this changes everything!
My approach to counseling is different . . I mean really different. What if I told you that you could heal from the most overwhelming physical, psychological, and emotional symptoms of trauma WITHOUT TALKING!!! Sounds too good to be true right? Well, it's not. Current research indicates that while talk therapy is effective for some things-it is not effective for treating trauma. It actually can make it worse.
my approach
I'm going to be really candid and honest here! If I heard myself talking about how I approach therapy now-ten years ago I would have thought I was crazy! However, when we find something that works and works really well-the results speak for themselves. Until recently, when it came to healing trauma the best we could hope for was to help our clients cope with their debilitating symptoms. Cutting-edge research on how trauma affects the brain, body, and nervous system has changed that.
I specialize in helping people heal from the adverse effects of trauma. Research shows that the impact and effects of trauma are stored in the nervous system and in the body-usually outside of our conscious awareness-making popular cognitive-driven modalities limited at best and ineffective at worse. This translates into clients spending months or years in therapy with very little reduction in their trauma symptoms. My approach is to use modalities that are designed to reboot and rewire the brain and nervous system leading to lasting healing from trauma symptoms in a relatively short period of time. Ultimately this means clients get better results in less time. The primary modality I use is Brainspotting which is a modality based in neuroscience. By using a body, brain, and mindfulness-based approach we are accessing the parts of the brain where trauma is stored (and is triggered).
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"Where you look affects how you feel." Brainspotting locates points in the client’s visual field that help to access unprocessed trauma in the sub-cortical part of the brain. Finding the "spot" in the brain where the trauma is held, helps the therapist locate, focus, process and release a wide range of emotionally and bodily-based symptoms associated with trauma. Brainspotting is a brain-based, experiential approach to healing trauma. The belief is that brainspotting taps into and harnesses the body’s natural self-scanning and self-healing ability. When a Brainspot is stimulated, the deep brain reflexively signals to the therapist that the source of the problem has been found. The client and therapist then use mindful attention to create a safe space to dismantle the associated symptoms, feelings in the body, and negative beliefs often associated with the trauma; all without re-traumatizing the client by reliving the original experience.
Brainspotting can help relieve symptoms of depression, anxiety, panic, phobias, addictions as well as some medical conditions such as traumatic brain injuries, strokes, fibromyalgia, headaches, sports injuries, and preparation for and recovery from surgery.
Brainspotting can also be used to find and strengthen our natural resources and resilience, and can be integrated into many other therapeutic modalities.