About Therapy
Start Where You Are. You don’t have to figure it out before you walk in the room.
We start with what’s bringing you here today.We will figure out together what
might work best for you.
Providing Therapy for adults navigating
anxiety, depression, grief, relationships,
life transitions, and trauma healing –telehealth in Montana, Connecticut,
Florida, Idaho, New Mexico, and Vermont.
You may already know exactly what you want to focus on in our time together. You might have been in therapy before and have a solid sense of what feels helpful (or unhelpful). Or, you may simply know that something in your life isn’t working for you anymore.
You don’t need to decide whether you need EMDR, somatic work, or a different approach before we start. Think of those as options in our toolbox. They are things we can explore together along the way, not choices you have to make on your own before our first session.
We start with what’s bringing you here today. While the approach is always intentional, we don’t need a rigid, pre-mapped blueprint to begin. We will figure out together, step-by-step, what serves you best.
When Understanding Isn’t Always Enough
You can understand exactly why you respond the way you do, catch a protective reaction while it’s happening, and still find yourself stuck in a loop you wish you could change.
You might have a really good idea of why your body goes into overdrive, and exactly what sparked it in the first place. Maybe you even recognize it in real-time. And your nervous system can still go right ahead and do its thing, completely bypassing your logical mind.
You survived what happened…
but your nervous system
might be operating as though
you’re still living through it.
How we’re wired
We’re human, biological creatures wired for connection, safety, and survival. From the beginning, connection to other people is part of how we experience safety. When that sense of safety is disrupted, for any number of reasons, whether through trauma, loss, relationship fractures, or overwhelming environments when we’re young, our nervous system takes detailed notes and learns from it. It does exactly what it was designed to do: it finds a way to protect us, keep us connected, or help us endure what we cannot control.
How we adapt
And there’s something pretty remarkable about that. Our nervous systems are constantly learning and adapting, often without our having to consciously think about any of it. They help shape how we experience the world, connect with other people, respond to what’s happening around us, and make sense of our experiences.
Sometimes, what we’ve learned helps us navigate the world in ways that work well for us. Other times, responses that once helped us get through difficult times can continue showing up long after life has changed.
Then and now
What helped us survive then may not be what we need now. Long after your life circumstances have changed, your body may still react based on what it learned about danger, trust, and what it took to stay safe or simply survive.
That doesn’t mean you haven’t tried hard enough, or that you are doing something wrong. Your nervous system isn’t waiting for a better or more ‘logical’ explanation. It’s doing something it learned to do for an excellent reason at that time. And those responses aren’t wrong or bad…but maybe they’re just exhausting now when they are no longer needed.
What we do together
Part of our work together is making sense of how your past experiences are echoing into your present life. When you show up for session, we will just take things one step at a time, at your pace, working together so you can feel supported. We can pay close attention to what you’re noticing in your body, slow down automatic reactions, and work gently with the memories or physical stress holding you back.
We can’t always know ahead of time exactly what the work will look like…and you won’t be on this journey alone.
You will always have choices in how we move forward…and if something we’re doing doesn’t seem useful, we can try something else. There isn’t only one way to do this work!
What Might Bring Someone to Therapy?
You don’t need to know whether the word “trauma” fits your experience.
You may already know that trauma is a part of your story…or you might simply be
navigating intense anxiety or depression, a painful season of grief, or relationships
that feel draining and difficult.
Perhaps you’re dealing with something that happened recently, something from much earlier in your life, or carrying weights you’ve lived with for so long that they’ve simply become part of everyday life. The connection between what happened and what you’re experiencing now may be clear. Or it may not be. And sometimes there may not be a connection at all!
Whatever you are carrying,
you are welcome here.
Does It Count as Trauma? (And What Is Trauma, Anyway?)
Trauma isn’t defined only by what happened, but also by how it affected us and how it might be stored in our memories and our bodies.
It’s all too easy to think of trauma as a specific list of extreme events. We often assume if something doesn’t check one of those boxes, it “doesn’t count.” But what happened is only part of the picture. The exact same event can impact two people in entirely different ways.
At its most basic core, trauma can occur when an experience completely overwhelms our nervous system and our capacity to cope. What feels overwhelming depends entirely on the person, the moment, and the environment.
So, yes, what happened matters…but so do the resources you had going into it, the support available to you while it was happening, and the care you received afterward.
You never have to prove that what happened to you was “bad enough”
before we take seriously what it meant for you and how it shaped your life.
More Than Surviving
The goal is more than surviving. You’ve already done plenty of that. It’s about being able to truly live and building a life that feels genuinely your own.
This work isn’t only about healing from how you’ve been hurt.
Together, we’ll explore what you want and need now, what matters to you, and how your own best ways of being might look. And if you don’t even know what a life beyond survival looks like yet? That is completely okay…we can figure it out together.
Survival was necessary,
but it doesn’t have to be your only story!
When we no longer need to spend all our energy just surviving, we finally have the room to live.
Remember: the past makes up only part of our story…
there’s so much more.
Different Ways We Can
Do the Work
The lenses I work from
- Somatic Experiencing
- Polyvagal-informed approaches
- Parts work
- Narrative therapy
Specialized tools
- EMDR
- The Safe & Sound Protocol (SSP)
There isn’t a single approach that works for every individual.
Working from a trauma-informed perspective, grounded in somatic and nervous-system-based approaches, I draw from Somatic Experiencing, polyvagal-informed approaches, parts work, and narrative therapy. These are the lenses that shape how I understand you, your story, and how I show up for you in the room. Additionally, I utilize EMDR and the Safe & Sound Protocol (SSP) as specialized tools that can help retrain and settle a hyper-vigilant nervous system.
Let’s figure out together what makes the most sense for your unique body and mind, and move forward from there.
Already Working with Another Therapist?
You don’t necessarily need to leave an established therapy relationship in order to work with me.
I frequently collaborate with people who might already have a therapist but want to add EMDR or the Safe & Sound Protocol (SSP) to the work they’re already doing. These approaches can complement your ongoing work with your primary therapist.
In these situations, I coordinate care directly with your primary therapist so our collective efforts support you and your goals.
You’ve Already Taken a Step by Being Here
So, you’ve read about how I understand therapy, how I work, and some of the ways we might work together.
I offer a free 15-minute phone consultation so we can talk a little and see whether working together makes sense.
Ready to talk?
If you’re ready to continue moving from surviving to living (and even thriving!), I am here to walk alongside you.
Want the Nuts and Bolts First?
Find out more about where I practice, insurance, fees, and other practical details about working with me.