We will all experience trauma, this is a fact of life. Each one of us will experience a moment that is too much, too fast, too soon. We don’t have to know when or how or what this experience is. Our body naturally responds to trauma with stress activating a hormonal response of adrenaline and cortisol to protect our life. When trauma is compounded over time, stress can become chronic creating a toxicity that results in limitations to our well-being including physical ailments, chronic health issues, mental health conditions, and interpersonal difficulties. This is a stress injury. We don’t have to guess at what we are treating through a pathological lens as an abundance of research demonstrates that stress is at the root of a multitude of health conditions.

A non-pathologizing approach holds space and curiosity for a nuanced view of the complexities and landscape of your human experience for greater capacity to get at the source of your symptoms. In this approach there is space, presence, and time for emergence and exploration as it arises within you. The very nature of trauma is abrupt for this reason we move slowly to restore connection to choice and personal agency. This supports a bottom-up perspective to therapy partnering with both the body and mind for longevity, cohesion, and recovery. 

I view our therapeutic relationship similar to a professional partnership, we are colleagues in the process of your healing and recovery. While I bring along perspective of advanced training, experience, and education in the mental health field, you are always the expert of your experience. Our work together will evolve at a pace that feels right for you to establish a trusting and comprehensive framework befitting to your goals and needs. Side-by-side, we will navigate your experience through the Healing Our Core Issues (HOCI) model, somatic practices such as Somatic Experiencing® (SE) and Transforming the Experience-based Brain (TEB), and Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing (EMDR) as appropriate along with other modalities as my practice and your goals and needs evolve and expand.

I complete a comprehensive developmental assessment with each individual I partner with. This establishes the foundation of our work together and allows for a robust frame of reference guiding all lanes of personalized intervention. 

I am a trauma therapist specializing in developmental and relational trauma through an experiential relational approach. My training and the foundation of my therapeutic work is grounded in Polyvagal Theory, Attachment Theory, and Neurobiology influenced by the work of Stephen Porges, Deb Dana, John Bowlby, Phillip Shaver, Allan Schore, Peter Levine, Eugene Gendlin, Dan Siegel, Francine Shapiro, Pia Mellody, Stephen Terrell, Jan Bergstrom, Rick Butts, Maureen Gallagher, Terrence Real, and many others. 

Should you find yourself curious to know more, I encouraged exploration of the following books:

• Nurturing Resilience by Kathy Kain and Stephen Terrell

• Anchored by Deb Dana

• Gifts From A Challenging Childhood by Jan Bergstrom

• In An Unspoken Voice by Peter Levine

• Focusing by Eugene Gendlin

I commit myself to over 100 hours of training and education annually. With a steadfast commitment to effective practices, a holistic approach, and comprehensive treatment, I find that this commitment to learning ensures that my knowledge and your care remain aligned with scientific advances in the mental health and wellness field. 

Right now, I’m actively training in Somatic Experiencing® (SE), a three-year intensive program for healing trauma and stress stored in the nervous system aiming to resolve dysregulation or patterns of fight, flight, freeze through naturalistic body-oriented intervention. Additionally, I am completing Transforming The Experience-Based Brain (TEB) for a second time to enrich my established learnings and deepen integration of this framework into my practice. I’m also spending time with Inner Relationship Focusing (IRF) as well as completing certification in EMDR.