Sydney Rose (she/her)

Fear, sorrow and shame can all be triggered and soothed in relationship. So can deep joy and connection. Often with the same person in the same day. I love working with couples who want to break free from habitual patterns of relating and explore new ways to communicate more authentically. It can be liberating to start recognizing triggers and defenses and responding to each other in a way that cues safety and openness.

Pain can cause you to limit social engagements, avoid meet new people and fear things that used to bring you pleasure. It can sometimes feel like a terrible game of which came first, the chicken or the egg. Stress tenses your muscles and can create a flare up of symptoms… but the our bodies naturally respond to pain with fear. When you’re living with a chronic condition finding a way with pain that allows you to live a meaningful and full life is a necessity.

Most people think about trauma as a war or a near death experience, but in therapy we know that trauma is present when we see some specific symptoms that are usually results of an embodied, neuro-biological experience from a time where our brains and bodies were overwhelmed. In those moments it can seem like we don’t have access to the more philosophical and emotionally intelligent parts of ourselves.

If you’re struggling with a relational trauma it might feel like the past is getting played out in new relationships again and again, or like the traumatic event is happening right now. You might find that your mind replays a humiliating memory on repeat, makes you repress it completely or triggers a behavioral response when you’re feeling insecure. EMDR works on the non-verbal parts of our brain making it incredibly effective at healing relational wounds.

My approach to treating trauma, anxiety and chronic pain is all about you. I’ll do my best to reduce stigma and shame around your experiences when we’re working together. I’ll listen deeply, as clarifying questions to make sure our work is helpful and I’ll invite you to get comfortable: take walk, move around on a yoga ball, or get cozy under a weighted blanket.

Research shows unequivocally that to live well is to relate well. We live longer and healthier lives when we feel supported, seen and respected by our romantic partners. That’s why I love working with couples who want to break free from habitual patterns of relating and explore new ways to communicate more authentically. It can be liberating to start recognizing triggers and defenses and responding to each other in a way that cues safety and openness.

EMDR works on the non-verbal parts of our brain and helps clients feel clearer and more capable of managing triggers in daily life. It can have a transformative effect by helping you connect to a sense of safety in your body and with other people again. If you find yourself acting out, avoiding conflict, or getting emotionally flooded and spacing out, a mind body approach can help you respond instead of reacting to stressors in your environment.

You deserve cutting edge, practical information from a clinician that knows their shit…. and values your lived experience and the feedback of the communities we serve. We know that lived experience is what makes therapy useful and without it, we wouldn’t be here.

No one can be strong and confidant in every area life all of the time, therapy is a safe place to bring the fears, worries, dreams and desires that you can’t always share with your partners, family or employees. You deserve to receive the kind of care and attention that you give to other people. You deserve a support system that is as thoughtful and wise as you are.

I work to stay open to and educated on a diverse array of approaches to gender and sexuality, I won’t shame you for the way you have sex or gaslight you about an experience that was non-consensual. It’s important to me to be LGBTQ+ Affirmative and a BIPOC Ally. I work with sex positive feminists of all genders, but my practice is focused on supporting women.