My Approaches to Individual Therapy
Learn more about my modalities and the therapy approaches I use in Austin, Texas for individual therapy!
Somatic Experiencing
Somatic Experiencing is a gentle approach to therapy that focuses on how your body holds onto and releases the effects of stress, trauma, and overwhelming experiences. It's based on the idea that our bodies naturally know how to heal from difficult experiences, but sometimes these natural processes get stuck. In our sessions, we'll work together to slowly and safely explore how your body responds to different sensations and feelings. By paying attention to these physical sensations and learning to regulate them, we can help your nervous system find new ways to release tension and restore a sense of safety and balance. SE isn't just about talking; it's about listening to what your body is telling us and supporting it in finding its own path toward healing."
Somatic Experiencing (SE) focuses on the body’s role in trauma recovery. Attachment trauma often leaves its imprint not just in our minds but in our bodies as well. By tuning into the physical sensations associated with our emotions, SE helps us release stored tension and trauma, bringing our nervous system back into balance. This approach can be incredibly grounding, helping us reconnect with our bodies and feel safer in our own skin.
Accelerated Resolution Therapy (ART)
Accelerated Resolution Therapy (ART) is a cutting-edge therapeutic approach that offers quick and effective relief for people struggling with unresolved trauma and PTSD. Developed by Laney Rosenzweig, ART combines cognitive-behavioral therapy (CBT), eye movement techniques, and imagery-based interventions to promote fast and lasting emotional healing.
Here's how ART works: through guided eye movements, similar to those experienced during REM sleep, ART helps you reprocess and desensitize distressing memories. This allows your brain to rewire and integrate these memories more adaptively, reducing the emotional and physiological impact of trauma. It's a structured, step-by-step process that makes addressing traumatic experiences less overwhelming than other methods.
The benefits of ART for trauma are truly life-changing. Unlike traditional talk therapies that can take months or even years to show results, ART often brings significant improvements in just a few sessions. Imagine experiencing decreased anxiety, fewer intrusive thoughts, reduced hypervigilance, and better sleep—all leading to a more stable mood and improved quality of life. By tackling the root causes of your trauma, ART empowers you to regain control, experience reduced anxiety, and build healthier relationships.
NeuroAffective Relational Model (NARM)
The NeuroAffective Relational Model (NARM) is a cutting-edge, integrative approach to healing trauma, particularly focused on addressing attachment, relational, and developmental trauma. Developed by Dr. Laurence Heller, NARM is based on the understanding that our earliest attachment experiences profoundly shape our sense of self, our relationships, and how we navigate the world.
NARM is unique in that it emphasizes both the relational and biological aspects of trauma. It integrates psychodynamic and somatic approaches, meaning it looks at how our past experiences influence our present thoughts, emotions, and bodily sensations. The core belief in NARM is that our early trauma impacts us not only emotionally and mentally but also at a deep physiological level, affecting our nervous system and our capacity to regulate emotions.
In NARM, therapy focuses on five core needs: connection, attunement, trust, autonomy, and love-sexuality. When these needs are unmet in early life, we develop survival strategies to cope with the pain and disconnection. These strategies, while adaptive at the time, can become barriers to healthy relationships and a fulfilling life as we grow older.
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Awareness of Present Moment Experience: NARM encourages clients to stay connected to their present moment experience, noticing what is happening in their bodies and emotions. This awareness helps to bridge the gap between past trauma and current challenges, allowing for a more integrated and embodied healing process.
Exploring Survival Strategies: Clients are guided to identify the unconscious survival strategies they developed to cope with early trauma. By bringing these strategies into consciousness, clients can begin to see how these patterns, once necessary for survival, may now be limiting or even harmful.
Reconnecting with Authentic Self: NARM helps clients reconnect with their authentic self, which often gets buried under layers of survival strategies and negative beliefs formed during childhood. By gently challenging these beliefs and exploring new ways of being, clients can rediscover their true nature and capacity for connection, love, and fulfillment.
Fostering Compassion and Curiosity: NARM emphasizes a compassionate and non-judgmental approach, encouraging clients to explore their inner world with curiosity rather than self-criticism. This helps to create a safe space for healing and transformation.
Building Relational Healing: The therapeutic relationship in NARM is central to the healing process. By experiencing a genuine, attuned connection with the therapist, clients can begin to heal the relational wounds from their past and develop healthier, more secure ways of relating to others.