Diane Adams (she/her)

I am a specialist in Women's Trauma Issues with an emphasis on Post Traumatic Growth.

I have developed what I have named Zen Adjacent Therapy. That means while I treat all the standard maladies of these times - depression, anxiety, trauma, grief, and relationship issues - I sprinkle Zen and Beginner's Mind over a lot of my therapeutic approaches. Nothing is shoved down your throat...just exposure to some helpful ways of moving through the world with kindness and respect to self and other.

Most women don't identify with "trauma." They have associated it with distinct events such as rape, being in the military and having experienced wartime, tragedy, and severe abuse. When you experience things like "trust" issues in your relationships; anxious attachment issues; dependency on food, alcohol, drugs, gaming, spending, porn, etc. it's often pointing to it's ok to harm yourself and that's often a symptom of unresolved childhood neglect, being tempermentally different than your family.

Retreats are my favorite unique delivery system for therapy. It's intensive, accelerated, focused on providing all the safe and soft places for a person to dig their deepest to connect with their inner most wounded inner child and hurt places. When you include unplugging, solitude, forest bathing, mother nature supported, gentleness of all that is natural and organic - including delicious nurturing food prepared for you with love and a hot tub under the stars for starters.

I studied over 10 different models of recovery, including Women For Sobriety, Rational Recovery, Seven Weeks To Sobriety, and Solution Focused Problem Drinking, to name a few. My belief is that many addiction and mental health issues are trauma based. I love Harm Reduction the most because it is a first step into what's underneath.

When it comes to naming what qualifies as trauma, BIG T, or little t....one thing is certain - it is having a lasting impact on how you react to tones of voice, intolerance and lack of trust in relationships, as well as which inner voice has you by the throat. If your inner voice is mostly critical, harsh, perfectionistic, feeling you need to earn love...these are often pointing you in the direction of needing trauma treatment so you can move from victim to post traumatic growth.