How We Work Together
Somatic Trauma Therapy in Camas, Washington
Providing services via telehealth throughout Washington and Idaho
Are you tired of feeling this way, but unsure where to start?
You’re getting through the day…
but it’s taking a lot out of you.
You show up, handle what needs handling, and keep going. But inside, you may feel anxious, worn down, or close to your limit. You want to be able to rest without feeling guilty, get through a hard conversation without replaying it all night, and have something left for yourself.
Maybe you’ve already spent time trying to understand what’s happening. Maybe you just know you’re tired of feeling this way. You don’t have to know how to explain it to begin.
Working with your body, as well as your thoughts
Talking can help you make sense of what you’ve been through and feel less alone in it. In our work together, we’ll also pay attention to how you experience things in your body—the tension that’s hard to release, the feeling of being on alert, or the moments when you go quiet and disconnected.
As a somatic trauma therapist, I bring together approaches that help us work with those experiences directly. We might slow down and notice what happens as you talk about something difficult, explore what helps you feel grounded, or practice saying what you need while paying attention to what comes up.
You’ll have a say in what we focus on and how we pace it. There’s room to pause, adjust, and let me know when something doesn’t feel helpful.
What this work can help you move toward
The changes we work toward are ones you can feel in your everyday life:
Settling after stress, so a difficult moment doesn’t stay with you for the rest of the day.
Working through painful experiences with more support and less overwhelm.
Having more choice in how you respond, instead of feeling swept into anxiety, shutting down, or pushing past your limits.
Setting boundaries and asking for what you need, with more steadiness and less second-guessing.
Meeting yourself with more kindness, especially when you’re struggling.
Knowing what helps you, with practical tools you can use between sessions.
The approaches that support our work
I draw from several therapeutic approaches, each offering a different way to support the work we do together. What we use will depend on your needs, your preferences, and what feels helpful as we go.
You don’t need to choose a method or understand the terminology before we begin. If you’re curious, you’ll find a short introduction to each approach below. Open any dropdown to learn more about why I use it and what it might look like in a session.
Somatic Trauma Therapy and
Nervous System Work
What happened may be over.
What you’re carrying can still feel very present.
It might show up as tension you can’t seem to release, feeling on guard even in quiet moments, or shutting down when something feels overwhelming. You may recognize a connection to past experiences, or you may be unsure why your body responds this way.
Somatic trauma therapy brings your body into the healing process. Alongside talking, we pay attention to the sensations, emotions, and protective responses connected to what you’ve been through.
Finding ways to feel steadier is part of this work. It also helps us work toward something deeper: processing painful experiences, tending to the wounds they left, and helping those experiences have less power over how you feel, respond, and relate to others today.
This can help you:
feel more grounded and at ease in your body
work through the emotional and physical effects of trauma
experience reminders of the past with less overwhelm
have more choice when you feel pulled to shut down, push through, or put everyone else first
feel more connected to yourself, your needs, and other people
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We still talk. We also notice what happens physically as we do: a held breath, a clenched jaw, a racing heart, or a feeling of going numb. We approach these responses with curiosity and care, exploring how they may have helped you get through difficult experiences and what you need now.
We begin by discovering what helps you feel supported and present. That might include noticing the support of your chair, looking around the room, or trying a gentle movement. You don’t need to be good at noticing your body. Tension, numbness, and “I’m not sure what I feel” are all places we can begin.
As we build that foundation, we can work with painful memories, feelings, and the responses that still arise around them. We make room for what felt overwhelming then, at a pace that feels manageable now. You have a say throughout, including when to pause or change direction.
This body-aware approach runs through our work together, including the other trauma therapies described below. Each offers another way to support processing and healing, depending on what you need.
Internal Family Systems (IFS) Parts Work
Part of you wants to say no.
Another part can’t bear to disappoint anyone.
Maybe you need rest, but something inside keeps pushing. You want closeness, but pull away when you feel vulnerable. Or you’re already hurting, and an inner voice tells you to get it together.
IFS helps us get to know these different “parts” of you with curiosity and compassion. We explore what they’re afraid might happen if they stopped pushing, pleasing, criticizing, or shutting things down. You don’t need to know the answers before we begin.
In IFS, we understand these parts as trying to protect you, often in ways shaped by painful experiences. As we build trust with them, we can begin to care for the more vulnerable parts of you that still carry hurt, fear, or shame.
The work goes beyond understanding why you react. It creates space to process old pain, so protecting yourself doesn’t have to take so much out of you.
This can help you:
feel less caught between conflicting needs and feelings
soften self-criticism and develop a kinder relationship with yourself
care for younger parts of you that still carry pain from the past
work toward healing the hurt beneath people-pleasing, overworking, or shutting down
have more freedom to respond in ways that fit your life now
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We start by listening to the parts of you that have been working so hard.
We all have different parts of ourselves. Some push us to do more. Some keep other people happy. Some go quiet or shut everything out when life feels overwhelming.
Instead of trying to push these parts away, we get curious: “What are you afraid would happen if you didn’t do this?” There may be a fear of rejection, of getting hurt again, or of being left alone with something painful.
In IFS, we take those concerns seriously. We work toward permission from protective parts before approaching the more vulnerable feelings and memories they guard. If something in you feels hesitant, we listen and adjust the pace.
As trust develops, we can begin caring for the parts of you that still carry the hurt, fear, shame, or loneliness of earlier experiences. This is where the work moves beyond recognizing a familiar reaction and toward healing the wounds beneath it.
Over time, the aim is for protective parts to feel less driven to work so hard—and for you to have more room to rest, connect, and choose how you respond.
In our work, we might use IFS to explore:
the lasting effects of trauma and painful relationships
perfectionism and a harsh inner critic
people-pleasing and difficulty setting boundaries
anxiety, shutting down, or overwhelming emotions
inner conflict and persistent self-doubt
You don’t have to fight these parts of yourself to heal. We can begin by understanding what they’ve been carrying and helping them feel less alone.
EFT Tapping for Trauma
You want to work through what happened. But getting close to it can feel like too much.
A memory, a feeling, or even a few words can bring a rush of emotion. EFT tapping is one of the approaches I use to help us work gently with that intensity, so there’s more room to process what’s painful.
EFT combines gentle tapping on specific acupressure points with putting words to what you’re experiencing. Together, we pay attention to the feelings, physical sensations, and beliefs connected to what you’ve been through, at a pace we adjust as we go.
The aim goes beyond calming down in the moment. We work toward easing the emotional intensity of painful experiences and the hold they have on how you feel about yourself today.
This can help you:
approach painful memories and feelings with less overwhelm
work through lingering fear, shame, or self-blame
feel more settled when anxiety or distress rises
build a practical tool you can use between sessions
Learn more about EFT tapping →
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Emotional Freedom Techniques (EFT) combines gentle tapping on acupressure points on your face and upper body with focused attention to what’s bothering you - a feeling, a memory, a physical sensation, or a belief about yourself that grew out of what happened.
I’ll guide you as we work with the emotional and physical responses connected to those experiences, adjusting the pace together. The aim is to help you process what you’ve been carrying, ease its emotional intensity, and feel less affected by it in your everyday life.
EFT tapping is supported by a growing body of published research, including randomized controlled trials and systematic reviews. Studies have found significant reductions in PTSD symptoms, anxiety, and depression, with some reporting improvements that continued for months after treatment. These findings highlight EFT’s potential to support both emotional relief and lasting change in trauma recovery.
PTSD research · Anxiety research
I’ve been practicing EFT tapping for over 10 years. It has helped me in so many areas of my own life that I pursued further professional training to bring it to my clients. I’m trained in EFT, Matrix Reimprinting, and Tapping Out of Trauma, Levels 1 and 2, and I bring both that training and personal experience into our work.
Clients often tell me they’re surprised by the shifts they notice, both in how they feel during a session and in the changes they continue to notice afterward. I use tapping alongside the other approaches described here, guided by your needs and feedback, and we can explore ways for you to use it between sessions, too.
Mindfulness-Based Cognitive Therapy (MBCT)
One worried thought can turn into an exhausting afternoon inside your head.
You replay a conversation, imagine what could go wrong, or question whether you’ve done enough. Before you know it, you’re tense, distracted, and worn out.
MBCT brings together mindfulness and cognitive therapy to help you recognize these moments and relate differently to your thoughts. We practice noticing what’s happening in your mind and body, gently bringing your attention back to the present, and making room to choose what you need next.
You don’t have to empty your mind or make yourself feel calm. The work is learning to meet your experience with more steadiness and less judgment, so a worried thought or painful feeling doesn’t have to take over your day.
This can help you:
notice spiraling thoughts sooner and step back from them
respond to stress with more awareness and choice
meet difficult feelings with less self-criticism
spend less time caught in worry and more time present in your life
Learn more about MBCT →
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Trying to think your way out of distress can leave you even more tangled in it.
You search for an answer, replay what happened, or tell yourself you shouldn’t feel this way. When that doesn’t help, you may start to wonder whether something is wrong with you.
MBCT helps you recognize thoughts as mental events that you can notice, question, and respond to. We practice stepping back from worry and self-criticism, making room for what you’re feeling, and choosing where to place your attention. Over time, the aim is to feel less caught in the thinking that keeps anxiety or low mood going.
I use a trauma-sensitive approach because turning inward can sometimes feel overwhelming. You can keep your eyes open, keep practices brief, and pause or change direction whenever you need. We might notice your surroundings, explore a short body scan, or pay attention to your breath if that feels comfortable. Your feedback guides what we try.
You don’t need to clear your mind, sit perfectly still, or have any meditation experience. Learning to notice when your attention wanders—and return with a little less judgment—is part of the practice.
I’m a certified MBCT trainer and also trained in Mindfulness-Based Stress Reduction (MBSR).
HeartMath Techniques
When one stressful moment follows you into the next, it’s hard to catch your breath.
A difficult conversation ends, but you’re still wound up. You move on to the next thing while carrying the tension of everything that came before.
HeartMath offers brief breathing and attention practices designed to help you settle and regain a sense of steadiness. We’ll explore ways to use them in everyday moments—before a difficult conversation, between responsibilities, or when you notice stress building.
In our trauma work, these practices can support the steadiness we’re building as we address painful experiences. They also give you something practical to reach for outside our sessions.
This can help you:
feel more grounded when stress or overwhelm rises
create a pause before responding
recover between demanding moments
use discreet tools during your day, wherever you need support
Learn more about HeartMath →
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Feeling steadier is something we can practice together.
HeartMath® techniques use gentle, paced breathing and focused attention to help you work with your stress response. These practices encourage a smoother, wave-like pattern in the natural changes between heartbeats, known as coherence. About HeartMath techniques
This connects with an important area of trauma research. Studies have found that people with PTSD tend to have lower heart rate variability, a measure related to how the nervous system regulates the heart. Small studies with veterans have found improvements in attention and memory following heart rate variability biofeedback training, and some have reported reductions in PTSD symptoms.
Trauma research · Attention and memory study · PTSD symptom study
In our work, these tools support your ability to feel more present and grounded as we address the deeper effects of trauma. We practice together so you can discover what helps and become comfortable using it during your week—before a hard conversation, between responsibilities, or when the day starts to feel like too much.
As a Trauma-Sensitive HeartMath Trained Practitioner, I adapt the practices to your comfort and responses. We start gently, check in, and adjust together. The aim is to help you build a familiar way back to steadiness that you can carry into everyday life.
We’ll Find What Works for You
You don’t have to come in knowing which approach you need or even how to explain what you’re feeling. We can begin with what’s been hard and what you’d like to feel different. I’ll bring my experience, offer guidance, and help you understand the options so we can decide together.
We might spend time with one approach or draw from several. As we go, we’ll pay attention to how you’re feeling in sessions and what’s changing in your everyday life. Your feedback matters, including when something feels uncomfortable, confusing, or unhelpful. That helps us shape the work around you.
I care deeply about this work and the people I do it with. I’ll be an active, engaged guide as we work toward healing what still hurts and helping you feel more at home in yourself.
We Might Be a Good Fit
Providing services via telehealth throughout Washington and Idaho
You don't have to know exactly what you need before reaching out. In a free 20-minute call, we'll talk about what's been going on and whether working together feels like the right fit.
Prefer to talk? Call or text 720-253-6783, or send me a message here.