If your past is heavy or complicated, know that I am okay and will be able to hold it with you. Traumatic experiences occur when an event happens in a way that is too big, too much, and too fast for our nervous systems to handle and process like we would during a “typical” stressful experience. If you find yourself experiencing big emotional or physical responses when you are reminded of a situation from the past or needing to work really hard to avoid thinking or feeling any type of way about it, this might be a sign that your brain and body haven’t been fully able to process a traumatic event that has happened to you.

Additionally, for those who grew up in environments where overwhelming and upsetting events happened continually or in a way that almost felt “normal,” impacts of these dynamics might have seeped into even bigger parts of your life and your identity – the way you see and feel about yourself, deal with day-to-day stress, form relationships with other people, and more.

Traumatic events and our reactions to them tend to make us feel overwhelmed, powerless, and isolated. But traumatic events happen TO us and do not need to be an intrinsic part of who we are. Together, we can work at a pace that feels both safe and challenging-in-a-good way to manage your reactions, process the past, and figure out who the heck YOU actually are in the process. This is some of my very favorite work to do in therapy with my clients!

The Religious Trauma Institute defines an “Adverse Religious Experience” as “any experience of a religious belief, practice, or structure that undermines an individual's sense of safety or autonomy and/or negatively impacts their physical, social, emotional, relational, or psychological well-being.” Research indicates that events like this can lead people to have experiences or symptoms that are similar to what you might expect from any other traumatic event.

I have both personal experience with and specialized therapeutic training in religious trauma and spiritual abuse. Religion and spirituality are areas that many feel hesitant to address in therapy, but religious and spiritual experiences can shape so much of who we are, how our brains work, and how fulfilling life feels—in ways that can range from incredibly empowering to deeply harmful. I welcome examining your relationship with religion and spirituality, whether you are experiencing confusion, hurt, guilt, anger, gratitude, numbness, or any other combination of feelings about it. Let’s go there together, in a way that is nonjudgmental, exploratory, and paced by you.

I have loved working with teens from the moment I finished graduate school and started practicing therapy, and I have specialized experience working with adolescents who have experienced trauma, deal with behaviors or habits that feel out of control, or feel isolated and alone. I believe that, just like anyone else, teens deserve autonomy & privacy in order for therapy to “work.” I also believe that a teen’s support system is a pivotal and important part of making changes happen. When I work with teens and their families, we make a careful plan for how to collaborate with support systems while providing the privacy and agency that all clients deserve. I also highly encourage caregivers of my teen clients to participate in their own therapy!

Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing (EMDR) Therapy is an evidence-based method for processing experiences that may have been traumatic, cause heightened anxiety, or have unhelpfully shaped the ways you think and feel. It uses a combination of body-based and cognitive strategies to digest/organize memories and concepts that have felt intimidating to process. I have completed EMDR Basic Training 1 & 2 and will be participating in further consultations to receive EMDR certification. This means that I am qualified to use this therapy model to help my clients with their processing. If you are not sure whether EMDR is for you, that’s okay! We can explore if this is a therapy approach that makes sense for you with zero pressure. You can read up on and learn more about EMDR here: https://www.emdria.org/