in-person & Telehealth Therapy services in California

You might find yourself holding your breath in the baby aisle at Target. Or feeling your chest tighten when a baby cries in a restaurant. Maybe you said yes to the baby shower and regretted it the minute you walked through the door. That kind of reaction isn’t just emotional, it’s physiological.

When trauma occurs around something as biologically and socially loaded as pregnancy or birth, the nervous system can stay on high alert long after the event itself. That’s why seemingly ordinary moments, like walking past a crib display or hearing a lullaby, can feel like they hit out of nowhere. Your brain is doing its best to protect you, even if it doesn’t always feel that way.
Therapy can help bring those patterns into awareness, calm the body’s response, and gently reframe how you relate to your story. We’ll create space for the grief, the anger, the confusion,  without rushing toward resolution.

And over time, something subtle but powerful begins to shift. You may still feel the sting in certain moments, but you’ll also feel more grounded when it comes. You’ll start to trust your own pacing in conversations with other moms. You’ll be able to hold your own truth, even when others can’t understand it, and still show up for connection, joy, and a life that feels real and meaningful to you.

You might find yourself coming home and feeling like a stranger in your own house. Or maybe it’s your partner who feels like they’re walking on eggshells. Your kid says something small, and it lands like a punch in the gut. The shift between worlds, from the intensity of the job to the needs of home, can be jarring. And even when everyone’s trying their best, it can still feel like no one really sees what the other is carrying.

The truth is, first responder families live inside the ripple effects of the job. Maybe it’s the silence after a tough call, the quick temper, the distance. Maybe it’s feeling guilty for not being more available, or struggling to feel present when the weight hasn’t lifted. These reactions aren’t personal, they’re patterned, physiological, and deeply human. In therapy, we create space to name what’s happening and why. We work toward tools that help calm the nervous system, communicate across the gap, and reconnect without the pressure to pretend everything’s fine.

And with time, things can shift. You might find it easier to talk without needing all the right words. You might feel less reactive, more grounded, and more able to show up for your people, not by shutting them out or shielding them, but by letting them in, in a way that’s safe for everyone. This is where families can begin to feel like a team again.

You’re the one people turn to for answers, inspiration, and strength. But being “on” all the time can come at a cost. The constant output, the pressure to perform, the unspoken rule that there’s no space for being unsure or undone — it builds. Maybe you’ve noticed that even in your rare quiet moments, the tension doesn’t really leave. Maybe it’s harder to sleep, harder to breathe, harder to feel present in your own life.

In high-visibility or high-stakes roles, the mental load is enormous. It's not just stress you're having to navigate, but immense isolation as well. Who do you talk to when everyone looks to you? Where do you go when you need help but feel like asking for it might shake the image you've worked so hard to maintain?

This is where therapy becomes more than just support , it becomes strategy. Together, we make sense of what’s happening beneath the surface, develop tools to protect your energy, and build space where your identity isn’t wrapped up in your output.

And most importantly, it’s done on your terms, with respect for your privacy, your time, and your values. You’ll walk away with more clarity, stronger boundaries, and the sense that you don’t have to choose between success and self-preservation. You can have both.

You might know the timeline. You might have already talked it through. And still, your body responds like it’s happening now.

You freeze up in moments you wish you could engage. You shut down, lose your words, or feel suddenly distant. Maybe your chest tightens in places that feel familiar but not safe. These aren’t overreactions, they’re survival responses your nervous system learned to rely on.

In our work, we use methods like EMDR and somatic interventions to help your brain and body reconnect in ways that feel manageable. That might mean identifying the triggers behind your shutdowns, or finding resources in your body that help you stay present.

There’s no pressure to re-tell your story in vivid detail. Instead, we work slowly and intentionally, helping your system update patterns that once kept you safe but are no longer needed.

Over time, this kind of work can reduce reactivity, increase a sense of internal safety, and support greater connection with yourself, your body, and others. The goal isn’t to erase what happened. It’s to help you carry it differently.

Your body tenses before you speak up. Conflict feels threatening, even when it’s mild. You go blank, compliant, or overly accommodating, then feel frustrated with yourself afterward.

These reactions don’t come from weakness or indecision. They come from a nervous system that learned early how to preserve connection under pressure.

When those patterns are no longer needed but still running in the background, they can quietly shape relationships, work, and identity in ways that feel hard to change through willpower alone. Somatic and EMDR therapy focus on how experiences live in the body,  not just how they’re remembered. We pay attention to breath, sensation, and nervous system responses that signal when safety feels compromised.

Rather than pushing for insight or exposure, we work slowly and collaboratively to help your system update what it no longer needs to protect against.As regulation increases, many people notice a greater tolerance for disagreement, clearer access to personal needs and preferences, and less automatic guilt or collapse around boundaries

Healing doesn’t require reliving everything, it just requires the right conditions for your system to recalibrate.

You do not have to revisit every trauma to experience relief.
EMDR intensives work by identifying the beliefs, sensations, and neural patterns contributing to your current symptoms. With preparation and intentional focus, we engage the brain’s natural processing systems to reduce emotional reactivity, clarify internal conflicts, and support more adaptive responses, often in far less time than weekly therapy requires.

Sessions are typically a half-day or full day and include thorough pre-assessment, resourcing, EMDR processing, and integration work. The pace is set collaboratively to ensure the process remains grounded, contained, and effective.

Many clients find this format not only efficient, but empowering. You walk away with tools for self-regulation, insight into the origin of your responses, and a sense of clarity that may have previously felt out of reach. EMDR intensives are not a replacement for ongoing therapy, but they can be a valuable reset, accelerator, or adjunct to your existing care.