Sunnie Lumpkin

From the very beginning of our existence, we are continually shaped by our experiences. Our mind and our body make interpretations of events and store that data in both our implicit and explicit memory. These memories become our guide to how we interact with the world around us. Because so much of what we learn is our normal, we can get stuck in patterns that keep us unhappy, anxious and depressed. Attachment work focuses on finding the cause and then creating a new response.

Thoughts, feelings, and behaviors can sometimes feel like a ball of yarn, all tangled together, not knowing where the beginning, middle, or end is. CBT is best known for its practical approach to looking at both the source of our thoughts as well as the validity of those thoughts. The idea "we are not our thoughts" is a key concept to doing this type of work.

IFS is an approach used to treat attachment wounds as well as traumatized parts. IFS works in a different way than traditional talk therapies, in that, it requires both the therapist and client to do more internal work, getting familiar with emotions, i.e. how they feel in the body, and then identifying the story that is attached to those parts. IFS states that we are made up of an internal group of parts that serve us in adapting to day-to-day events.

The presentation of PTSD has evolved so much since its inception, we now see trauma as both a single episode and as repeated relational violations in which the affected did not have adequate resources to manage the emotional response. As a result, our body holds onto trauma, which can then lead to physical manifestations of both anxiety and depression. People who have experienced trauma and who are having symptoms for more than 30 days after the event, will benefit from therapy.

Attachment in it's essence is the impact our early relationships have on our current relationships and experiences. If we've been hurt, scared, shamed, humiliated by people who were our primary caretakers, our body stores that information as a way to protect us from future emotional or physical harm, resulting in either a hypervigilant response or a disconnected and shut down presence in the world. Looking at our attachment wounds, and setting them free, is the goal of this treatment style.

Living with anxiety can be debilitating, making the world small, taking away our free will, and leaving us with regret, shame and feelings of worthlessness. I see anxiety more as a symptom than a condition. I view it as our internal wisdom gone wild. Somewhere at some point in our life, we lost touch with our ability to know what safety looks like and feels like, we lost the ability to trust in life and those around us. Therapy can help you find your way back to that joyful part of you.

Attachment, in its essence, is the impact our early relationships have on our current relationships and experiences. If we've been hurt, scared, shamed, or humiliated by people who were our primary caretakers, our body stores that information as a way to protect us from future emotional or physical harm, resulting in either a hypervigilant response or a disconnected and shut down presence in the world. Looking at our attachment wounds, and setting them free, is the goal of this treatment style.