Rene Gonzalez (he/him)

I help clients who've experienced traumatic relationships early in life, often as the result of abuse, and/or emotional neglect. Issues that tend to come up in clients who've been through this include: either avoidance in relationships or an anxious attachment style, a pattern of unhealthy and even tumultuous relationships, a fear of abandonment, or a feeling that you're not good enough or worthy of love.

Many of the clients that I work with have this constant feeling of anxiety, or like something bad is going to happen, also known as hypervigilance. This anxiety might feel especially pronounced in relationships, but it might also be an overarching anxiety that seems to come into many different areas of your life. I also have expertise in helping clients who experience panic attacks.

My specialty is in treating people with Complex PTSD (C-PTSD). The type of clients I'm best suited to help are those that experienced repeated abuse and/or neglect throughout their childhoods, and who currently struggle with reactions that might seem disproportionate to a trigger. clients might also experience hypervigilance, nightmares, flashbacks, anger, guilt/shame, difficulty in relationships, and/or feeling isolated and like nobody understands you.

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.

Also known as parts work, this therapy is useful in helping survivors of trauma who struggle with intense emotions, like shame and anger. The premise is that we're all made up of parts, some of which are wounded and protective, and that our intense reactions in the face of triggers ultimately serve to protect us. By attuning to these parts, we become less reactive because we understand what they need, and how to provide for them in a healthy way.

Attachment-based therapy is an approach aimed at helping people develop secure attachments. This is done in several ways, one of which includes helping the client understand how early in life experiences with attachment figures affected them. As a therapist, my aim is to cultivate a relationship that feels safe, and where the client can be honest and open without judgment. The basic idea is that a safe relationship with a therapist can help you start to feel safe in other relationships.