Trauma Therapy in Durham, NC + Virtually

You don’t need a specific event or diagnosis to benefit from trauma therapy. Many people come in feeling anxious, overwhelmed, shut down, disconnected, or stuck in patterns they don’t fully understand. You might notice things like difficulty trusting others, a harsh inner critic, emotional numbness, or feeling easily overwhelmed. If something in your past still feels unresolved or continues to affect you, therapy can help. Together, we can explore what your experiencing and how they may connect to the past.

Trauma therapy isn’t about forcing you to relive painful experiences. Instead, we move at a pace that feels safe and manageable and focus on what’s most important to you. We create a space of emotional safety that will help you connect with your emotions and body, and gently process experiences that may have felt overwhelming to face alone.

I work with a wide range of traumatic experiences and trauma-related mental health challenges, including:

-Childhood emotional neglect or abuse
-Difficult family relationships or attachment wounds
-Medical trauma or chronic illness experiences
-Relationship trauma or betrayal
-Experiences of loss, instability, or overwhelming stress

When people hear the word trauma, they often think of what is often called “Big T” trauma: experiences that are clearly overwhelming or life-threatening, such as accidents, abuse, violence, or major loss. These experiences can have a profound impact on the nervous system and emotional well-being.

But trauma doesn’t only come from a single dramatic event.

Many people are affected by what is often call “little t” trauma: experiences that may not look traumatic from the outside, but still deeply affect how safe, supported, or understood someone felt.

This might include things like:

-Growing up in an environment where emotions weren’t acknowledged or supported
-Feeling chronically criticized or like you had to be “perfect” to be accepted
-Navigating unpredictable caregivers or family conflict
-Feeling responsible for other people’s emotions
-Repeated experiences of rejection, dismissal, discrimination or not being truly seen, respected, or accepted.

Over time, these experiences can shape how you relate to yourself and others. Therapy offers a space to slow down, make sense of these experiences, and begin to process them in a supportive space. 

Trauma therapy helps your nervous system make sense of and safely feel what hasn’t been fully processed. Over time, this can lead to:

-Increased emotional regulation

-Reduced anxiety, shame, or self-criticism

-More effective boundaries in relationships

-A deeper sense of connection to yourself

-Shifting of internalized limiting beliefs

Rather than just understanding your experiences, you begin to feel differently inside them.

No. You are always in control of what you share and when. We don’t need to go into every detail of your past for healing to happen. Often, we focus more on how your experiences are affecting you now and help your system process those feelings safely, without overwhelming you.

My approach is relational, process-based and experiential, with a strong foundation in AEDP (Accelerated Experiential Dynamic Psychotherapy). This means we focus not only on symptoms, but also on your emotional experience, nervous system, and underlying patterns keeping you stuck in dysregulation.

Healing happens through feeling supported, understood, and not alone with your experiences. Together, we create a space where your emotions can be safely explored and processed. Click here to learn more about my style and approach.

I offer in person therapy for individuals located in Durham, NC and across North Carolina virtually. We can talk through what format feels like the best fit for you during a consultation.