LAS VEGAS, NV · TORRANCE, CA
Trauma Therapy
Many people wonder whether what they went through truly counts as trauma. Trauma isn’t measured by how it looks from the outside — it’s measured by what it did to your nervous system, and what it’s still doing now.
Whether you’ve been carrying something for years or are only beginning to name it, its impact is real. And support is available.
Your nervous system learned to protect you. Therapy teaches it that the danger has passed.
Understanding Trauma
What counts as trauma?
Trauma occurs when something exceeds your ability to cope, or leaves you feeling unsafe, trapped, or powerless. It can develop from a single overwhelming event, or from experiences that accumulated quietly over time — emotional neglect, chronic criticism, or learning early that your feelings weren’t welcome or safe to express. What happened matters. And so does what didn’t happen afterward.
How trauma shows up
Trauma rarely announces itself as trauma. Many people live with these responses for years without connecting them to anything in the past. It may show up as chronic anxiety, emotional numbness, reactions that feel too big, dissociation, shame and self-criticism, difficulty trusting others, hypervigilance, trouble feeling present, or unexplained physical symptoms.
Trauma and the nervous system
Trauma lives in the body — not just in memory. When something overwhelming happens, the brain and body shift into survival mode. When trauma goes unprocessed, those responses can remain activated long after the threat has passed. Your nervous system may continue reacting as though danger is still present. These responses make sense in context. And just as trauma changes the nervous system, healing can change it too.
When trauma starts early
Chronic early trauma can shape how the brain wires itself around safety, connection, and identity. You may have learned to minimize your own needs, or become hyperaware of others’ moods in order to stay safe. When pain is dismissed or denied, that creates another layer — traumatic invalidation. These patterns can be reshaped. The nervous system can heal.
How I Work With Trauma
My approach & pacing
Trauma therapy here is collaborative, carefully paced, and grounded in how trauma actually affects the brain and nervous system. We move at a pace that supports stability and integration — one that honors where you are and what your system is ready for. Sessions may focus on building internal safety, strengthening your capacity to stay present, and making sense of emotional or relational patterns shaped by past experience.
EMDR therapy
EMDR helps the brain resume its natural processing of experiences that got stuck. When you’re ready, we work together to process specific memories so they no longer carry the same emotional weight in daily life. You don’t need to recount every detail — EMDR often works internally, with gentle guidance throughout.
DBT-informed skills
DBT skills can strengthen emotion regulation and distress tolerance — building the capacity to stay present when difficult material comes up. For some clients, this foundation is essential before deeper trauma processing begins.
DBT–Prolonged Exposure (DBT-PE)
DBT-PE is an evidence-based protocol that combines DBT therapy with prolonged exposure techniques for PTSD. It is used when appropriate — after sufficient DBT skill development — and always introduced collaboratively and at the right pace.
Ready to Begin Trauma Therapy?
In person in Las Vegas and Torrance · Online in Nevada and California
