw it coming up more and more as I took on trauma clients.

So often, grief is a trauma and impacts us accordingly. If you’ve experienced a loss that has left you feeling any of the ways listed in the trauma section, please reach out.

Remember that grief isn’t always just from someone passing, but can be a result of a relationship ending, infidelity, or loss of the future you had planned for yourself. Ambiguous loss, such as someone you expected to be part of your life being missing, is also a type of grief. Also, losing pets causes grief, something that is close to my heart as I have experienced it myself.

Maybe your relationship isn’t going the way you expected or you are feeling anxious or untrusting in your relationship. I’m here to help. Whether you’re seeking individual or couples counseling, things can improve with therapy.

I love helping people improve their relationships by teaching skills we simply are not taught anywhere else. I can provide education on communication, conflict resolution, love languages and more that are vital for healthy and lasting relationships.

If you feel you are struggling in your relationship because you feel anxious within it, or because you tend to push your partner away. These are classic examples of attachment issues. The more you understand about your attachment style and where it comes from, the more likely things are to improve. With psychoeducation and good old fashioned talk therapy, I can help you to work on your attachment style and find yourself in a happy, loving and healthy relationship.

I also have within the scope of relationships and attachment, assisted clients exiting and healing from narcissistic abuse.Item description

Although I listed a lot of issues I can help with above, I know not everyone needs help with those issues. We can also work on:

Depression

Stress

Life Transitions

Identity

Self-Esteem

Self-talk

Pessimistic Views

LGBTQ+ issues