Erica Kittleson LISW-S, PMH-C

I see all genders, but much of my work has been focused on women, including the impact hormones have on our mental health throughout our lives. I bring a feminist perspective to my work and we can talk about the systemic problems with patriarchy and ways that living in a patriarchal society hurts us all.

Throughout my professional career I have worked with survivors of trauma. Before graduate school I volunteered with a sexual assault prevention organization answering the helpline and attending outreach events. I have worked with survivors of recent traumas and survivors of long ago traumas.

While postpartum is often thought to end at 6 months to 1 year after birth; I enjoy working with parents at any point in their parenting journey. Each parenting stage has its difficulties and parents are deserving of support throughout their experience. I am a parent of two teens, which is a very different experience than the newborn months.

I'm trained in EMDR since 2020 and am continuing to get additional training and consultation in how to incorporate EMDR as a way to help. I am intrigued and interested in exploring ego states and parts from a parts informed perspective, but am not IFS trained.

I've been working with an ACT lens for several years and like the way it blends well with other modalities. I appreciate the focus on being open to the experiences and emotions and working to reduce our avoidance. It is value focused and I find the exploration of our values as helpful, especially when we can see how those values guide our activities. When we are living and working in systems that aren't aligned with our values, we are going to have increased symptoms of depression and anxiety.

I took this training with Dan Siegel in 2024. I enjoy looking at the neurobiology behind our attachments and diving deeper into our attachment strategies as a way to help us be able to engage in supportive and healthy relationships.

I have worked with survivors of trauma throughout my career, with a specific focus on sexual assault survivors. I work from a trauma informed lens and we will look at how various adverse events and situations have caused trauma responses. In addition to PTSD, I work with complex trauma responses from development and attachment trauma in childhood and throughout life.