How We Work
Trauma and chronic pain therapy for adults in Leawood
What to Expect
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What to Expect *
First session: We talk about what brought you here, what you've tried before, and what you're hoping will be different. I explain how somatic work functions and answer your questions. No pressure, no commitment, just seeing if this is the right fit.
Ongoing sessions: We work with what's alive in your body during our time together. I might ask you to notice where you feel something physically. We might use eye positions (Brainspotting) to access deeper processing. We might work with different "parts" of you (IFS) that are trying to protect you in conflicting ways.
Between sessions: You might notice shifts, less reactivity, better sleep, physical pain decreasing, and more capacity to handle triggers. Or you might not notice much at first. Nervous system work is cumulative, not linear.
What We Work On Together
Trauma & PTSD
Whether it's a single event or years of complex trauma, we work with how it lives in your nervous system—not just your memory.
Hypervigilance
Always on edge, scanning for threats, feeling unsafe even when you're safe. This is your nervous system trying to protect you—we teach it new responses.
Chronic Pain
Pain that doctors can't explain. Pain that persists after the tissue heals. Pain that's connected to stress or emotions. Pain Reprocessing Therapy retrains your brain's pain signals.
Depression
When depression lives in your body as heaviness, numbness, or exhaustion, somatic work helps you reconnect with feeling a sense of aliveness and life force.
ADHD
ADHD in adulthood is more than just losing your keys! We work somatically to help you calm the waves of emotional dysregulation and ease rejection sensitivity to find a sense of belonging and self-acceptance.
Relationship Patterns
Attachment wounds show up in your body first—tightness, shutdown, panic. We work with the somatic experience, then the pattern.
Anxiety & Panic
When your body is stuck in fight-or-flight mode, thinking your way out doesn't work. We calm your nervous system first.
Anger & Emotional Dysregulation
When emotions feel too big to handle, we work with the physical sensations and invite the body to move through the expression of the emotion.
Religious Deconstruction
Exiting a high-control religious environment can leave your nervous system dysregulated and your heart grieving the loss of community, identity, and certainty. Together, we work at your pace to rebuild a more authentic sense of who you are and what you value.
The Modalities I Use
Somatic Experiencing (SE)
Releases trauma stored in the nervous system by working with body sensations, not just talking about what happened.
Brainspotting
Uses eye positions to access deep brain processing where trauma and pain are stored.
Pain Reprocessing Therapy (PRT)
Retrains your brain to stop generating pain signals when there's no physical danger—especially effective for chronic pain.
Internal Family Systems (IFS)
Works with the different parts of you (the part that panics, the part that shuts down, the part that pushes through) to help them stop fighting each other.
All of these approaches share one thing: they trust your body's ability to heal when given the right support.
Let’s Talk.
Starting therapy shouldn't feel intimidating. I offer a free 15-minute consultation - no pressure, no obligation. Just a chance to see if we're a good fit.