Jenny Larson (she/her)

When we experience trauma of any kind, parts of us step in to protect us. In the moment, we need those parts and they may even be crucial to our survival. Once we’re through the trauma, those protective parts might start getting in the way. They might feel like anxiety, self-criticism, depression, or the need to be perfect, and they might interfere with our ability to form connections with others. Therapy can help us honor those former survival strategies and help us get unstuck.

Families can be complex. We’re taught that families should be a source of unconditional support, but what if they aren’t? It can be hard to give up hope that they’ll ever be who you need them to be. You might feel like you’ve exhausted all options and don’t know where to go from here with members of your family. You might feel guilt around the way things have worked out. Therapy can help you decide what to do with the feelings you feel and find ways to move forward that are right for you.

Our brains work hard to keep us safe and feeling like we belong, but sometimes those strategies cause more harm than good and keep us from living the life we want. Anxiety can feel exhausting as we constantly try to get rid of or ignore thoughts and feelings that aren’t helping, but find that we can’t get rid of them. Therapy can provide a safe space to explore those thoughts and feelings that we can’t avoid, so that we can truly let go of them and move forward in the life we want to be living.

The mind can often heal itself naturally, in the same way as the body does. Much of this natural coping mechanism occurs during sleep, particularly during rapid eye movement (REM) sleep. Francine Shapiro developed Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing (EMDR) in 1987, utilizing this natural process in order to successfully treat PTSD. Since then, EMDR has been used to effectively treat a wide range of mental health issues. I am EMDR Certified by the EMDR International Association.

Attachment-based therapy specifically targets those thoughts, feelings, communications, behaviors, and interpersonal exchanges that clients have learned either to suppress and avoid or to amplify and overemphasize because of early attachment experiences. Attachment theory helps us examine early experiences with caregivers in order to better understand how strategies and patterns developed and heal from those early relationships so that we can build the relationships we want in our life now.

IFS is a way of looking at the different parts that make up each one of us. When we get to know those parts, both the protective ones and the ones that are hurting, we can help them heal. IFS helps us get to know our Self and understand the capacity our Self has to heal those parts and let the protectors move on to find other jobs.

Our brains work hard to keep us safe and feeling like we belong, but sometimes those strategies cause more harm than good and keep us from living the life we want. Anxiety can feel exhausting as we constantly try to get rid of or ignore thoughts and feelings that aren’t helping, but find that we can’t get rid of them. Therapy can provide a safe space to explore those thoughts and feelings that we can’t avoid, so that we can truly let go of them and move forward in the life we want to be living.