Somatic Therapists in Pittsburgh, PA

Queer EMDR therapist. I exclusively treat trauma, PTSD, and CPTSD. Topics of expertise include divorce, sexual assault/abuse, and healing from childhood trauma and abusive relationships. Through the use of EMDR we will reduce the impact of trauma in your life. You will learn to understand your nervous system and how to calm anxiety and triggers. What you can expect from me is that I will be warm, candid, authentic, and invested.

I specialize in working with individuals and couples, who are seeking support with anxiety, depression, complex trauma, navigating parent-child relationships, and perinatal mental health. I work best with folks who are committed to a process of turning inward - those who want to interrogate their familial systems and dynamics, unlearn harmful patterns of relating, and work with trans-generational patterns of trauma and healing. I am invested in centering your lived experience and how it impacts the way you move through the world as well as how you relate to yourself and others.

My ideal client is ready to show up for themselves. They have an idea or sense that there are things to work on. Maybe they know what the issues are or maybe they'd like some guidance through that exploration. The first step is seeking connection. A therapeutic relationship can be powerful towards setting and achieving goals! I understand there is a lot of stigma around mental health services. I have both personal and professional experience in this realm. I strive to create an open and safe space for clients regardless of where they are on their journey.

I believe each person has the power to expand their agency and live in more authenticity and alignment with their values. I work with individuals, couples, and families to build upon strengths and lean into growing edges, to deepen our connection to meaning, body, and relationships and see new paths forward. Many of my clients are care workers, poly/ENM couples, and trans folks navigating gender identity and family relationships.

I specialize in working with clients who have experienced trauma including PTSD, C-PTSD and dissociative disorders. I provide a safe, nonjudgmental, identity-affirming space where we can explore what may be causing difficulty in your life. I help my clients develop self-compassion and acceptance while addressing and healing the root causes of their trauma, anger, anxiety, depression, and grief. I view psychotherapy as a collaborative experience between therapist and client. Together we will envision where you want to be and I will support and challenge you to grow and heal.

I believe therapy is most effective when the clinician presents themselves as the client does-a person with a unique past and personality. When you take out a therapist’s humanity and lived experience, there is no true therapeutic connection and trust from the client. That’s why I strive to be both a person and therapist through my conversational, authentic, and collaborative style. I am experienced in serving those with chronic mental health issues including anxiety, depression, PTSD, borderline personality disorder, bipolar disorder, psychotic disorders, psychosomatic symptoms, and somatic disorders.

I have been a psychologist for 35 years and work with clients who are interested in exploring their options in how they live in the world. I see the therapeutic process as a dialogue between two partners in exploration and developing resources. For me choice supports health and that clients sometime come with a lack of awareness of these choices or needing to develop more internal and interpersonal supports. I work in the present moment as well as connecting present patterns to client's history as well as the larger contextual field. My approach is relational and somatic from a Gestalt Therapy base.

Unable to accept new clients at this time.I believe it takes strength and courage to acknowledge difficult experiences, feelings and life stressors. Sometimes things can build up individually or within relationships and become overwhelming.

I have lived experience with neurodivergence, depression, anxiety, and being in a plus sized body. I have experience working with the above as well as being trained in working with clients with BPD and clients who just feel like they need a safe space to discuss day to day life stressors. I stress to my clients that therapy is for everyone and there is no such thing as a "trauma olympics" where something is better or worse than others! I work with clients age 6+.

Do you feel that no matter how much you understand yourself you still struggle to change and to heal? Do you feel like you're not able to be your best self in your relationships or with your work? Do you always put yourself last and find it challenging to meet your own needs for self care? Do you need a safe place to heal from trauma? Please know that you are not alone

As your therapist, I will help you cultivate self-compassion, curiosity, and courage to confront your life challenges. My work with each client is individualized and collaborative depending on a multitude of client factors. My approach is warm, well-rounded, and authentic. I will ensure that your therapeutic outcomes are meaningful and sustainable. You will feel seen, heard, and supported in every step of our work. I use an integrated trauma-informed, feminist, humanistic, psychoanalytic, relational, and existential approach to therapy that fosters openness and curiosity.

I support people to balance their nervous system by contextualizing their experience within the Polyvagal theory. I work with attachment wounding to rewire the neural circuitry of the brain and utilize somatic experience to create an internal sense of safety. This will create a loving and kind environment to come home to when all other coping skills are not working. With commitment to the process and yourself, your life is guaranteed to change. I utilize blends of Spiritual Psych, IFS, EMDR, Gestalt, Existential, Somatic Experiencing, Solution Focused, PACT and Positive Psychology.

Do you keep finding yourself in the same painful loops in your life, emotions, & relationships? It’s my goal to help you understand where the patterns & behaviors that cause you pain and suffering originate from. I will guide you to acceptance & non judgement for the parts of yourself that seem unlovable. Together, we will explore how your early life experiences shaped the way you see yourself & the world now. Compassionately, through somatic work, shadow work & inner child work, we will heal & rewire thought & behavioral patterns from the root of where they stem so that you can find empowerment, authenticity, fulfillment, and joy.

I believe how humans experience growth and how they change are the big themes of psychology. We grow and change through our relationships with others, but sometimes we can get stuck in certain relationship patterns that cause distress. Uncovering the dynamics of these patterns, how they affect our self-concept, our feelings, our understanding of others, and our nervous systems can be healing. Practicing new patterns of emotion, thought, and behavior, whether through talk- therapy, mindfulness practices, or a combination of both, can assist growth and change toward more compassion and connection in our lives.

Throughout my personal and professional journey, I have realized there are more ways to support individuals in our current climate. I am looking to integrate a more balanced, somatic approach to guide people in coping and healing from their experiences. I use a lens to see a person that is not only a "diagnosis" or presentation of symptoms, but someone who is wanting to cope from surviving their hardships.

I see therapy as a way of deepening relationship to purpose, land, bodies, and each other. I help people build capacity so they can show up in more meaningful ways in their relationships and the world.  I draw upon body-based (somatic) and insight-based (psychodynamic) therapies to help open up places where people are stuck, uncover what is held in the body and psyche, explore troubled aspects of the self, and create new possibilities.

Currently enrolling for Adult Children of Emotionally Immature Parents Book Study & Processing group for the Fall! I take a holistic approach to healing, because more often than not the environments that contribute to strife are all encompassing. The path to healing is not linear, I enjoy aiding clients through an eclectic approach tailored to fit their needs. It's not about what's wrong with you- it's about what happened to you. I do not view clients as a diagnosis, but dynamic individuals navigating the human experience.

If you experienced sexual violence in the state of PA, ask me about ways to help cover your costs. I use a relational and feminist framework to help clients understand how our relationships and society affect our healing and connections. I have experience treating those with complex trauma, anxiety/depression, relationship issues, and life transitions. I've worked extensively with survivors of sexual/gender-based violence, C/PTSD, workplace harassment, and those with re-traumatizing legal experiences. I'm proficient in working with those in sex work, the LGBTQIA+ community, and those exploring late-diagnosis neurodivergence.

We are a trauma-focused group, working in somatic, narrative, family systems, and cognitive approaches. Whether you need practical skills and empathetic listening, exploring your past and how it affects your present, or processing specific or developmental traumas, we are here to walk with you on your journey. We are LGBTQIA+ affirming.