MY APPROACH​

My approach to counseling is centered on relationship and is a mixture of Top-Down and Bottom-Up approaches to trauma treatment.

How we see and feel about ourselves and the world is influenced by key moments in relationship from the time we are born to the present. We form secure or insecure attachments with our early caregivers that impact how we participate in relationships as an adult. This is what is known as attachment theory. As part of our work together, I will invite you to be curious about early caregiver/attachment relationships in order to explore messages taken in through those frequent ongoing interactions.

The relationship you form with me, as your therapist, will assist you in better understanding your attachment style and how early experiences have impacted you. This time, while entering into painful or scary moments of your stories, you will have a compassionate witness to walk with you. I will help you to name stories that need to be grieved and wrestled with so you can consider participating in relationships differently. This approach to therapy is considered a "top-down" approach to treating trauma. it's focused more on cognitive processing and is considered a typical element of talk therapy.

For those who have experienced trauma and abuse, it is common to often be disconnected from one's own body and emotional world. it can be tempting to regularly stay in an intellectual or "head space" rather than be aware of bodily responses, triggers, or deeper emotions. This can keep us from connecting the stories we are telling to actual feelings and sensations that are normal when experiencing something overwhelming or harmful. My approach invites clients to begin knowing what is going on inside their bodies when telling their stories. I utilize EMDR as a "bottom-up" approach to treating trauma, which aids in processing through what has been stored in the brain and body as a result of trauma.  See video on the top right of this page to better understand differences between Top Down & Bottom Up approaches.

Below is a graphic most known as the "Window of Tolerance". It shows what happens in our bodies when we are overwhelmed or triggered. Also shown are trauma responses of fight, flight, freeze, and fawn. It's important to become aware of these responses, especially in therapy sessions, in order to learn best how to regulate our nervous systems in order to help our bodies feel safe. When we feel safe, we can enter back into the work of growth and healing.