PTSD - How Can I Support You - River Psychotherapy

how can I support you?

"People who need help look a whole lot like people who don't need help."

- Glennon Doyle

PTSD Therapy

We all need help sometimes

Whether you are experiencing anxiety, depression, grief, relationship issues, PTSD, harsh self-criticism, crippling perfectionism, unrelenting shame, or turning to substances to cope, your brave enquiry for help will be met with compassionate attention. You may feel like you are barely holding your life together, or you may look good on paper, but inside are struggling and wanting things to change but are not sure where to start.

I know psychotherapy is a deeply personal process and I bring an authentic, safe, patient, and thoughtful presence as you speak your truth, grieve the messy parts, make sense of how your past impacts your growth and relationships in the present, and create the best possible life for yourself.

Whether you are seeking help as an individual or as part of a couple, I offer support with the following concerns.

complex PTSD (stemming from abuse, and/or neglect)
grief and loss (especially losses that lack closure or are not socially acknowledged)
anxiety and depression (having a significant impact on participating in and enjoying life)
relationship issues (trust, communication, disconnection, intimacy)
life transitions (career, aging, identity)
adverse religious experiences (rejection, exclusion, shame issues)

trauma creates a far reaching ripple

The rippling effects of relational trauma cascade through our brain, body, and nervous system requiring an integrative approach that is neurobiologically informed and focuses on mind-body therapies.

I incorporate a bottom-up (somatic) and a top-down (cognitive) approach, where you learn to move into the felt experience of deep emotions and sensations, but also engage your ability to challenge trauma shaped beliefs about yourself and others. You will be supported as you press into the sharp points and heal a trauma shaken soul, build resilience, and move into new connected ways of being.

Listening to the mind and the body

I draw from multiple mind-body therapies based on client need and preference, including:

Stephen Porges’ Polyvagal Theory and Deb Dana’s experiential therapy model for PTSD and traumatized nervous system regulation
Richard Schwartz’s Internal Family Systems (IFS) therapy, focusing on our internal “parts” of the psyche and how they relate to each other within a traumatized context
Janina Fisher’s neuroscience informed approach on trauma, PTSD, dissociation, and attachment that helps clients create connection and compassion to the parts of the self that are disowned
Peter Levine’s Somatic Experiencing and Pat Ogden’s Sensorimotor Psychotherapy, foundational body-based therapies focused on resolving "stuck" fight, flight, and freeze trauma responses
Diana Fosha’s Accelerated Experiential-Dynamic Psychotherapy (AEDP), focusing on the power of emotion and being seen (moment-by-moment) in a therapeutic relationship as a vehicle for relational change and transformation
Self-Compassion and Mindfulness (Kristin Neff, Christopher Germer, Sharon Salzberg, Tara Brach) with a sensitivity toward trauma, reducing shame, and challenging the "inner critic"
The couples work of Terry Real (Relational Life Therapy) and Esther Perel