Specialty · trauma and PTSD
Trauma, PTSD and complex trauma
I work with single-incident trauma — a betrayal, a series of hurtful interactions that may seem small to others, emotional mistreatment, a loss or death — and with complex, developmental trauma that accumulated over years without one single event to point to. Often the seemingly littlest mistreatments and betrayals leave the deepest wounds. Pacing and choice come first: nothing here is forced, and you set the speed.
Telehealth only, by secure video or audio, for people physically located in California. Laurie, LMFT.
What trauma work looks like with me
Trauma is less about the event than about what stayed in the body or mind afterward. People describe it as a nervous system that never got the message that it is over: sleep that will not hold, a startle response out of proportion to a conversation, numbness that arrives in the middle of a good day, a stretch of time that is missing, or old scenarios stirring in the emotions and mind when least expected, clouding your waking hours in the morning.
Complex trauma often looks different again. There may be no single memory to point at, just a long-running conclusion about yourself — that you are misperceived, that trusting others is dangerous, that you must read the room before you can breathe. That is developmental trauma doing exactly what it does, and it responds to patient work rather than to intensity.
Pacing is not caution for its own sake; it is the method. We work at a speed where you stay present, because processing done while you are overwhelmed tends to reinforce the overwhelm. That means we build stability first — a way to steady yourself, a signal to stop, an honest sense of what a session can hold — before we go anywhere near the hardest material. You decide what we open and when.
I want to be plain about something: trauma work can be slow, and slow is not failure. Weeks where we consolidate rather than process are part of the work, not a stall. Progress in this field is usually measured in a slightly quieter body rather than in dramatic breakthroughs.
What we might work with
Single Incident Trauma
A betrayal, emotional mistreatment, a loss or death, a relationship break up, a loss of a loved one
Complex Trauma
A combination of traumas over time or a variety of smaller traumas within a larger trauma, the marriage, the dating experience, a death, mistreatments, betrayals, a series of experiences that may seem small to others but left a huge painful mark, disappointments
Relational Trauma
A frightening or deceptive relationship, and the way it changed what closeness now feels like in your body.
How we would work
We start with a free 20-minute consult so you can ask questions before committing to anything. If we go ahead, early sessions are about orientation and stability rather than history: what happens in your body, what helps it settle, and how we will stop when you need to stop.
I am EMDR certified and use it when it fits, after preparation. Alongside it I use somatic work to follow what the body is doing in the present, Internal Family Systems to work with protective parts rather than against them, and mindfulness to build the capacity to notice without being swept away. For those who like a positive, outcome-focused approach I use Success Love Now (SLN).
Sessions are by secure video or audio anywhere in California, which for many people is an advantage in trauma work: you stay in a space you control, and you can take the time you need afterward. I do not treat bipolar disorder or schizophrenia, and I am not a crisis service. If you are in immediate danger, call or text 988, or call 911.
- EMDR — certified since 1999
- Somatic and nervous-system work
- Internal Family Systems (IFS)
- Mindfulness practice
- Hypnotherapy — certified hypnotherapist
- Success Love Now — a process I created
Questions people ask about trauma therapy
- Do I have to talk about what happened?
- No. I do not require anyone to retell the worst thing in order to begin, and I will not ask you to narrate details as a test of readiness. Plenty of useful trauma work happens before the story is ever told in full, and some people never tell it in full. We can start with the present: sleep, startle, the situations you avoid, what your body does in a meeting. If and when you want to work directly with a memory, we do it with your consent at every step, and you can stop.
- What is EMDR actually like over video?
- I am EMDR certified. Over secure video it works much as it does in a room: we prepare first, building resources and a way for you to signal that you need to pause. Then you hold a target in mind while following a form of bilateral stimulation — often my hand or a moving point on your screen, sometimes tapping you do yourself — in short sets, checking in between each one. You stay in your own space, which many people find steadying, and you do not have to drive anywhere afterward. Preparation usually takes several sessions, and that part is not a delay; it is the work.
- Is my experience 'bad enough' to count?
- You do not need to qualify. Trauma is about what an experience did to your nervous system, not about how it ranks against other people's. Ongoing childhood conditions that never made the news — being unsafe at home, being unseen, being responsible too early, sustained medical experiences, being teased at school, being lied to by a significant other and finding out, a heartbreaking relationship — shape the body just as decisively as a single dramatic event. If you find yourself measuring your history to decide whether you are allowed to bring it, that measuring itself is worth talking about.
You set the pace
If you want to ask about EMDR or any trauma modality, or about starting slowly, text or email and we can talk it through. Telehealth only, by secure video or audio, for people physically located in California. Laurie, LMFT.