our approach
your expectations
“I want my therapist to understand the nuances of my culture and family dynamics without having to overexplain.”
“I want to feel clear about the work we are doing together to make things better, instead of just talking about my issues.”
“I need guidance, practical tools, and direct feedback. I don’t want my therapist to simply reflect back what I say.”
“I have enough insight without change. I want to get unstuck in my patterns of how I feel and how I relate with people.”
WE hear you.
While we draw from many different therapeutic approaches and theories we have trained in to address the various needs of our clients, we often combine the following highly directive and focused approaches so that you don’t feel lost or confused about the work you are doing in therapy.
01/05
restoration therapy
The Restoration Therapy (RT) model was developed by Terry D. Hargrave, Ph.D. and Franz Pfitzer, MD after over 30 years of therapeutic and psychiatric practice for individuals, couples, and families. This approach combines attachment theory, contextual family therapy, and neuropsychology to help you identify destructive relational patterns of emotions and behavior to lay the foundation for changing the way you interact with loved ones and the world. We work with you to get clear on how past experiences of violations of love and safety lead to harmful stories about who you believe you are and how much you can trust yourself, others, and the world. This process helps us make sense of why you do what you do even when it comes at your expense and the people who matter the most to you. We offer a therapeutic experience that integrates insight, creativity, and practical tools to make profound changes in your brain so that you can make thoughtful and informed choices for your life.
You may benefit from this approach if you experience:
Difficulty putting to words or making sense of the pain you experience, such as depression, anxiety, anger, stress, or discontentment
Predictable patterns of unwanted emotions, thoughts, and behaviors
Persistent involvement in relationship dynamics that are stressful or harmful with no idea on how to change
Shame, thought spirals, and lack of compassion for yourself
Frequent anger toward others, situations, and difficulty trusting
A fear of closeness and vulnerability
Perfectionism and controlling tendencies which make life and relationships challenging
02/05
brainspotting
Brainspotting is a somatic-based approach developed by Dr. David Grand, a pioneer in the field of Eye Movement Desensitizing Reprocessing (EMDR) used to treat trauma, to help regulate your nervous system, rewire your neural pathways, and restore your mind and body. This approach can support you to access your intuitive healing mechanisms, resources, and inner wisdom to lead to profound healing and recovery. We use it to treat the harmful impact of past experiences and recent traumatic experiences, as well as to support creatives and athletes to improve performance and address creativity/performance blocks.
The research over the last twenty years informs us that traumatic and harmful experiences are stored in your body, specifically your limbic-subcortical region of your brain. Brainspotting uses your field of vision via your eye position (i.e. where you look with your eyes can lead us to the corresponding location of where traumatic and negative experiences are stored in your brain and body). We utilize an advanced understanding of how the brain and body work together to get to the root of the presenting issue. Whether you are suffering from burnout, grief and loss, chronic pain, depression, anger, or general anxiety, Brainspotting offers a non-invasive tool to help you process your experiences deeply to heal and thrive.
You may benefit from this approach if:
You feel that you have reached your limits with previous talk therapy approaches
You have a tendency to feel disconnected from your feelings, numb, or dissociated
You feel the persistent impact of previous traumatic experiences and memories on your current life
You have difficulty being present in the moment and are quick to overanalyze, intellectualize, or problem solve
You notice frequent automatic physical sensations and emotional reactions to cues in your environment
You experience creative and performance blocks that make it difficult to do what you want to do
You suffer from fears or phobias, such as flying, public speaking, or being in social settings.
You have enough insight about yourself, but still can’t seem to take the steps you know you need to take
03/05
Eye movement Desensitization & reprocessing (EMDR)
Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing (EMDR) is a somatic body-based therapy approach primarily used to treat individuals who have experienced traumatic events. Developed by Francine Shapiro, EMDR has gained recognition for its success in helping clients process and recover from the aftereffects of trauma. A core component of EMDR is bilateral stimulation, which can be achieved through visual, tactile, or auditory cues. In an EMDR session, therapists utilize a highly structured approach to help clients recall distressing memories while they focus on bilateral stimulation. This process is believed to help in the reprocessing of traumatic memories, allowing the integration of a more adaptive narrative. Due to its ability to target distressing memories and beliefs, EMDR may benefit not only trauma-related conditions but also other psychological issues such as anxiety and depression.
You may benefit from this approach if:
You find yourself reliving distressing memories, even though they happened a long time ago
You prefer a highly structured therapy approach to address specific traumatic events that you can’t seem to shake off
You have experienced a traumatic event and find it difficult to talk about it
Talk therapy and other therapeutic approaches have not been helpful to relieve the impacts of your traumatic experiences
You already have an established and supportive relationship with a primary therapist and want to do short-term work to address a specific trauma via EMDR
04/05
POlyvagal theory
In our therapeutic work, we integrate the lens of polyvagal theory on the autonomic nervous system by renowned neuroscientist Dr. Stephen Porges. We attune to the ways that your brain responds to safety and danger cues from the environment, your interactions with people (including your therapist), and your body’s internal physical sensations. We have found that providing a solid understanding on how your nervous system is wired can help you feel more empowered to make intentional decisions to nurture a calm mind and grounded body.
This lens can help you:
Identify the specific cues in your environment that lead to calm, stress, and disconnected experiences
Make sense of information your physical, emotional, and cognitive experiences tell us about your nervous system
Learn practical grounding skills to regulate your autonomic nervous system when it is activated
Understand how your history, personality, identities, and lived experiences affect your current preferences, experiences, and needs
Discover all of the resources available to you to increase calm
Learn about the impact of trauma on your nervous system & rewire new associations with different cues in your environment
05/05
Clinical art therapy
Clinical art therapy is a modality that uses imagery, art materials, and the creative process to deepen self-awareness, promote self-regulation, and facilitate healing. It provides an outlet to express difficult and unidentified emotions, creates a safe distance to explore unsafe experiences, and provides a voice for your unconscious thoughts, beliefs, and feelings. Research shows that traumatic experiences are stored as images in our implicit memories in the right hemisphere of the brain and as sensations in our body. Art therapy integrates the whole brain by pairing imagery and conversation with a trained professional to bring insight and make meaning of your experiences.
Our trained art therapists will work with you collaboratively to create healing interventions that target your specific needs. Depending on what you are experiencing, art may be the main focus of your sessions, or it may be used as a supplemental tool for exploring a specific area of need. There is absolutely no artistic skill required in order to participate in art therapy.
You may benefit from this approach if:
Build awareness of your emotional experiences
Clearly articulate your experiences for others to understand
Process stuck trauma that you might be avoiding or intellectualizing
Gain new perspective and new insight of yourself
Learn new ways of expression and communication
Create safety in exploring overwhelming memories or situations