I am not what happened to me,
I am what I choose to become.
— C. G. Jung
People seek therapy for many different reasons. Many of us have struggled in silence with feelings of insecurity, anxiety, depression, or loneliness. Sometimes the body becomes ill or relationships fail, leading us to deeper questions about our life. We may feel stuck in patterns that we don’t understand and do not know how to overcome. These symptoms can often be rooted in early traumatic life experiences.
Trauma in childhood can sometimes be hard to identify, but it can leave us with a gnawing feeling that there is something wrong with us. There are ways of healing that allow the residual effects of these experiences to subside – giving us the freedom to live a happier life. Recent research on brain function has provided us with cutting edge therapies that are powerful and effective. When experienced in an atmosphere of safety, warmth, and caring, they are transformative.
My Approach
My own story is one of growth and healing through my struggle with the impact of trauma and illness. After much personal work, education, training, and professional experience, I consider it an honor to support and guide others on their own unique path toward healing and wholeness.
I interweave scientifically based techniques that are at the forefront of trauma therapy including EMDR (Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing), Somatic Therapy, Mindfulness and Psychodynamic Therapy, based on the unique needs of each person. Art, poetry, and dream work may also be utilized to access the unconscious and those repressed parts of ourselves where love and pain have been hidden.
Through my multidisciplinary work with health issues as a registered nurse and therapist, I have often found that when we chronically repress emotions, the body communicates with us through pain and illness. Serious illness can be devastating — stripping us of our identities and bringing into question everything we have ever believed about ourselves and the world. Time and time again I have seen serious illness become a gateway for transformation.
EMDR
Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing is powerful because it works. It is an effective way of treating issues like anxiety, panic attacks, phobias, depression and PTSD. It supports the brain’s natural processing of stored memories. Traumatic experiences can be trapped in the brain as inadequately processed memories. But recent research has shown that by using bilateral stimulation we can wire new beliefs and new ways of coping with those memories so that the traumatic events no longer have to be experienced as disturbing. Reprocessing can happen very quickly. EMDR is an empowering method of healing because the client is in control and it is their own brain that does the healing.
This is incredibly exciting news. It means that we aren’t held captive for the rest of our lives by the way our brain works at this moment—we can actually rewire it so that we can be healthier and happier.
Dan Siegel & Tina Payne Bryson, The Whole Brain Child
Francine Shapiro Interview on EMDR
PSYCHODYNAMIC THERAPY
Psychodynamic Therapy and EMDR are powerful and necessary therapeutic allies. It is a way of looking deeply into the root causes of symptoms so lasting healing can take place.
We learn as children what to expect from relationships and from the world by the quality of our relationships with our primary caregivers. Learning to slow down and mindfully pay attention to our inner world, we can begin to experience greater self understanding, self compassion, and greater freedom. Through a trusting, warm and caring environment, the relationship between the client and the therapist becomes a vehicle for healing. When working together we may utilize art, literature, poetry, images, and dreams to bring what is locked in our unconscious up into consciousness. In doing this, we are able to release ways of thinking and behaving that no longer serve us.
Until you make the unconscious conscious,
it will direct your life and you will call it fate.
– C. G. Jung
COUPLES/FAMILY
Resentments, hypersensitivity, criticism, and disconnection can leave couples feeling stuck and hopeless. Working together we will look deeper into the patterns of attachment that were formed in childhood that are playing out in current relationships. Greater understanding of ourselves and our partners, paired with new tools for communication, can re-establish intimacy and create a more connected satisfying relationship.
FOCUS Therapy (Families Overcoming Under Stress) was originally designed as a training program for military couples and families that are dealing with the impact of trauma. It has been implemented in community settings and on military bases throughout the United States and internationally. It is also currently being utilized successfully with couples and families dealing with the impact of medical illness. Through the use of timelines and storytelling, a cohesive narrative about their shared life experience is created, based on mutual understanding and compassion. By identifying and building upon the strengths that already exist, and learning new skills that foster greater emotional intimacy, couples and families are able to experience more satisfying relationships and are able to better navigate future challenges.
ABOUT
I earned my Master’s in Spiritual Psychology from the University of Santa Monica and my Master’s in Counseling Psychology with an emphasis in Depth Psychology from Pacifica Graduate Institute. I am a Registered Nurse with a background in Emergency Nursing and Oncology. I have explored Yoga, Buddhist meditation, and Jungian psychology privately for over 20 years. With a Bachelor’s Degree in Fine Art from Loyola Marymount University, I have integrated art into my personal exploration of trauma. I have worked as an Associate Marriage and Family Therapist at the Cancer Support Community providing individual and group therapy for patients and their families dealing with the impact of illness. I have trained and practiced psychodynamically at The Saturday Center for Psychotherapy and at The Well Baby Center.
I am certified as a FOCUS therapist working with families impacted by cancer. I am trained in somatic therapy through the Trauma Resource Institute (level 1) and Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing (EMDR) through EMDRIA.
I work in private practice in Santa Monica.
I also worked as an RN and did client teaching and managing side-effects at Cancer Care Associates in Redondo Beach.
I practice virtually which opens up my ability to serve a larger population of cancer survivors and those who love and care for them.
ACCEPTS VIRTUAL CLIENTS
[email protected]
424-272-6395
2730 Wilshire Blvd. Suite 620
Santa Monica, California 90403
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