WAKE
You may have read the books, listened to the podcasts, researched different therapies, seen specialists, and worked hard to understand yourself. You have spent so much of your life doing what you should and taking care of what needs to get done and handling the responsibilities.
Telling yourself that once everything is finished, then you will be able to breathe. Then you will rest. Then you will finally do what you actually want.
But then never comes.
There is always something else to take care of. And some parts of healing cannot be reached through understanding alone. They have to be experienced. You don't just need more information. You are looking for something that actually changes how life feels.
You have become very good at listening to the part of yourself telling you what you need to do to stay safe, keep going, and do the right thing.
But survival is not the same as living.
You don't have to perform here.
ABOUT ELAINE
I am Elaine, a trauma and mind body therapist.
I am curious, and I pay attention. My approach is shaped by both clinical training and lived experience, and by a deep respect for how people adapt and make sense of their lives.
I became a therapist because I believe in the power of therapy and have witnessed the profound ways people change, heal, and find their way back to themselves, or sometimes discover who they are for the first time.
My work is relational, informed by the nervous system and survival physiology. I integrate EMDR, Somatic Experiencing, Pain Reprocessing Therapy, and psychodynamic therapy, continually considering what is most supportive for you.
You may recognize yourself here.
You have been holding a lot.
And it's no longer sustainable.
Highly Sensitive People
You notice subtleties quickly, feel deeply, and often pick up on things that others miss. Sensitivity can be a strength, but it can also leave you carrying more than people realize.
Perfectionism & High Achievement
You may be used to pushing through, holding yourself to high standards, or tying your worth to achievement. Even when things look successful from the outside, there can still be pressure, anxiety, and the feeling that you can never fully exhale.
Care Takers & People Pleasers
You spend a great deal of energy attuning to other people’s needs, emotions, and expectations. Over time, staying focused on everyone else can leave you feeling disconnected from yourself.
Healers & Helping Professionals
NOTICE
You are often the person others turn to for support, guidance, or care. Holding space for everyone else can become exhausting when there is little left for your own needs.
AREAS OF FOCUS
01
Trauma
Intense emotions, difficult relationships, anxiety, depression, feeling numb, and reactivity over the smallest things can all be responses to trauma. Carrying this distress can become unbearable, burdensome, and exhausting.
Trauma can continue to affect how you feel, relate, and respond long after the experience itself has passed.
02
Anxiety & Chronic Stress
When you have been under pressure for a long time, it can be hard to settle or fully relax. You may find yourself preparing for what could go wrong, overthinking, or feeling overwhelmed by things that seem small.
Anxiety and chronic stress can affect sleep, concentration, productivity, relationships, and the ability to feel present in your own life.
03
Chronic Pain & Illness
Chronic pain and illness can affect many life areas, including work or school, relationships, your schedule, and your goals for the future.
Living with these challenges can be exhausting, especially when others cannot see or understand what you are carrying. When your body does not cooperate, it can leave you feeling out of control.
04
Addiction
Maybe it started innocently enough with drinking or experimental drug use. It may have even helped you check out for a while, but over time you may be realizing how many consequences your use has brought.
This can include feeling more isolated, pushing people away, not functioning the way you used to, and being disconnected from yourself.
05
Grief & Loss
Everything may remind you of your loss, while other people do not know what to say or seem to say the wrong thing. You may feel pressure to be “over it” or at least doing better by now.
It can feel impossible to manage the rest of life while carrying so much internal pain. Grief often ebbs and flows, and there is no correct or appropriate timeline.
HOW I WORK
Every person is different, and so is every therapy session. I integrate EMDR,
Somatic Experiencing, Pain Reprocessing Therapy, and psychodynamic therapy
because each offers different ways of understanding and working with your experience.
EMDR
Reprocess trauma and other distressing life experiences so they feel less vivid, intense, and present.
Somatic Experiencing
Work with sensation and movement to help the nervous system change how the body responds to stress and trauma.
Pain Reprocessing Therapy
WITNESS
A big part of what is healing in therapy happens through the relationship itself.
Being fully seen and met in a relationship that feels safe gives you the chance to approach painful experiences that once felt too overwhelming to process. What was once faced alone can now be held in connection.
SOMETHING DEEPER IS POSSIBLE
Over time, you begin to realize that you have more choice than you thought. You can make decisions based on what you want, rather than continuing to organize your life around what feels safest, most responsible, or least likely to disappoint someone else.
You find yourself laughing until your stomach hurts, speaking without rehearsing every word, or spending time with someone without monitoring how you are coming across. Your body is no longer tightly braced. Nothing has to be extensively managed.
Being yourself just feels easier.
As these experiences become more frequent, more of life begins to return with them. The difficult parts of life do not disappear, but they stop taking up all the space. The good memories begin returning too. There is more room for curiosity, energy, creativity, connection, and a greater sense of presence in your own life. You may feel lighter in your body, recover more easily from difficult experiences, or notice that your mind is quieter than it used to be.
For some people, this feels like returning to a version of themselves they remember. For others, it may feel like becoming themselves more fully for the first time.
You remember what it feels like to be yourself.
Trauma therapy in Los Angeles
and online throughout California
Relational, experiential, and mind body therapy for thoughtful adults who miss themselves and the person they thought they could be.