Trauma Therapist in Asheville & Online Across NC + CA
Honor your past, ground in the present, & grow confidently into the future.
You’ve spent a lot of time thinking about and trying to understand how your past has shaped who you are today.
But when life throws new challenges your way—like the loss of a relationship, death of a loved one, or challenging health diagnosis—it can stir up memories or feelings that make old wounds feel fresh again. It’s as if the past isn’t done with you, as much as you might want to be done with it.
In those moments, the ways you’ve previously coped and managed either no longer work or no longer align with who you are. When you zoom out, you can see yourself repeating the same patterns of thinking, feeling, and behaving—in relationships, at work, or most fundamentally in how you treat yourself—but, despite seeing the cycles, you haven’t been able to break free of them.
You know you’ve spent too much of your life putting others first, and you want to do something differently—something healthier and more fulfilling. But with that desire for change comes the fear of standing up to others, of being fully seen, and risking the possibility that you won’t be accepted or loved for who you are.
Specialized therapy for trauma can help you feel secure in yourself, even in an unpredictable world.
Understand your triggers and patterns
Be able to identify what triggers you and see how your reactions contribute to the familiar cycles in your life.
Learn to soothe and support yourself
Stay present and connected even in challenging moments, and know how to intervene when you feel like you might spin out.
Grieve what you’ve missed out on
Learn that allowing yourself to grieve won’t destroy you, but will actually help you feel lighter and build a life that honors who you are.
Set and enforce healthy boundaries
Treat yourself with love and respect, choose relationships with people who do the same, and communicate openly about your needs.
Challenge your inner critic
Replace the judgmental voice in your head with one that’s kind, compassionate, gentle, and curious.
Feel more free to be yourself
Express yourself more completely and be able to tolerate pushback because you’re no longer reliant on the approval of others.
My Approach
Together, we’ll move through feelings from the past & foster new ways of being.
Our relationship in therapy will be a space where you can experience a different kind of connection—one where the focus is on helping you feel deeply seen, understood, and valued. I’m here to reflect, validate, and offer my thoughts, but ultimately, you’re the expert on your own life, which is why building and maintaining trust between us will be at the heart of everything we do. Through this, we’ll establish a foundation for real, collaborative work where you can speak freely as we find new paths toward a greater sense of self and freedom to take the risks that can help you grow.
Over time, we'll examine how your past experiences, especially those from your family or earlier relationships, have shaped how you relate to yourself and others.
By bringing these patterns into the light, we can create new possibilities and choices that align with who you truly are and what matters to you now. This might look like exploring overwhelming or painful experiences, gradually expanding your ability to stay present with difficult feelings, and learning tools to calm yourself in challenging moments.
We’ll also pay close attention to how you talk to yourself and the ways that inner voice has influenced your life. We'll work to cultivate a kinder, wiser voice—one that feels like the loving support you may have needed but didn’t receive as a child.
As we work through emotions you might’ve pushed away in the past, like anger or sadness, we’ll begin to integrate them into your story. This will free up space for new growth, healing, and a deeper understanding of yourself. Together, we’ll reshape the narrative of your life and find new, empowering meaning in your story.
FAQs
Frequently asked questions
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Trauma can change the way your brain processes and responds to things, sometimes making it more sensitive to stress or reminders of the painful experience. In a way, your brain gets stuck in survival mode even when the danger has passed. The tools you learn through therapy can help you come out of survival mode, ground yourself, and feel safe in the present.
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Yes, your body can hold onto the stress and memories from trauma, sometimes in ways you might not even realize, like tension, pain, or a feeling of being stuck. This is your body's way of keeping track of what it's been through. Therapy can help you identify how traumatic memories feel in your body and move through those feelings so you can begin to find relief both mentally and physically.
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This is an important and complex question that deserves a far more nuanced answer than what’s possible here. In brief, trauma is a broad and all-encompassing term which can attempt to speak to experiences that cause significant distress to a person’s mental and physical health and well-being as well as describe a wide range of symptoms that can develop as a response. PTSD is a recognized mental health diagnosis used to describe the presence of various symptoms that emerge as a response to one or more traumatic experiences that, when combined, have a significant, negative impact on a person’s overall functioning and wellbeing. C-PTSD is a way of classifying the profound and lasting effects of relational trauma experienced throughout childhood often in connection with primary caregivers. It often affects someone’s ability to generate and maintain the kinds of close relationships they desire. While it is recognized as a diagnosis internationally it has not yet been fully acknowledged by the American counterparts. Relational trauma is real, and makes time and trust in a therapeutic alliance that much more important. Regardless of which kind of trauma you may have experienced, we can work together to reduce the symptoms affecting your life and help you transform how you relate to the precipitating event(s).
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The work I do is applicable to many kinds of trauma, but a few examples of traumatic experiences I’ve helped clients work through in the past include:
Physical, emotional, or sexual abuse during childhood
Chaos, instability, or neglect during childhood
Loss of a relationship due to betrayal or an abusive dynamic
Traumatic loss of a loved one
New or chronic health diagnoses
Experiences of betrayal, rejection or abandonment
Narcissistic abuse
Spiritual abuse
