Online Trauma and PTSD therapists in Sandy, Oregon OR

I am trained to handle your trauma and PTSD symptoms. We can work together to help uncover root cause and put you on a path and get your resources in addition that will help your recovery.  

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.  

Trauma can leave you feeling fragmented, hyper-vigilant, and disconnected from yourself. In our safe space, we’ll work collaboratively to process the traumatic memories so they no longer hold emotional power over you. We will gently explore and nurture the protective 'parts' of you that developed in survival, helping them step back so your innate wisdom can lead. Your treatment will include powerful tools to help you build deep inner safety and connect with the stabilizing rhythms of nature.  

Trauma can leave lasting effects on the body, emotions, and sense of safety. I am Trauma-Informed, which means I focus on gently processing difficult experiences while building tools for regulation and resilience.  

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.  

Utilizing evidence-based treatments, including EMDR, mindfulness and somatic therapy, I help clients feel better after their experiences and live a meaningful life.  

Trauma can affect how you think, feel, and experience the world long after the event has passed. I specialize in trauma-informed care using EMDR, somatic approaches, and parts work to help process and integrate these experiences. Therapy is paced and collaborative, helping you move from survival toward a greater sense of safety and empowerment.  

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  

We offer trauma-informed therapy to help clients process past experiences safely and effectively. Treatment focuses on restoring a sense of safety and stability.  

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.  

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.  

Seeking help can feel overwhelming, but you don’t have to figure it out alone. I take the time to truly understand you and your symptoms. Together, we will explore your options, make necessary adjustments, and check in regularly to ensure your treatment aligns with your goals. At Relief Mental Health, you are more than a diagnosis, and medication management is more than just a prescription. It would be a privilege to walk beside you and work together to help you feel better with care that is steady, supportive, and designed entirely around you. If you are ready to take the next step, please let me know how I can best support you.  

All ACoAs have experienced trauma in PMES ways. Physical, sexual, spiritual & emotional abuses leave deep scars. Some damage can be healed, & most can be greatly reduced or modified.  

Hypnotherapy can be instrumental in addressing trauma and Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD). Trauma often leaves deep emotional scars that manifest as anxiety, flashbacks, nightmares, and heightened stress responses. Traditional therapeutic approaches may not always reach these deeply embedded issues, but hypnotherapy offers a unique avenue to access and heal the subconscious mind where trauma is often stored. Furthermore, hypnotherapy can help individuals build positive coping mechanisms and resilience. Techniques such as guided imagery and positive suggestion can instill a sense of safety and empowerment, replacing the negative emotions tied to traumatic events.  

I have several years of experience with trauma and assaults, PTSD. I am able to assist in the process, to create a safe place and teach relaxation techniques and move to a place of being a survivor.  

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 isn't just what happened — it's what your nervous system learned as a result of what happened. Whether it was a single event or a lifetime of experiences that accumulated slowly, trauma gets stored in the body and shows up in ways that feel confusing, out of proportion, or hard to explain. I specialize in complex trauma and PTSD, using EMDR, IFS, and somatic therapy to help your nervous system process what it's been holding — not by reliving it, but by creating the conditions for real, lasting healing that you can feel, not just understand.  

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.  

Most Queer and/or BIPOC people have experienced some kind of trauma in their lives related to their marginalized identity - if not something else. I have lots of experience working through these hard experiences.  

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.