Individual Therapy

EMDR is a psychotherapy that enables people to heal from the symptoms and emotional distress that are the result of disturbing life experiences.

EMDR therapy shows that the mind can in fact heal from psychological trauma much as the body recovers from physical trauma.  When you cut your hand, your body works to close the wound.  If a foreign object or repeated injury irritates the wound, it festers and causes pain.  Once the block is removed, healing resumes.  EMDR therapy demonstrates that a similar sequence of events occurs with mental processes.  The brain’s information processing system naturally moves toward mental health.  If the system is blocked or imbalanced by the impact of a disturbing event, the emotional wound festers and can cause intense suffering.  Once the block is removed, healing resumes. 

Using the detailed protocols and procedures learned in EMDR therapy training sessions, clinicians help clients activate their natural healing processes.

Dialectical Behavior Therapy is a skills-based approach to psychotherapy that includes aspects of mindfulness and cognitive behavioral therapy. 

The word “dialectical” refers to this therapy’s focus on learning to balance and tolerate opposites, with the goal of releasing attachment to black-and-white thinking. The philosophical foundation of dialectics underlies DBT therapy, which strives to help individuals accept present realities while also working toward change.

Dialectical Behavior Therapy (DBT) includes talk therapy and skills training. Skills training areas include:

• Mindfulness: How to be present in the moment and see yourself and the world around you in a non-judgmental way.

• Distress tolerance: How to cope with unpleasant situations and emotions in healthy ways.

• Interpersonal effectiveness: How to interact with other people thoughtfully and resolve conflicts effectively.

• Emotional regulation: How to name your emotions as they occur and manage your reactions to them.

The central idea of attachment theory is that humans are born with a biological drive to develop a deep emotional bond with their caregiver – a bond that extends beyond having basic physical needs met.

The security of our early relationships can go on to influence our psychological wellbeing and relationships later in life. Children who do not have close, secure emotional bonds are more likely to go on to experience difficulties in the future.These difficulties may include:

• Regulating our emotions

• Solving problems

• Relationships

• Coping skills

I draw on attachment theory to understand a client's maladaptive coping strategies and any underlying needs, and teach more adaptive strategies while working to heal attachment wounds.

Polyvagal theory is rooted in neuroscientific concepts of brain activation and brain signals. Polyvagal therapy posits that our bodies react physiologically and neurobiologically to heightened stress, especially in the face of perceived danger. Often, our body systems react to stressful situations by freezing. When in stressful situations, even if we don’t physically stop what we’re doing, our thoughts or emotions might become frozen and leave us with a numb feeling. The goal of polyvagal theory in therapy is to decrease this freezing response by activating the vagal system.

Chronic trauma, particularly in childhood through some form of ongoing abuse or emotional neglect, can lead to structural dissociation. Structural dissociation is a self-defense mechanism employed in situations where the survivor is not able to avoid the abuser and must instead live with them or interact with them regularly over long periods.

In this situation, the survivor can turn against themselves, creating a split that allows them to turn their anger, resentment, and hurt not against the person responsible but toward themselves. Anger transforms into unbearable guilt and shame, and a separate self (separate part) is necessary for survival. The structural dissociation of the personality will be more complex the greater the intensity, frequency, and duration of the traumatization and the earlier the trauma started in life.

Parts work therapy is precisely what it sounds like – a therapeutic approach designed to help clients deal with the different parts of themselves created through chronic trauma, eventually bringing a sense of peace and wholeness to the person.

Sensorimotor therapy is a body-centered talk therapy designed to address cognitive, emotional, and physical symptoms of trauma-related disorders. This therapy aims to help the client feel a sense of safety in their body when faced with reminders of past trauma.  

Sensorimotor therapy emphasizes mindfulness and awareness of the connection between the client’s mind and body.

Many clients recovering from traumatic events have found relief in sensorimotor techniques. Clients who have difficulty processing their trauma could benefit from body-centered approaches, which treat the physical responses to trauma and in turn alleviate cognitive and emotional challenges.

In order for sensorimotor therapy to be effective, the client must develop awareness and mindfulness of their body.