Therapy for Trauma
Trauma can leave you feeling stuck, overwhelmed, disconnected, or always on edge. I offer depth-oriented, trauma-informed therapy virtually across California, with EMDR and somatic work when helpful.You overreact to small things and then feel ashamed of how intense your reaction felt.
You struggle to trust people, even when you want closeness, and you’re always waiting for the other shoe to drop.
You’re hyperaware of other people’s moods and needs, automatically scanning the room and adjusting yourself to keep the peace.
You live with an inner critic that is relentless, no matter how much you do or accomplish.
You feel stuck in a cycle of high anxiety and overdrive (fight/flight) or checked out and numb (freeze/dissociation).
You find yourself repeating familiar dynamics in relationships—feeling unseen, too much, or like you’re always the one holding things together.
Parts of your story still feel confusing, unreal, or easier to minimize than to name.
How trauma may be showing up in your life
You may not think of your experience as trauma, especially if nothing outwardly dramatic happened. But you may recognize yourself in some of these patterns:
“Healing is about reclaiming our power and rewriting our future.”
Trauma is not only about what happened to you. It is also about what your mind and body had to do to survive it. Even when the danger has passed, your system may still respond as if it needs to brace, scan, shut down, or stay on alert.
These reactions can grow out of a single overwhelming event or from more chronic experiences like neglect, instability, criticism, or living without enough safety and attunement. What once helped you survive may now be showing up as anxiety, overresponsibility, mistrust, numbness, or a constant sense of threat.
In therapy, we work to understand these patterns with care rather than judgment, so they begin to loosen their grip and you can feel more grounded, connected, and alive in your life.
Trauma doesn’t always look like “Big T” events
When we hear the word “trauma,” many of us think of accidents, assaults, or disasters. Those experiences absolutely count, but they aren’t the only ones that leave a mark.
You may find yourself saying, “Other people had it worse,” or “It wasn’t that bad.” Meanwhile, your body and relationships tell a different story.
Trauma can also come from:
Growing up around emotional volatility, criticism, or instability
Being the “responsible one” in a family where adults weren’t fully available
Chronic emotional neglect—no one really seeing or responding to your inner world
Long-term relational pain, betrayal, or feeling like love is conditional
Healing from trauma is not about staying stuck in the past. It is about helping your mind and body recognize that what once felt necessary for survival is no longer the only way to live. Our work may include
OUR PROCESS
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We start by identifying the specific triggers, relationship loops, and limiting beliefs that are showing up in your life right now and understanding how your past may be "leaking" into your present.
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We help your body move out of survival mode and into a steadier, grounded state. Using EMDR and somatic-informed care to create the physiological safety necessary to process and integrate stored distress.
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We work to take the emotional charge out of past experiences that are still "live" in your system. This helps your brain finally file them away as things that happened in the past and stop influencing your life in the present.
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Trauma often leaves behind deeply rooted beliefs of shame, self-doubt, or not being safe, wanted, or enough. In therapy, we work to understand where those beliefs came from and gradually loosen their hold, so you can relate to yourself with more steadiness, clarity, and self-trust
How we can work together
I offer depth-oriented trauma therapy for adults across California, with EMDR and somatic work when it’s a good fit. My approach is relational, thoughtful, and paced with care, helping you move beyond survival patterns and toward a steadier, more grounded way of living.
This work may be a good fit if you’re ready to understand the roots of what you’re carrying, build more safety in your nervous system, and relate to yourself with greater clarity, compassion, and trust.
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Trauma is less about a specific event and more about the imprint it leaves when an experience overwhelms your ability to cope, and your system has to adapt quickly to keep you safe. That can come from one event or from years of more subtle emotional injuries.
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You don’t need a clear, dramatic story for your experience to matter. Many people I work with have trouble naming what happened, but they feel the effects in anxiety, shame, relationship patterns, or a sense of being “too much” or “not enough.” Part of our work is gently making sense of that together.
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No. We move at a pace that feels manageable. Trauma therapy isn’t about forcing disclosures; it’s about creating enough safety that the pieces of your story that need attention can emerge in their own time.
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When it’s appropriate and you’re interested, we can incorporate EMDR to help your nervous system process stuck memories or beliefs. We’ll discuss what that looks like and whether it feels right for you before we begin.
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Everyone’s process is different. Some people come in focused on one specific event or relationship; others are working through a longer history. We’ll talk about your goals and check in along the way so your therapy feels purposeful and responsive to what you’re noticing.
Frequently Asked Questions
If you recognize yourself in any of this and are curious about trauma therapy, I offer a free 15–20 minute consultation so you can get a feel for what it’s like to talk with me, ask questions, and see whether this space feels like the right fit for the work you want to do.