Individual Therapy

The body is a miraculous thing.

It knows how to heal itself.

Remember the time when you scraped your elbow while rollerblading on the driveway? The red blood cells in your body helped build new tissue to repair the broken skin.

The wound would have healed nicely if not for the gravel trapped inside that caused it to fester and hurt. As a kid, it seemed like an excellent plan to slap on a Band-Aid and keep playing.

You’re older and wiser now. You understand that you must clean wounds first so they can heal properly.

Our brain works similarly.

Research suggests that something similar happens with our mental processes. Our brain has an information processing system (IPS) that naturally moves toward mental health and wellness.

However, adverse life experiences can overwhelm our IPS. Thoughts, images, and bodily sensations from bad experiences can get locked into the brain and create a “psychological wound,” so to speak.

Without proper care, psychological wounds may fester and lead to a host of symptoms, including:

Depression and Anxiety, PTSD, Low Self-Esteem, Brain Fog, Suicidal Ideation, Psychosomatic Illnesses, Problems with Memory, Irritability, Relationship Problems, and Addictions.

And the list goes on.

Individual therapy helps heal those psychological wounds.

In individual therapy, I help you pinpoint and measure the symptoms you’re experiencing so we can formulate clear goals to guide treatment. We will explore the biological, social, and psychological factors that impact your life and mental health. This information will help me better understand your situation so I can be more helpful to you.

It’s important to me that you feel respected and understood in the therapeutic relationship. My role is to assist you on your mental health and wellness journey, not to impose my values or worldview on you.

We will talk about the issues you keep struggling with and use specific techniques to “clean out” the psychological wounds that are festering and causing unfavorable symptoms in your life. Talk therapy alone usually isn’t enough to bring lasting relief. We must use techniques that remove the block so our brain and body can heal.

*Take K, for instance.

When K was 12, she got pulled underwater and trapped beneath a crowd of people in the wave pool at her local water park. The crowd jostled and kicked her while she held her breath until her lungs were about to burst. She became disoriented and frightened. At that moment, she feared drowning was inevitable. After the crowd passed overhead, she surfaced for air just in time!

K avoided swimming for six years after that experience. Lying in the bath made her feel like her chest was caving in. It was hard to breathe. Putting her ears underwater made her heart race and left a pit in her stomach.

K’s information processing system became overwhelmed during the experience at the water park. Her brain’s “alarm system” (the amygdala) continued to activate the sympathetic nervous system (SNS), pumping out stress hormones long after the threat of drowning was over.

This response was triggered by experiences like lying in the bath.

Avoidance of triggers failed to provide lasting relief.

K coped with the anxiety by avoiding water activities as much as possible. But at times, she was forced to confront her fears – like when her family took a vacation to the Oregon coast. Over the years, her brain grew more accustomed to the fear, which decreased the anxiety a little. Yet, she still couldn’t bring herself to go swimming.

In therapy, K processed the near-drowning experience. She focused on a mental image of the wave pool, the feelings of panic in her chest, the sensation of her lungs aching for air, and the thought, “I’m going to die.”

We used specific techniques to activate the left and right hemispheres of K’s brain. This activation allowed for the traumatic experience to become fully integrated rather than stuck in the emotional, reactive part of her brain. Now, her brain’s “alarm system” could resume normal functioning.

Therapy helped clean out K’s psychological wound in the safety of her counselor’s office. Now, when she goes swimming, her chest feels open and accessible. K feels confident and in control when in the water, and it feels so good!

“Sometimes you don’t feel the weight of what you’re carrying until you feel the weight of its release.”
– Brian Weiner

Therapy helps lift the weight.

Research on trauma shows that we can change how adverse life experiences, including relationships, are stored in our brains and bodies. Reprocessing those experiences to an adaptive resolution leads to better executive functioning, impacting emotional control, impulse control, flexible thinking, and working memory.

The tools and techniques I use in therapy change how you feel and empower you to make choices consistent with your values and higher desires.

Gaining empowerment means freedom from cycles of self-sabotage and unhealthy relationship patterns, including the one with yourself.

That freedom allows for a life fueled by peace and joy rather than anger, resentment, and the past – enabling you to live more fully in the present.

Release the pain that rules your life.

“You gotta resurrect the deep pain within you and give it a place to live that’s not within your body.”
– Ehime Ora

I can help you resurrect and redirect pains and fears within you so you can live a meaningful and joyful life.

“You don’t have to see the whole staircase, just take the first step.”

If you’re ready to take your healing to the next level, take the first step and schedule a free 15-minute consultation!

*K is a composite example of clients’ healing experiences.