Accepting clients virtually throughout NY and CA! Click to schedule or call/text (424) 235-8082

Treating EMDR, trauma, anxiety, and burnout through holistic therapy

Trauma & EMDR Therapy

Anywhere in New York and California

For high-functioning women tired of putting on a brave face.

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Are you tired of pretending everything is ok?

From the outside, you look capable and functioning:

You show up for work.
You care for your loved ones.
You handle your responsibilities.
You've been a "good girl."

Underneath the surface, you're about to fall apart:

Your body can't relax.
You're constantly on edge waiting for the other shoe to drop.
You're stuck in patterns you can't break.
You feel like the next small stressor will break you.

You keep convincing yourself, "other people have it worse:"

You say "yes" to more projects and events.
You drop everything for others.
You never take a moment for yourself.
You "suck it up" and suppress your emotions.

You're about to burst like a pressurized soda pop:

You're snappy with your people.
You have difficulty feeling love and joy.
You feel alone in a room full of people.
You feel numb, and that scares you the most.

One day, you look up and see a sea of disconnection:

Relationships you sabatoged.
Dysfunctional and superficial relationships still in your life.
Family gatherings you want to escape.
Fear of abandonment because you aren't "good enough."

You look in the mirror and see an exhausted stranger:

Someone tired of trying to outrun her emotions.
Someone tired of putting on a brave face.
Someone tired of pretending that everything is ok...
because it's not.

Trauma responses are more common than you think

There's no one-size-fits-all when it comes to trauma and their reactions.. They aren't always "big T" traumas like a life-or-death situation, assault, or childhood abuse and neglect. There are also “little t” traumas, or any situation in which your thinking brain got turned off and your fight-flight-freeze system took over.

Trauma can also look like learned protection patterns that built up over years of "good girl" conditioning. You learned:

To be the "easy one."

To stay alert and avoid trouble.

To be responsible and obedient.

To push down emotions that got you into trouble

To get praise and attention by being successful and perfect.

To get love and affection by always giving to others and being needed.

Perhaps you have the "good girl" mentality and experience a "big T" or "little t" trauma. You suppress the memory and emotions because you learned expressing emotions gets you in trouble. Reminders of the event seem to be everywhere, making it harder and harder to keep the memory and emotions in check. You avoid triggers as best you can, but this avoidance is disrupting your life. You're constantly looking over your shoulder, checking for exits, and on high alert. You get blindsided by flashbacks and nightmares. Your concentration and sleep go to sh*t. You're snapping at everyone, and then feel guilty because you're supposed to be the "easy" one that has it together.

What if I told you it's possible to break free from trauma?

That’s right! Whether you experienced a "big T" or "little t" trauma, or learned to protect yourself by being a "good girl," you can put your traum responses in your rearview mirror. The trauma(s) is still part of your story. But, it no longer holds the same charge. It no longer keeps you stuck in patterns that were once protective, but are now harmful.

You get to deactivate the alarms. You get to feel safe and energized. You get to express your emotions and get your needs met. You get to enjoy the soda pop, instead of worrying if it's going to burst.

You’re feeling lighter and more confident. You’re no longer slogging through life and going through the motions. Rather, you’re grounded in the present. You experience life fully. You LOL over an inside joke with a close friend. You can actually relax and doze off in the sunshine. You trust your gut, not the fear. And you don't feel shame or guilt for any of it. You realize the life I dreamed of is possible.

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EMDR and trauma therapy for high-achieving women

Why trauma has you feeling stuck

During a traumatic event, your brain turns off and your body's survival mode kicks in. Furthermore, a child's brain isn't fully developed. Because of this, traumatic memories aren’t processed like your other memories (e.g., a birthday or vacation). They get stuck in your body and nervous system.

Traumatic memories are typically fragmented into images, smells, sounds, and other sensations. They feelings are bubbling right under the surface. The slightest trigger can feel overwhelming or cause you to engage in the same old protective patterns.

Maybe you know rationally that you shouldn't yell at your kids or feel guilty for taking some R&R. Yet, you continue to yell and feel guilty. Or maybe you think you've moved past it, but the anniversary comes around and you become an emotional puddle. Why? Because your body hasn't forgotten.

There’s no situation that’s ‘too silly.’ It doesn’t matter if ‘people had it worse.’ If your fight-flight-freeze kicked in, those memories could still be stuck in your body, driving your problematic patterns today.

From the girl who got reprimanded for being "too needy," to the woman who survived a car accident or assault, trauma comes in all shapes and sizes. Your trauma doesn’t need to be “bad enough.” If something feels off, that’s enough. Your trauma can be healed.

What to expect

1

Identify your goals and take a thorough assessment of your background, conditioning, and traumas that are contributing to your presenting concerns.

2

Stabilize and build a foundation of safety, with tools like relaxation, grounding, positive emotion activation, thought reframing, and more.

3

Heal the root of your trauma with Eye Movement Desensitization (EMDR), Breathwork, and/or other evidence-based, trauma-informed modalities.

4

Build your confidence, self-love and the life you desire through mindfulness, self-compassion, Acceptance and Commitment Therapy, and/or yoga.

Trauma Therapy that Heals the Body

At Clairsentience Holistic Therapy, trauma is healed at the root. You aren't just given coping tools to manage your symptoms. We will work together to understand how your nervous system learned to protect you and reprogram it into healthy patterns.

We will start by building a foundation of safety and stabilization. After years of unhealthy coping, your body cannot be rushed into trauma-focused treatment. We will first give you tools to feel more regulated, build your tolerance for difficult emotions, and understand your problematic patterns.

Sessions may include:

Mapping how stress shows up in your body
Practicing self-regulation tools
Understanding the origins of your "good girl" conditioning
Exploring attachment and relationship dynamics
Learning to be still with your body
Relating to your emotions with kindnes

As trauma heals:

Emotional reactions become more manageable
Anxiety decreases or disappears
Boundaries are clearer and guilt-free
Relationships with others and to yourself feel more connected
The body feels lighter, calmer, and more energized
Clarity and intuition start to guide the way

Be the Buffalo

When cows are faced with an oncoming storm, they try to run away from it. Eventually, the storm catches up to them, and they stay in the storm longer as they run with it. They are cow-ards.

When buffalos are faced with an oncoming storm, they run straight into it. While it's difficult for a short time, they get to the other side of it faster.

Together, we will channel your inner buffalo.

When you are stabilized and have built a foundation of safety, we will then explore trauma-focused treatments that feel aligned for your healing journey:

EMDR: In this evidence-based approach, you will access your traumatic memories while staying calm and present through rapid eye-movements or another form of bilateral stimulation. Traumatic memories are released from the body and re-encoded into the past, so they feel less overwhelming. Learn more about EMDR.

Breathwork: The breath is manipulated to activate your nervous system, so you can release trauma that has been stuck in your body. The technique floods your brain and body with oxygen. This opens the trauma stuck in your subconscious, and releases stuck emotional energy. While this approach can be intense , it can also provide rapid relief, even in one session.

Internal Family Systems (parts work): You may have a part of you that learned that emotions are dangerous. These protector parts could be getting in the way of accessing the parts of you holding onto your traumas and associated emotions...the exiles. We will work with your protector(s) to help gain access the parts of you, your exiles, so that they can be unburdened and healed.

Cognitive Processing Therapy (CPT): Negative beliefs about therapy, your ability to heal, others and the world are keeping you stuck. You'll learn to challenge these stuck points, so you can achieve the deep healing you deserve. You may also write a narrative of the event to help you process the trauma(s) and encode it into the past like other memories.

Prolonged Exposure (PE): A common trauma response is avoidance the memory, emotions, and triggers. To help you get unstuck, you'll perform mini experiments, exposing you to the avoided stimuli in a safe and systematic way. This approach helps to build your confidence as you realize that you can handle difficult emotions and that they don't last forever.

Common Questions About Trauma Therapy

What if I didn't experience a traumatic event?

Sometimes trauma looks like one dramatic event, like a car accident, natural disaster, or childhood abuse. More often, trauma looks like conditioned responses that helped you to stay safe and loved as a child. Your experiences don't have to look "bad enough" to benefit from trauma therapy.

Can I really heal my trauma?

Yes! Trauma can shape how you see yourself, how you relate to others, and how you show up in the world. It may be part of your past, but it doesn't have to be part of your future. Therapy can offer a safe space to explore how trauma shows up for you, make sense of what happened, and release what's no longer serving you. You will feel more present, connected to your intuition, and empowered to build a better future for yourself.

How do I know which trauma approach is best for me?

Everyone is different and experienced different things. Luckily, there are many approaches that can heal your trauma. We will work together to find the approach that is aligned for you. Sometimes we may integrate approaches to heal the varied aspects of your trauma.

It may involve trial and error until we find what works best.

What is EMDR and how does it help?

Eye-Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing (EMDR) is an evidence-based therapy that helps the brain process and the nervous system release traumatic memories. The eye movements help you to stay calm and present as you unlock the brain's natural ability to heal itself. Many clients find EMDR helps them to break free from limiting beliefs and old patterns, while also eliminating the emotional baggage of their traumas.

What if I can't handle trauma therapy?

Everyone has the ability to face and heal their traumas. However, some may take longer in the safety and stabilization phase of therapy. You will learn the tools and skills needed to self-regulate, sit with difficult emotions, and learn to sense your body. If we start the trauma focused phase of treatment and you get overwhelmed, we can always go back to stabilization and build additional resources that you'll need to move forward. We will go at a pace that feels right for you. You are always in control.

Do I have to "relive" my trauma?

No, you won't go back in time and experience the trauma. If you start to have a flashback or I sense you've lost touch with the present, we will stop and reground until you feel safe and regulated again. In some approaches, you don't even have to go into details about what happened at all. Regardless of the approach we take, you will always be grounded in the present while you unlock and heal from the past.

How long before I start to feel better?

Just as there is no one-size-fits-all to traumatic experiences, there is also no one-size-fits-all to healing. Some clients come to therapy and can fell better in just a few sessions. Others may benefit from a longer process. We'll regularly check-in with your progress and make adjustments as needed to meet your treatment goals.