Bryan Owens LMHC

As we grow and our brain develops, we become who we are in the context of others. We learn how to attach and gain approval, belonging, and value by appeasing parents, peers, and other essential adults like teachers. If we experience abuse or neglect in our childhood, we become people who abuse and neglect ourselves within. Therapy is a healing relationship we can utilize to help you develop secure attachment and transform yourself and your relationships.

There are very few places in our lives where are truest selves are accepted or embraced. We learn how to hide the parts of ourselves we are not proud of or that others will not understand. But those parts never go away and they can haunt us and even become forms of self-sabotage. The therapy space can be the one place you can go where all of your parts are not only accepted, but are engaged as vital parts to achieving wholeness, healing, and wellness.

When we experience trauma, which is a more common and ordinary experience than we realize, our brains are unable to process the traumatic material. Through neurobiological research, we know that in a trauma state, the brain stores trauma in the midbrain, which makes it difficult to heal and process traumatic material through talk therapy alone. I offer brainspotting to help put the brain into a position where it can heal itself of the traumatic symptoms.

Depression is a natural process of healing and is a primary feature of grief. We live in a society that is obsessed with pharmaceutical intervention to medicate away the symptoms of depression. But this can leave us numbed out and fragmented and unable to live our lives fully. If pharmaceutical intervention is necessary, research repeatedly shows that medication in combination with talk therapy is the most beneficial way to heal from depression and return to your full self.

Many types of therapy can approach individuals in an overly scientific way, regarding mental health primarily through diagnoses and treatment strategies. In addition to being trained psychoanalytically, I have also been theologically trained to account for the spiritual dimension that plays a role in the process of healing. Whatever your spiritual orientation is, even if you are atheist, I offer an integrated approach to support your healing journey.

As we grow, our brains develop by the relationships that show us how to attach to others. Many of us become a person by learning what adults and peers expect of us, and attempting to meet those expectations to gain approval and belonging. This can leave us fragmented and uncertain of our authentic selves. Therapy can be a place where you can develop secure attachment to transform yourself and the relationships in your life.