Trauma Therapy

Quintessential Health only utilizes evidence-based treatments, with a specialty focus on Prolonged Exposure for trauma.

If trauma is controlling your life, I will help you take back control. I specialize in helping individuals dealing with traumatic events such as sexual or physical assault, childhood sexual, physical, and emotional abuse, domestic violence, car accidents, combat trauma and community violence. I also specialize in helping first responders cope with chronic exposure to traumatic events. I use frontline treatments for traumatic stress, including CPT, PE, and Written Exposure Therapy.

Navigate trauma healing with safety and ease. I have received extensive training and experience working with trauma recovery in individual, family and community spaces for over a decade. I am trained in Trauma Focused CBT, Prolonged Exposure, EMDR, and Child Parent Psychotherapy. I have worked with clients recovering from trauma in all levels of care and acuity, and continue to dedicate my work to offering effective treatment for all disorders related to trauma.

Trauma-informed approach that focuses on cultivating a healthy nervous system, regulating the emotions, addressing repressed or past traumas, and integration of somatic practices and coping strategies such as breathwork, relaxation techniques, and guided visualizations. An environment of safety and healing is created that reduces the risk of re-traumatization in the physical, mental, emotional, and spiritual aspects of the lived experience.

I am certified in EMDR. I am also trained in Progressive Counting and Flash for treating symptoms of trauma, complex trauma, and PTSD.

I have worked with survivors of domestic and interpersonal violence where I helped people work through the impacts of trauma and grief with sensitivity, gentleness, and understanding. Additionally, I am trained in Sensorimotor Psychotherapy, a body-based approach healing centered around healing trauma and creating wellbeing.

Just like reactions to trauma are individual so is treatment. Together we will assess what areas of your life are affected by trauma and create an individualized course of treatment. This might include processing specific memories, creating a narrative, using cognitive behavioral techniques to examine shifts in beliefs, somatic skills to discharge traumatic stress from the body, emotion regulation and interpersonal skills, connecting with exiled parts of self, bringing compassion to shame.

I utilize a strengths-based psychodynamic framework in my practice, fostering a therapeutic environment where individuals can explore their inner worlds and build resilience. My approach is rooted in humor, gentleness, and authenticity, ensuring that every interaction supports the growth and well-being of the individuals I serve.

I have completed the clinical trauma therapist certification program.

I trained under traumatologist, Dr. J. Eric Gentry (founder of the Arizona Trauma Institute and author of Forward Facing Trauma.) Through Dr. Gentry I have learned how to use body self-regulation to disconnect trauma memories from body trauma sensations. Combined with other techniques such as NeuroLinguistic Programming and Hypnotherapy, we have the ability to take horrific experiences, heal from the suffering, and use the learnings to create a powerful and satisfying life on the other side.

Trauma therapy is a form of treatment that uses many different tools to help a person overcome post-traumatic stress disorder. Trauma therapy may consist of personal counseling, group therapy sessions, medication usage, and also cognitive behavioral therapy to create lasting benefits in overcoming trauma

The label "trauma therapy" is broad, and encompasses different modalities of therapy. The type of trauma therapy I offer is grounded in the mind-body connection, which means that I focus on the body, in addition to what's happening psychologically. My aim is to help you understand how stress and difficult emotions manifest in the body, e.g. muscle tension, sweating, cold hands/feet, heart rate, etc. I also teach clients body-based approaches to dealing with anxiety, stress, and trauma.

Trauma therapy helps individuals heal from the emotional and psychological effects of traumatic experiences. It provides a safe space to process painful memories, reduce symptoms like anxiety and flashbacks, and develop coping strategies. Trauma therapy can involve different approaches, like talk therapy, ART, or body-focused techniques, tailored to your needs. The goal is to help you regain control, improve emotional well-being, and move forward from the trauma with greater resilience.

I gained certification for trauma focused cognitive behavioral therapy in 2023 and enjoy bringing this model to children, adolescents and young adults who struggle with any type of traumatic experiences.

The ACES (Adverse Childhood Experiences Study) revealed that 6 in 10 adults (from a large study of middle income, educated, employed adults) had at least 1 significant adverse childhood experience. A large percentage of the general population has had more than 1. Increased exposure to trauma increases: negative health outcomes, mental health issues, and likelihood of premature death. The good news is that the impact of ACES can be reversed with therapy that is focused on addressing trauma.

I have worked with clients in recovery from trauma for the entirety of my career and have dedicated the focus of my work to becoming an expert in trauma recovery.

In therapy, we'll talk about the effects of trauma on your brain and body, and practice skills to turn down your fight or flight response so that you can process what has happened to you and move towards changing how it’s affecting you today. We’ll aim to sort out which patterns are still helping you, and which you’d like to change.