Abuse

Abuse can be extremely difficult to bring up to your therapist and that's okay. You have control on when and how you want to open about this issue. I believe in creating safe space and having a connection with my clients is the start of the process.

Abuse of any kind leaves lasting, and often invisible, wounds. When untreated, these wounds get passed through generations and spread through relationships despite our best attempts to stop the cycle on our own. If you are taking steps to actively heal your own wounds, you are not only healing yourself, but honoring the generations both before and after you, and protecting the relationships surrounding you now.

I specialize in those who have experienced religious and or spiritual abuse or have left a high control group or cult.

I have worked extensively with survivors of all ages who have endured emotional, mental, spiritual, physical and sexual abuse. Often the abuse took place within the context of a relationship (e.g. parents, a trusted adult, family member or friend) resulting in sometimes severe struggles with trust of both themselves and others as well as self-worth and self-respect. I have walked along side many survivors to provide hope and healing.

I work with survivors of multiple types of abuse and people living with the impacts of these traumas.

Accelerated Resolution Therapy (ART) is a unique approach to psychotherapy. ART is unique because the ART Therapist guides the client to replace the negative images in the mind that cause the symptoms of Post-Traumatic Stress with positive images of the client’s choosing. And this is done quickly, most often within one session! Once the negative images have been replaced by positive ones, the triggers will be gone.

Training in Abuse and Trauma extends back to graduate school where I took a number of courses and also completed a practicum at a Center for abused children. Over the years, many of my clients worked on histories of trauma and abuse to get to a more healed and happier life.

My approach to therapy is trauma-informed and ensures that you will not feel re-traumatized while working on yourself in therapy sessions.

I've worked in the field of abuse for over 26 years. I have seen first hand how complicated and intertwined abuse and failure in adulthood are. Thanks to neurobiology and psychology technique advancement you can unlock all of that history and put it to rest. Make it a memory instead of a problem you face every day and struggle to overcome. Learning to trust yourself and the world is possible. Don't let the past dictate your future. You can take control of it.

Abuse messes with our brains and can even re-wire them. Trauma is your body doing its best to cope with abnormal, stressful, or long-lasting negative events, like abuse. Symptoms may include hyper-vigilance, nightmares, guilt, self-blame, becoming easily startled, isolation, decreased interests in activities, difficulty sleeping, flashbacks, forgetfulness, and panic. Although the trauma symptoms can be overwhelming, there is hope for healing.

Childhood trauma, emotional and physical neglect, bullying, violence and harassment, and the trauma of oppression experienced by BIPOC, LGBTQIA+, and disabled folx interpersonally, institutionally and systemically; the ways we learn to survive in traumatic environments and relationships prevent us from becoming our true selves and keep us from fully contributing as members of our human community. Healing requires restoring one's dignity and agency, as well as honoring one's vulnerability.

When the relationship with a caregiver represents trauma, lack of empathy and even cruelty, the implications last long past childhood. As an adult you may have dedicated yourself into work and/or your family in order to soothe that pain inside, yet something is still amiss. You struggle with self-worth and insecurity. In therapy, we can collaboratively work through that place of pain and loneliness towards a place of wholeness and connection. 

I specialize in working with individuals who have experienced trauma, especially childhood trauma. We also work to identify and heal from any abusive relationships which you have experienced currently or in your life previously.

I completed a concentration in trauma and abuse along with my degree. I am attuned to the way that sexual abuse, trauma, emotional & physical abuse impact our capacity to relate to others and trust ourselves. I am passionate about narrative-focused trauma care.

Narcissist dick or controlling, manipulative behaviors in others is not acceptable. Finding safety, security oh, and a place to fully express your feelings invaluable. I conduct ongoing support groups for like-minded people in toxic relationships with unpredictable partners.