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in San Francisco and in all of California

Trauma Therapy

heal and restore a sense of safety and peace

“The paradox of trauma is that it has both the power to destroy and the power to transform and resurrect.” — Peter A. Levine

Your past can sometimes get in the way of your sense of peace, happiness, relationships, and dreams. Maybe you’ve been battling waves of anxiety, sadness, irritability, or anger, leaving you feeling overwhelmed, embarrassed, and alone. Just getting through the day can feel exhausting and challenging. It may be tough to feel on edge, vulnerable in your relationships, and disconnected from your true self, your needs, and desires. You could find yourself feeling out of control, either acting impulsively or freezing up under stress. Even if you are a high performer and excel at work, deep down, you might still feel insecure and critical of yourself. Constant stress can also cause physical symptoms like trouble sleeping, headaches, or stomach issues.

Maybe you’re puzzled by what sets you off and just wish for some peace, stability, and self-assurance. You may have tried therapy before, perhaps more than once, and picked up some useful coping skills along the way. Yet, you haven’t seen much improvement in how you feel.

Trauma can run deep and shape every aspect of our lives, influencing our thoughts, behaviors, relationships, and physical health. Trauma commonly shows up as depression, anger, anxiety, addiction, insecurity in relationships, repeating old patterns, and a sense of feeling trapped. Trauma rewires our brains to prioritize fears over creativity and joy. It’s like a fog that clouds your vision of who you really are and what you can achieve.

You’re not alone. Your trauma doesn’t have to define you, and life doesn’t have to feel like an endless struggle.

Trauma therapy can help transform suffering into creativity, connection, compassion, and calm.

As a trauma therapist, I specialize in working with adults whose past experiences are holding them back from reaching their full potential. I’m deeply passionate about helping people heal and feel empowered to live good lives. With extensive experience treating trauma, background in neuroscience, and years of evidence-based training, I’m always trying to ensure I have the best skills and knowledge to assist you in creating meaningful and lasting change.

I use effective therapeutic techniques like EMDR, Internal Family Systems, CBT, mindfulness, and somatic interventions to address trauma at its core, including body memories, sensations, emotions, and negative beliefs.

  • Before diving into deep trauma work, we’ll focus on learning and practicing essential coping skills such as stabilization, grounding, relaxation, and self-soothing techniques. We’ll also explore mindfulness, acceptance, and awareness to help you better manage distress.

    Together, we’ll examine how trauma has affected your life and how it shows up in the present. We’ll then choose and implement strategies to address it, proceeding at a pace that feels comfortable for you. As we progress, you’ll get chances to apply the skills, insights, and inner strengths we discover together. We’ll focus on recognizing and addressing your unmet needs, nurturing self-compassion, and helping you break free from suffering. Developing healthy relationships and setting boundaries that boost your self-respect will also play a key role in healing. I’m here to support you at every step.

Therapy for trauma can help you…

  • Feel relaxed, secure, and more at ease

  • Treat yourself with more kindness, understanding, and self-compassion, releasing self-blame and shame

  • Express your needs assertively and set clear boundaries to build healthier relationships

  • Move through your day with mindfulness, awareness, and clarity

  • Find relief from painful memories, recurring negative thoughts, and flashbacks

  • Successfully manage intense emotions and triggers using practical coping skills

While I specialize in various types of trauma, I have particular expertise in therapy for adult children of narcissistic parents.

  • Growing up with a parent who has narcissistic traits can deeply affect every aspect of your life. You may feel you need to constantly seek validation from others. You probably work very hard in both career and personal relationships focusing on getting approval from others, while struggling to trust people and having fears of rejection and abandonment. Unfortunately, such upbringing often leads to developing of various mental health challenges, such as anxiety, depression, and persistent feelings of inadequacy, guilt, shame, and worthlessness. You may struggle with extreme self-criticism, weak boundaries, and unrealistically high standards for yourself. You may have lost touch with your true feelings and desires, being caught up in helping and protecting others, with a pervasive sense of not being enough.

    Therapy for adult children of narcissistic parents offers a safe space for healing emotional wounds and repairing self-esteem, identity, and interpersonal relationships. You will have the opportunity to explore and process complex emotions and develop self-compassion. Through this journey, you can reclaim your autonomy, break free from the cycle of emotional manipulation, and foster a more authentic and fulfilling sense of self.

You can break free from trauma and create space for peace, curiosity, and joy.

FAQ

  • Usually people think of trauma as some difficult or frightening experience that results in hyper-vigilance, flashbacks, and nightmares. Trauma can be indeed a result of something sudden, unexpected, and terrifying - such as an assault or a serious car accident. However, it isn’t just single severe experiences that can have a profound impact on our brains, bodies and nervous systems. Trauma can come in many shapes and forms. We can experience trauma through repeated adverse events or life conditions. A lack of care, support, nurturing, or guidance in childhood can leave us in a constant state of threat. Abuse, neglect, living with an alcoholic or narcissistic parent, and even bullying can lead to what we call “complex trauma” or “C-PTSD” Trauma can also be imposed on us by systems, societal influences, or passed down from previous generations.

  • Posttraumatic stress is a natural response to trauma, manifesting as intrusive memories, anxiety, depression, nightmares, flashbacks, sleep disturbances, emotional instability, or numbness. These symptoms can cause significant distress and disrupt relationships, work, and quality of life. Often, people try to deal with disturbing thoughts, feelings, and sensations related to the trauma by avoiding situations and people that trigger fear and anxiety, turning to addictive behaviors. These normal reactions to trauma prevent living a full, engaged life.

  • Complex trauma occurs when an individual is repeatedly impacted by difficult experiences, especially in childhood.

    This type of trauma can impair neurophysiological development and affect relationships later in life, leading to challenges in trusting others and navigating the world. Growing up in a stressful environment without emotional support can teach us that the world is unsafe and that our needs won’t be met.

    Complex Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (CPTSD) result in overwhelming symptoms like mood swings, depression, anxiety, problems trusting others, difficulty with intimacy, problems maintaining relationships, intense feelings of anger, guilt, or shame, negative beliefs about oneself, and feeling detached from yourself and others. You can be so used to thinking, feeling, and behaving in certain ways that you think it’s your personality and that you are ‘crazy’. You may not realize that what you are experiencing is your way of coping with things that happened to you that were not your fault. In attempt to escape from painful feelings and memories and to function in the world, you might learn ways such as dissociating or numbing out through emotional eating, drugs or alcohol. It can be very distressing, painful, and intensely lonely to wrestle with the long-term effects of trauma.

  • Trauma therapy is a deeply personal journey, and everyone’s experience is unique. I prioritize your comfort and well-being throughout the process. That means, if something makes you feel uncomfortable, we can always adjust the pace and content of our sessions as needed. Before beginning trauma processing, we focus on building coping skills for stabilization, grounding, and self-soothing. You won’t be alone. I’ll be there with you providing support and guidance along the way.

  • Attachment refers to the deep emotional bond between people, and is formed in our early lives with caregivers. These initial bonds are instrumental in shaping our personalities and abilities to regulate emotions and form stable relationships.

    When these bonds are disrupted or insufficient during infancy or childhood due to abuse or neglect, they can lead to attachment trauma. This trauma can manifest as difficulties forming healthy relationships later in life, impacting interactions with friends, family, and partners.

    Many people may not realize they have attachment trauma. However, its effects can be profound, leading to behaviors such as people-pleasing, fear of rejection or abandonment, and patterns of anxious or avoidant behavior that affect both work and relationships

  • Many of my clients have had experiences like:

    • Childhood abuse or neglect

    • Sexual abuse

    • Medical or illness trauma

    • Grief and loss

    • Emotional abuse

    • Relationship trauma, abandonment, and infidelity

    • Intergenerational trauma

    • Infertility and pregnancy loss

    • Racial discrimination and immigration trauma

  • I bring years of experience helping diverse groups heal from trauma. I’ve received specialized training in the most effective trauma treatment modalities and tailor my approach to meet the unique needs of each person.

  • If you’re struggling with painful memories or the lingering effects of past trauma, please know that healing and a better life are possible. Reach out to me.