Telehealth therapy · Anywhere in Florida
Trauma and PTSD Therapy
Your reactions make sense. They can also get easier to live with.
- Florida LCSW, license SW27230
- Secure video sessions
- In network through Headway
Start here
Sound familiar?
Trauma can come from one terrible event or from a lot of hard things piled up over years. Afterward, your mind and body can stay stuck on high alert, even when you know you are safe. None of that means you are weak. It means your nervous system did its job of trying to protect you, and it is still doing it.
- Memories, nightmares, or flashbacks that show up uninvited
- Feeling jumpy, on guard, or easily startled
- Avoiding people, places, or reminders
- Feeling numb, disconnected, or not like yourself
- Trouble trusting others
- Guilt, shame, or blaming yourself
- Sleep problems or irritability
What to expect
You do not have to tell me everything immediately
People sometimes avoid trauma therapy because they imagine session one will involve recounting every terrible thing that has ever happened.
It does not have to work that way.
First, I need to understand what is happening now.
- What is interfering with life?
- What situations feel unsafe?
- What are you avoiding?
- What happens in relationships?
- What does your body do when something reminds you of what happened?
- What helps?
- What makes it worse?
Some trauma treatments eventually involve directly processing traumatic memories.
But therapy should still have a reason for what we are doing.
I want you to understand that reason.
Why it sticks around
Avoidance works beautifully, until it doesn't
Avoidance often makes perfect sense.
If something reminds you of one of the worst experiences of your life, of course your brain would prefer never to go near it again.
The immediate payoff is relief.
The long-term cost can be a life that becomes increasingly organized around avoiding reminders, emotions, places, conversations, relationships, or memories.
Trauma therapy often involves helping someone regain choices that fear has gradually taken away.
Avoidance and feeling on high alert overlap a lot with anxiety.
How I approach it
Trauma-informed and trauma-focused are not the same thing
This distinction matters.
Trauma-informed care
Trauma-informed care means understanding how trauma can affect safety, trust, relationships, behavior, the nervous system, and someone’s experience of healthcare itself.
It also means emphasizing choice, collaboration, transparency, and avoiding unnecessary retraumatization.
Trauma-focused psychotherapy
Trauma-focused psychotherapy is more specific.
Treatments such as Cognitive Processing Therapy, Prolonged Exposure, and EMDR directly target traumatic memories and their meaning and have substantial research support for PTSD.
My work is trauma-informed.
I can help people understand trauma responses, improve coping, work with avoidance, examine beliefs, build regulation skills, and address ways trauma continues to affect current life.
I am also going to be transparent when someone would benefit from a specific trauma protocol or level of treatment outside what I provide.
Good therapy does not require pretending one therapist should do everything.
How therapy can help
What we may work on
Trauma therapy should never feel like being pushed to relive the worst moments of your life before you are ready. We start with safety and stability, and you stay in control of what we talk about and when.
When trauma shows up alongside psychosis, bipolar disorder, or other serious mental illness, see serious mental illness.
We may work on
- Understanding trauma responses
- Grounding and regulation
- Avoidance
- Hypervigilance
- Shame and guilt
- Changes in trust
- Relationships
- Sleep
- Triggers
- Emotional numbing
- Boundaries
- Grief
- Rebuilding a sense of safety
- Connecting current reactions to past experiences without reducing everything about you to trauma
If you are thinking about suicide
You are not alone, and help is available right now. Call or text 988 to reach the 988 Suicide and Crisis Lifeline, any time, day or night. If you are in immediate danger, call 911 or go to the nearest emergency room. This website and my phone line are not monitored around the clock.
Before you book
Common questions
A few things people often ask. There are more answers on the FAQ page.
No.
There may be reasons to discuss traumatic memories as treatment progresses, depending on your goals and treatment approach, but you do not need to unload your entire history simply to prove that something hurt you.
No.
Trauma-informed care describes principles for providing care safely and collaboratively.
EMDR is a specific trauma-focused psychotherapy.
We can talk about the actual experience and its effect on you without turning the first session into a contest over terminology.
Ready when you are
You can book a time on my Headway profile, where you can also check your insurance coverage. Questions first? Call 754.400.0824 or send me a message. The Insurance page has the plans I accept.
Want to nerd out on the research?
You absolutely do not need to read research papers to come to therapy. But if you are the kind of person who wants to know where this stuff comes from, here are a few good places to start.
- PTSD Treatment Basics VA National Center for PTSD
- Clinical Practice Guideline for the Treatment of PTSD American Psychological Association
- Trauma-Informed Approaches and Programs SAMHSA
This website is not for emergencies. If you are in crisis, call or text 988, or call 911.