Kimberly McGhee (She/her)

Sexual abuse is a term uses to describe any type of non-consensual sexual violence, including sexual assault or rape, child sexual abuse, and intimate partner sexual violence. Sexual violence can have lasting psychological, emotional, and physical effects on a survivor. Survivors will commonly feel a range of emotions, including shame, fear and guilt and may develop symptoms of depression, PTSD, addiction or anxiety.

PTSD is a mental health condition that's triggered by a traumatic, scary or dangerous event. PTSD can be caused by either witnessing or experiencing the trauma. Events that sometimes trigger PTSD include everything from sexual assault, war, and violence, to car accidents/other incidents that could cause loss of life. Symptoms of PTSD may include severe anxiety, anger, nightmares, trouble sleeping, flashbacks to the event, frightening thoughts, avoidance of situations or places, feeling on edge.

Grief and loss are a part of the human condition. Grief is typically considered to be brought on by the death of a loved one, but can also be triggered by any significant life-altering loss (such as a divorce or the loss of a job). Grief is a natural response to loss, but that doesn’t make it easy to deal with. Symptoms of grief may include sadness, loneliness, anger, denial, depression and a myriad of other thoughts and feelings.

EMDR (Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing) is a psychotherapy that enables people to heal from the symptoms and emotional distress that are the result of disturbing life experiences. Repeated studies show that by using EMDR therapy people can experience the benefits of psychotherapy that once took years to make a difference.

Art therapy is a tool therapists use to help patients interpret, express, and resolve their emotions and thoughts. Patients work with an art therapist to explore their emotions, understand conflicts or feelings that are causing them distress, and use art to help them find resolutions to those issues. Art therapy is a tool therapists use to help patients interpret, express, and resolve their emotions and thoughts.

Trauma therapy (also referred to as trauma-informed therapy or trauma-informed care), is a form of therapy specifically focused on helping someone cope with the emotional response caused by a traumatic event. Trauma therapy corrects untruths related to the trauma, reduces nightmares, allows the person to talk about the trauma without feeling anxious or scared, and reduces feelings of depression. In my practice, I use EMDR, TF-CBT, Forward Facing Trauma Therapy, and the Graphic Narrative.