"Healing involves discomfort, but so does not healing. Over time, not healing is always more painful"

— Resmaa Manekam

How I work

Gently Heal from the Past with EMDR

Trauma can cause us to feel stuck. Stuck in the past. Stuck in the distress. Stuck in the pain. In my practice, I gently guide individuals to explore the emotional terrain of their life and the events that cause them to feel stuck. I utilize Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing therapy and other evidence-based approaches to harness the innate healing power of the brain to support individuals in gently healing from past trauma.

Fostering Safety

 I care about making trauma treatment safe. After we chat about your goals, we will go on a journey of listening to the natural rhythms of your nervous system. Our nervous system is where we experience a sense of distress, anxiety, disconnection but also where we feel things like joy, excitement, and security. Some call it the soul nerve. Together, we will discover the things that usher your soul nerve into a state of safety and calm. Part of our work will include utilizing a variety of EMDR coping skills that are designed to intentionally soothe and settle your nervous system. Why is this important? It’s important because as we enter tough spaces, when things feel overwhelming, we can return to one of the things that cause you to feel safe.

Inviting Curiosity in

Curiosity is a major component of my practice.  I will never see you as a set of symptoms that need to be reduced. It is my belief that you are a multi-faceted individual with many different parts, all-of-which have worked hard to bring you to this very place.  The parts of yourself that emerged out of protection and pain and even the parts of yourself that you may not be fond of.  In therapy, I will invite you to curiously explore this with me. What I find is when we get curious, compassion emerges and it is compassionate connection that heals.

Tend and Befriend


You’ve probably heard of fight, flight, freeze, and fawn stress responses but have you heard of the Tend and Befriend response? This is when we reach out to another human during a time of stress. Studies show that when we turn towards a caring friend during moments of stress our body has the ability to settle, our stress levels decrease, and as a result we tend to live longer. I am tempted to go into a whole lot of science-y jargon about the nervous system but instead I will simply say that the life-giving, caring relationships in our lives quite literally heal us. Now let me go so I call my friends to thank them :)

Quotes that inform my practice

Yolanda Renteria

"THE BIGGEST THING I AM SHOOTING FOR AS A THERAPIST IS NOT FOR CLIENTS TO HEAL EVERY PART THAT MAKES THEM UNCOMFORTABLE OR BRINGS THEM PAIN, BUT TO GAIN THE ABILITY TO HOLD THEMSELVES WHEN THAT HAPPENS WITHOUT JUDGEMENT AND TELL THEMSELVES 'IT MAKES SENSE'"

Rasmaa Menakem

“As part of your healing…you’ll learn to tell when your body is open and when it is constricted: when it is settled and when it is activated and where and when it is in pain or discomfort”

Internet Big Sister content Creator

"Stop trying to heal the part of you that needs attention, stability, and tenderness. Start trying to heal the part of you that learned that needing those things is something to be ashamed of. Your craving to feel seen, heard, loved, encouraged is good. It's human. It's healthy. It deserves to exist."

Sarah Blondin

"Please take all the time it needs to have your eyes cleared. If you allow your suffering space to express itself, it will naturally move through its process. You will uncover the sage inside of you, and the voice of your knowledge will lead you to harness the strength and clarity of nature. It will show you to regulate the body and heart again. Your openness is what will help the experience move through."

Richard Schwartz

"We often find that the harder we try to get rid of emotions and thoughts the louder they become"...we must therefore become good listeners.