Online Trauma and PTSD therapists in La Grande, Oregon OR

CPT helps people recognize how trauma has changed their view about themselves, others, and the world. CPT teaches people to recognize the negative thoughts that are created by the trauma. These thoughts are called "stuck points" in CPT because they keep people stuck and get in the way of recovery from PTSD (from the National Center for PTSD (.gov))  

Your system learned to survive: hyper-vigilance, startle, shutdown, fawn, scanning rooms, losing your words under pressure, anything that would keep you safe. Then you notice the shame that crept off after. You might have family-of-origin wounds (emotionally immature parents), medical or relationship trauma, or years of criticism that trained your body to stay on alert. First, we build safety with a warm, honest, trauma-informed relationship and somatic regulation so your body has more than fight/flight/freeze/fawn. Then we use IFS parts work to understand the protector roles (perfectionist, numbing, over-functioner) and reassign them with compassion. When appropriate, we may use gentle memory reconsolidation methods (e.g., FLASH) to help your brain update old threat responses with less distress. Aim: fewer spirals, sturdier boundaries, and feeling like your life belongs to you again.  

Trauma and PTSD therapy is evidence-based, short-term psychotherapy designed to help patients process traumatic memories and reduce symptoms like nightmares or hypervigilance. PTSD is not curable like the flu, but it can be managed with coping skills. I use Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing (EMDR) to help clients process their trauma.  

Complex trauma and CPTSD stem from more than just events in our adult years. These are usually foundational from early developmental trauma and childhood trauma, and can be worked with and healed at any age. Trauma is not only what happened to you. It is also how those experiences continue to live within the body and nervous system long after events have passed. Using a gentle, body-centered approach, we'll work at a pace that feels safe - restoring connection, resilience, and the freedom to live more fully in the present. Therapy helps restore safety, connection, and the capacity to move forward without remaining organized around survival. You will learn how to reparent the little ones inside and have an easier relationship with yourself and your body.  

As a trauma specialist, I provide a trauma-informed, relational space that honors both the emotional and physiological impact of trauma. Together, we attend to attachment wounds, defensive patterns, and body-based responses to foster integration, safety, and resilience.  

Trauma can impact how you think, feel, and respond long after the original experience. We provide a structured, supportive approach that helps clients process experiences safely, reduce reactivity, and regain a sense of stability and control.  

I specialize in trauma and PTSD using Somatic Experiencing (SEP) and Trauma-Informed CBT in a tri-phase approach: stabilization, processing, and integration. These gentle, body-centered methods help release stuck fight/flight/freeze responses, process overwhelming experiences at a safe pace through titration and pendulation, and restore a felt sense of safety, resilience, and presence. Highly effective for anxiety, irritability, dissociation, emotional overwhelm, or lingering effects of past stress and trauma.  

Trauma can leave lasting effects on how you think, feel, and relate to the world, but healing is possible. Trauma-informed therapy is a therapeutic approach that recognizes the impact of trauma on a person’s life and aims to create a safe, empathetic, and empowering environment to promote healing and recovery.  

I specialize in working with individuals who have experienced trauma and post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), providing a safe and supportive environment for healing. I incorporate Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing (EMDR) therapy to help clients process distressing memories, reduce emotional intensity, and restore a sense of balance and control. My approach is trauma-informed, compassionate, and tailored to each person’s unique pace and needs on their journey toward recovery.  

Trauma can impact the way you think, feel, relate to others, and experience the world around you. Whether your experiences involve a single traumatic event or the cumulative impact of difficult life experiences, healing is possible. Using trauma-informed approaches, including EMDR, I help clients process unresolved experiences, reduce distress, and move toward a greater sense of safety, connection, and resilience.  

Every year, more than 8 million people in the United States struggle with Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) along with another 350 million people worldwide. PTSD can occur in people who have experienced or even witnessed a severe trauma, and it affects areas of the brain connected to managing difficult emotions, especially fear and anxiety. PTSD can create intense physical, emotional, and mental distress, and if left untreated, it can lead to long-term psychological and physiological damage. Thankfully, energy psychology – specifically acupoint tapping -- can help! More Potent Than Other Therapies Tapping on acupuncture points while bringing the memory of a traumatic event to mind sends signals to emotional centers of the brain, specifically the amygdala and other areas of the limbic system. This can counter the body's threat response. Acupoint tapping has been shown to reduce: Exaggerated responses to triggers Hyperarousal in the limbic system Insomnia Elevated levels of cortisol and other stress hormones Impaired immune functioning Distortions in learning and memory, and Imbalances between sympathetic and parasympathetic nervous system activity The 7 Advantages of Acupoint Tapping in the Treatment of PTSD Advantage #1: Fewer Treatment Sessions Cognitive-behavioral therapies are the treatment of choice in most conventional mental health settings. They average between 12 and 16 sessions for treating PTSD. Nonetheless, up to two-thirds of those completing the treatment still carry the PTSD diagnosis after treatment. Meanwhile, a study of the use of EFT for treating PTSD in a public health facility in Scotland authorized patients to receive up to 8 treatment sessions. Voluntary termination of treatment occurred, however, after an average of 3.8 sessions, with strong positive outcomes on post-treatment measures. A landmark study by Dawson Church and colleagues found that 86% of 49 war veterans no longer scored in the PTSD range after 6 hour-long EFT sessions. The study has been replicated with similar outcomes. Advantage #2: Lasting Results Studies reporting treatment effects for the use of acupoint tapping and energy psychology in PTSD typically show significant overall reductions in symptoms and their impact, and these improvements tended to stand the test of time. Advantage #3: Low Risk of Negative Side-Effects Existing evidence strongly suggests that energy psychology and acupoint tapping can be safely used to treat PTSD. Advantage #4: Minimal Training Needed A seasoned clinician can learn and begin applying a basic tapping protocol very quickly. Even people who don’t have extensive mental health backgrounds can be effective with the method as long as they understand the boundaries of their scope of service. For instance, several studies used life coaches rather than licensed mental health professionals to use tapping sessions in the treatment of PTSD and found they were nearly as effective. Advantage #5: Effective for Groups Unlike many psychotherapy methods that require one-on-one sessions, acupoint tapping can be highly effective when delivered to groups. This makes it suitable for combat battalions returning from deployment, refugees living in camps, caregivers returning from humanitarian missions, and children in classrooms. Advantage #6: Improves Quality of Life and Reduces Medical Costs When PTSD is not successfully treated, it produces adverse changes in the brain, and the impact extends beyond the patient and their family. If symptoms persist, the data shows increased lifetime hospitalization, disease burden, and medical costs. By helping people overcome PTSD, acupoint tapping positively impacts their quality of life and society's medical costs. Advantage #7: In-Person Sessions Not Required A study focused on the effects of EFT delivered by phone versus in-office sessions showed that just 6 phone treatment sessions could effectively alleviate clinical PTSD symptoms in 67% of patients. In another study, 26 women diagnosed with fibromyalgia showed significant improvement in symptoms such as pain, anxiety, depression, vitality, social function, activity level, and performance problems following their participation in an online EFT treatment program. This makes it possible to utilize electronic media to offer acupoint tapping treatments to underserved populations or others who cannot access conventional in-person therapy, such as military personnel in combat zones and those living in rural areas. For millions of people with PTSD, energy psychology -- specifically acupoint tapping -- offers much-needed hope and relief. As discussed in this article, acupoint tapping can help large numbers of people relatively quickly. It is a powerful intervention that is proving to be an effective antidote to living with the pain of PTSD. As a survivor myself, I've spent a lifetime studying the effects of trauma on the body and the brain. I specialize in helping people understand the ways trauma impacts their lives, their relationships and their emotional and behavioral experiences. Trauma takes place as a singular event or many events that overwhelm a person's ability to cope. Unresolved trauma is complicated and it causes many in-the-present life problems. This is confusing because we often have no idea why we are getting upset about something, feel certain ways or have unexplainable anger. Whether it be to heal with the impact of discrete traumatic events or complex interpersonal trauma, I use a combination of techniques from Energy Psychology such as Emotional Freedom Technique (or Tapping, as most people know it), Tapas Acupressure Technique, RIM Hypnotherapy, EMDR, Cognitive-Behavioral techniques, DBT, grounding and centering techniques and Shamanic soul retrieval to help you build safety and seIf worth. I teach emotion regulation skills and we use the therapeutic relationship itself so that you can feel more grounded and secure in connection with yourself and others.  

Trauma can affect the way people experience emotions, relationships, safety, identity, and the world around them long after traumatic events have ended. Individuals struggling with trauma or PTSD may experience anxiety, emotional numbness, hypervigilance, intrusive memories, shame, irritability, relationship difficulties, avoidance, or a persistent sense of emotional disconnection or instability. I provide trauma-informed therapy that is compassionate, collaborative, and grounded in evidence-based psychological treatment. My approach focuses on helping clients process painful experiences safely and thoughtfully while building emotional regulation skills, increasing self-understanding, strengthening relationships, and reducing the long-term impact trauma can have on daily functioning and emotional wellbeing.  

Trauma can be one event (Trauma) or many smaller events (traumas). It can show up as issues with mood, sleep, relationships, and much more. We each experience and respond to traumas in unique ways. My approach to working with trauma is informed by the lessons from EMDR, somatic experiencing, and mindfulness practices. What's important is working at a pace that meets you where you are at.  

I follow the work of the leaders in Trauma and PTSD, like Bessel Van der Kolk and Gabor Mate, and feel that this is some of the most important work in my field. I help many clients with their process through and sometimes even out of this type of conflict.  

Unresolved trauma can shape every aspect of life, but healing is possible. We use trauma-informed approaches to help clients process painful experiences, regain a sense of safety, and build resilience for the future.  

Trauma and PTSD can show up in many ways, including anxiety, emotional reactivity, numbness, intrusive thoughts, hypervigilance, or feeling stuck in patterns that don’t make sense. These responses are often rooted in how the nervous system has adapted to overwhelming or unsafe experiences. I provide trauma-informed therapy to help you understand both the emotional and physiological impact of trauma. Together, we’ll explore what’s happening beneath your symptoms, including how past experiences continue to shape your present-day reactions and sense of safety. The focus is on supporting nervous system regulation, processing underlying experiences at a pace that feels safe, and helping you rebuild a greater sense of stability, connection, and control in your life.  

When the Past Still Feels Present You may know, logically, that a painful experience is behind you — yet your body and mind don’t always agree. A sound, a tone of voice, or even a smell can suddenly bring back the rush of fear, shame, or helplessness. Trauma can make you feel like you’re living in survival mode, constantly alert, exhausted, or detached from yourself and others. Healing from trauma isn’t about “getting over it.” It’s about helping your brain and body learn that you are safe again. In therapy, we’ll use a structured, evidence-based approach called TEAM-CBT combined with the Trauma Resiliency Model (TRM) to calm your nervous system, rebuild trust in your body, and process painful memories at a pace that feels safe. Together, we’ll: Understand how trauma reshapes the brain and body’s threat response Learn grounding tools to bring the body back to the present moment Release shame, guilt, and self-blame that often follow trauma Rebuild a sense of safety, strength, and connection in your daily life Transform survival skills into sources of resilience and wisdom Our work focuses on restoring balance — helping you feel more in control, more connected, and more alive. Healing happens not by reliving the past, but by reclaiming your power in the present. I BELIEVE: Trauma changes how we survive, not who we are. Safety and connection are the foundation of healing. Your symptoms are not weakness — they’re evidence of strength and adaptation. You can feel safe in your body again. Compassion, not confrontation, is what restores the nervous system. Also Integrated In Our Work: • Interpersonal Work – to strengthen connection and empower you to be yourself using The 5 Secrets of Effective Communication • Mindful Self-Compassion – to cultivate a gentler, kinder inner voice through the work of Dr. Kristin Neff  

I have worked for a number of years in crisis line, intensive outpatient and outpatient and community mental health therapy, and I strive to stay informed of current best practices in trauma-informed care. I can help clients learn tools and approaches to understand and manage their symptoms, feelings and reactions. Together, we will work on personalized ways to help reduce distress, build trust, and promote long term healing.  

I am a certified EMDR provider as well as well as a Safe and Sound Protocol and Rest and Restore Protocol provider. I have been practicing EMDR for 10+ years now and trauma and PTSD are the main reasons clients seek this type of treatment out. I have supplemented this training with extensive training in mindfulness, in polyvagal theory, in attachment dynamics in relationships, and in interpersonal therapies. Together we will discuss your particular trauma/PTSD and a path forward for healing and at a pace that works best for you.  

Trauma lives in the body, not just the memory. My approach to PTSD is gentle, paced, and deeply respectful of your nervous system. Using somatic therapy, cultural awareness, and trauma-informed principles, we help you release stored activation, reduce hypervigilance, and reclaim safety in your own skin. You don’t have to relive it to heal it.