My Therapy Philosophy

At PHILLY EMDR I focus on providing the most efficient route to healing trauma with adjunctive, intensive EMDR. I work with people that have been through a lot, need some relief, and want to break out of old patterns that don’t allow them to live their life to the fullest. I provide a collaborative therapy experience where you can heal to create the life you dream of after you’ve experienced life’s unexpected pain.

Committing to the intensive process is intense, but no matter what there are core values that I utilize to help you through your experience.

I am person-centered.

I don’t see you as a diagnosis that needs fixing. You’re a unique person with a complex network of thoughts, feelings, relationships, fears, worries, hopes and dreams. You deserve to have your preferences, experience, and intuition centered in your trauma healing.

I am trauma-informed.

I work with folks through a trauma-informed lens. This means we ask the questions, “what’s gotten you this far, and where do you want to go from here”, instead of, what’s wrong with you and how can we fix it?”. This perspective allows for you and and I to work as a team to achieve your goals, no matter what reasons brought you to here. 

Conflict is part of the process.

A common misconception is that therapy should always leave happy, peaceful feelings. While the ultimate goal is usually to feel better in order to live as your best self, the process can contain a lot of internal and relational conflict. Anytime change is introduced into a system (your own internal system or your external system like family or other social network) it can cause unintended ripples. We do plenty of preparation for this before trauma reprocessing, but I think it is important to be clear about the potential for conflict from the beginning. You will gain valuable insight and inevitably have stronger relationships if you are able to transform this conflict during the trauma healing process.

Have more tools for available.

You’ve been doing something right to have made it this far, but the same tools and skills that got you here may not be able to take you much farther. No matter the reasons for seeking out EMDR, you and I will work to identify and understanding your traumatic experiences and how they’ve impacted your sense of self. That information becomes your unique goals with your individualized treatment plan that we use throughout the EMDR intensives. 

Social justice is a priority.

I work with clients to build a solid, trusting relationship so that we can explore the things that trouble you, and find ways to move through them. I strive to be anti-racist, body-positive, sex-positive, and feminist in my counseling perspective and do not shy away from exploring how systemic injustices impact your mental wellbeing when you are impacted by *“isms”. My clinical work is informed by the work I’ve done in conflict transformation, and I apply the principles of systemic conflict analysis to help you as an individual have restoration and reconciliation in your life.

*(racism, sexism, classism, ableism, homophobia, transphobia, fatphobia, ageism, etc)