Individual Therapy

My approach to therapy is grounded in neurobiology and draws on many different theories, from both within the field of mental health therapy and other disciplines.  I am certified in a type of therapy called Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing (EMDR), which I use within a trauma therapy framework.  This does not mean I only use EMDR or only do trauma therapy.  EMDR was originally only used for trauma therapy, but it has now been shown to be effective for many different types of issues.  I also incorporate ideas and techniques from many other types of therapies into the EMDR work that I do with clients.  I think of EMDR and trauma therapy as the umbrella under which all of my work takes place.  I have found this approach to be very effective for most clients, even people who do not specifically want to work on trauma issues or who do not even self-identify as trauma survivors.

 

I am more than just “trauma-informed” or “grief-informed.”  My specialty training and focus on trauma and grief creates a lens through which I see and think about all client situations.  I have come to believe many of the problems that bring people into therapy have some connection to unresolved issues related to trauma and/or grief.  If you wanted to work on anxiety, for example, we would explore your history to understand where the anxiety started, and often what we find is that the roots of the anxiety are wrapped around some type of unresolved trauma and/or grief issues.  These issues might be related to “big” traumas or losses, or they might not be.  You might not even know that you have had a trauma or a loss at all.  However, when we figure out what the trauma and/or grief issues are and address them, the anxiety typically resolves.  This is just one example (anxiety), and the same approach can be applied to other goals as well.