In our work I will let you define what you have experienced in whatever way feels most authentic to you. I will never tell you that something isn’t “traumatic” if you define your experience in that way. We will work together to understand how those experiences have shaped your current ways of thinking and behaving, in contrast to how you would like to think and behave. 

I will work with you to develop a safe, therapeutic space in which you can come as your authentic self and feel as though your experiences are heard, seen, and validated. I treat trauma from a Phase-Oriented, evidence-based approach, which prioritizes healthy coping, emotional processing, and integration with the life you are already living in order to achieve the life you hope to live. 

I emphasize the belief that your responses to trauma have been your brain’s best attempts at keeping you safe from situations that you had no blueprint for navigating. Those attempts may have helped you survive in unfathomable circumstances, but unfortunately those old means of coping may not fit into your current life and quite often result in more harm than good at this time. By partnering with your brain in this way, we are able to help you access compassion for yourself, while learning new ways to respond to triggers.