Trauma often creates a sense of fragmentation, leaving us feeling disconnected from ourselves, from our bodies, or from the parts of us that once felt steady and alive. I believe we are all born whole, and that the capacity to heal and return to that wholeness is innate.

Trauma is also held in the body. When difficult experiences remain unresolved, they can show up as physical tension, emotional overwhelm, or symptoms that resemble anxiety or depression. These reactions aren’t signs of brokenness; they are signs that the body has been working hard to protect you.

I like to imagine this innate wholeness as a seed. Adverse conditions such as trauma may cause the feeling of wholeness to lie dormant, waiting beneath the surface. With the right sunlight and water, meaning attention, care, and compassion, that seed begins to awaken again. I am here to help you identify and strengthen the healing resources you already carry so you can build resilience that will support you throughout your life.

I use compassion-focused and evidence-based methods to help people heal from trauma, such as EMDR and Internal Family Systems. 

EMDR Therapy

EMDR (Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing) is a powerful, research-backed therapy that helps people heal from trauma and other overwhelming life experiences. Unlike traditional talk therapy, EMDR helps your brain reprocess difficult memories so they no longer feel as distressing, intrusive, or “stuck".

EMDR is for anyone who feels burdened by past experiences or has strong emotional reactions that seem hard to control. It is especially supportive if you:

• Have experienced trauma, loss, or abuse

• Struggle with anxiety, panic, or intrusive thoughts

• Feel stuck in old patterns or negative self-beliefs (“I’m not safe,” “I’m not good enough”)

• React strongly to situations that remind you of the past, even if you you don’t fully understand why

How EMDR Works:

In EMDR, we identify a memory, emotion, belief, or body sensation that feels difficult. While you hold this experience in mind, I will guide you through bilateral stimulation, which are gentle left-right movements such as eye movements, tapping, or alternating tones.

These rhythmic patterns help your brain process the memory more effectively, similar to what naturally happens during REM sleep. As this processing unfolds:

• the memory becomes less emotionally charged

• the body’s stress response softens

• new, more adaptive beliefs begin to take hold

You will still remember what happened, but it will no longer feel as raw, overwhelming, or defining.

Over time, people often report feeling calmer, more grounded, and better able to see themselves and their experiences with compassion and perspective.

Internal Family Systems (IFS) "Parts Work"

You might sometimes notice that a "part" of you wants or feels something, and another "part" might want or feel the exact opposite. These parts might cause internal confusion or even conflict. Some parts of us are qualities we really like about ourselves, or they get positive feedback from colleagues and partners. Other parts might feel very extreme, not "like us" at all, and cause destruction in our lives. 

In Internal Family Systems, the underlying assumption is that there is a core "self" that is creative, confident, compassionate, and untouched by trauma. I like to compare it to that silent "witness" part of us talked about in Buddhism and yogic philosophy. Surrounding that core self are all sorts of parts that have come about through different times and experiences in our lives.  These "parts" work hard to protect us from pain and feeling significant emotional wounds caused by trauma. Another key tenant is that there are no bad parts. They are just trying to help. I love this because it is so anti-pathological, and I believe in it strongly from my experience in working with trauma.

Most parts are functional. They manage our day-to-day lives, and engage in behaviors such as planning, controlling, caretaking, pleasing, etc. Other parts are called "firefighters" - these are the ones that take over when the "managers" aren't working. These tend to be more extreme and are often why people who have a trauma background seek therapy. Firefighters can be self-harm, emotional outbursts, shutting down, panic, substance use, etc. Then there are the exiles - the parts of us that hold trauma and feel like grief, rage, shame, etc. that we cast away from our conscious mind.  

Through parts work, we can untangle and get to know the different parts of you and help soothe them so that can become less extreme and cause less suffering for you. We can help them to work together and not against each other or against you.  Oftentimes, when the wound is healed, people find that their protective parts are free to engage in more productive pursuits. In other words, significant psychic and emotional energy is free to go elsewhere, where you direct it, rather than being consumed by efforts to protect. People start feeling more in control of their lives, and less controlled by "symptoms".