Trauma Focused Therapists in Richmond Heights, MO

Welcome, I'm here to help. I am experienced in assisting children and families who have been affected by trauma and are dealing with its effects, including anxiety, anger issues, post-traumatic stress, depression, and other symptoms. Additionally, I am experienced in working with children who display severe behavioral issues in response to their trauma. I have provided individual and family therapy for children in a Residential Treatment Facility and I'm well-versed in the Foster and Adoptive systems. I also help families struggling with communication issues and children experiencing attachment difficulties with their parents.

Growth and healing is fostered when we feel accepted and heard. I show up for my clients with an inclusive, culturally responsive, and nonjudgmental approach to sessions. I meet you with a supportive and open attitude as you explore your authentic self and grow into your potential. We can get there by learning and then practicing new coping techniques that can improve your quality of life while working to understand the patterns that may have led you to seek support. Together, we can develop a new path with less suffering and a better understanding of yourself and your limits.

Helping clients, whether we meet individually, as couples or in groups, is my highest priority. As a compassionate active listener, I provide a safe, warm, non-judgmental space. Our close relationships within our lives can give us strength but can also create conflict, anxiety, and/or depression. The result may be physical discomfort, low self-esteem, even PTSD, as well as thoughts, feelings, and behaviors that can get in the way of making positive decisions. Working as a team, my clients and I identify behavioral patterns, set goals, and begin a plan to achieve resolution and healing.

Welcome! I offer counseling services for adolescents and young adults who are struggling with relationships (including IPV), life changes, identity, PTSD, anxiety, and depression. My approach to therapy is compassionate, client centered, and emphasizes the mutual development of goals for better emotional, physical, and relationship health. In our initial consultation, we can talk through where you’re at right now, where you’d like to be, and how we can get there in a way that feels comfortable for you. I like to spend time really getting to know you because a solid therapeutic relationship is built upon trust and understanding.

Accepting New Clients! - As an older adult you know that life has a way of throwing you curve balls in way of events or circumstances that make you anxious and may weigh you down emotionally. Do you have a new medical diagnosis? A life-limiting disease or illness? Have physical challenges affected your most important relationships? Did retirement not turn out the way you'd expected? Are you experiencing loss of independence, even loss of control if others are making decisions for you and you're not ready. You may be thinking, “This is unfair, life was not supposed to turn out this way.” Aging is not for the faint of heart!

We are a mental health counseling, private practice servicing clients in Missouri and California. We provide services to children, adolescents, adults, seniors, individuals, couples, families and groups. Our mission at Back to You Counseling and Consultation Services is to assist with your journey to mental wellness.

Hello! If you're reading this, I want you to know you are innately worthy of the care, change, and healing you so deeply desire. On top of that, you hold the power within to make those changes. Not only is this a belief I personally hold, it is one supported by research. On a molecular level, we are wired to develop and change when given what we need. This remains true starting from childhood and beyond into adulthood. Meaning, it's never too late to seek out wholeness and you haven't missed your chance.

A therapist with over a decade of experience, I help people gain insight into their minds, discover their deepest needs and values, and build lives of meaning and purpose. In working with me, people who are experiencing distress learn how to understand and express their feelings, define and develop their strengths, and create secure and stable relationships. I work with a spirit of curiosity and deep interest, helping people get to know themselves better and explore new ways to deal with their challenges.

I excel in working with adults who are ready to become cycle breakers, a.k.a. folks who root out unhealthy patterns within themselves that were originally passed on by others in their environment. My clients tend to be "supersensors" in that they have a predisposition for deeply feeling emotions, and also tend to have lived through some form of trauma, like adverse childhood experiences and systemic oppression. Sessions with me help kick your inner critic in favor of self-validation, process the big emotions that come up while doing this work, and discover who you are underneath the expectations that others imposed on you.

Put most simply, my approach to psychotherapy is centered around helping you come to know yourself as fully as possible. Many people come to me in search of a more depth-oriented approach to therapy. Many approaches out there right now, in the interest of attempting to reduce symptoms as quickly as possible, may miss the mark in terms of understanding the “why” of it all, the more nuanced understanding of why our difficulties and symptoms are there to begin with, how they actually may have been serving us in some way, and their connection to our relational patterns and our past developmental experiences.

Give yourself permission to heal. See the evidence of your work in the enriched connections you create with yourself and the important people in your life. There’s no one right way to heal or care for the self, but there are strategies and approaches that can offer you a stroke of confidence and peace of mind. I approach self-care with a realization that it’s multi-faceted and unique to each of us. I realize that what works well for you may not work well for everyone else.

Mental health issues can manifest in unexpected ways. Do you experience unexplained irritability? Hyper-criticism of yourself and others? Mood swings without any clear cause? Feeling overwhelmed to the point of being unable to organize your day? If so, it's worth considering whether you may be struggling with trauma, anxiety, or depression. Perhaps you may be experiencing Relationship Trauma. Do you ever find yourself constantly questioning or doubting what you once believed to be true? Did everything seem perfect in the beginning, but now you can barely recognize the person in front of you?

I am a licensed clinical psychologist who specializes in providing quality, informed psychotherapy as well as diagnostic assessment. It is truly amazing how life changing the therapy process can be, and I am committed to working in a genuine and collaborative way in order to help people through their path of recovery. I help people achieve symptom relief but also get to the root source of the problem for lasting positive change and improved life satisfaction.

I know that finding the right therapist can feel like an overwhelming process. That is where I come in. My goal is to provide you with a safe place to feel seen and heard. A place to thrive not just survive. I believe that therapy is designed to reflect a sense of honor and respect for someone’s story to achieve not only symptom remission but also a deeper, long-lasting sense of healing. I am passionate about working with individuals to improve their quality of life, increase internal connection, implement adaptive skills, and better their relationships with others, food, body, and movement.

I have provided therapy for children, adults, couples, and families for over 20 years. I help my client's overcome emotional difficulties, improve communication skills, and strengthen relationships. I work collaboratively with parents in helping children develop positive behaviors, interpersonal skills, and optimum mental health. I have advanced training in Play Therapy, Gestalt Therapy, and Dialectical Behavior Therapy (DBT). I am also a certified Neurofeedback clinician.

Is your mind going constantly? Are you longing to relax, be present, and enjoy your life, but instead are feeling overwhelmed and defeated? The people I work with are intelligent, determined, and also incredibly frustrated. They are an amazing support for others but often incredibly hard on themselves. My clients tend to dazzle everyone around them one minute and feel like an imposter, completely crushed by the details and stuck in a state of struggle the next.

Many of us face challenges that affect all aspects of our lives. If you are worried about your health or the health of a loved one, your financial situation, adjusting to working from home, currently not working or afraid that you will not be able to work, dealing with increased family tensions, feeling the loss of not being able to see your family members, or the grief of having lost someone, you don’t need to face these challenges alone.