Services in Sherman Oaks, CA

Childhood Trauma, Dissociation, and CPTSD 

You may have spent years wondering why certain situations affect you so deeply.

Maybe you find yourself people-pleasing, overthinking conversations, struggling to trust others, or feeling overwhelmed by emotions that seem bigger than the situation in front of you. You might intellectually know that your childhood is over, yet your body still reacts as though the past is happening in the present.

You may notice yourself becoming easily overwhelmed, constantly on edge, emotionally numb, disconnected from your body, or feeling as though you’re watching your life from the outside looking in. Sometimes people describe feeling foggy, shut down, detached, or like they “aren’t fully here.” These can be signs that your nervous system learned ways to protect you when being fully present felt unsafe.

Many of the people I work with grew up in homes where addiction, instability, criticism, neglect, emotional immaturity, or trauma shaped the way they learned to move through the world. As adults, they often struggle with anxiety, perfectionism, relationship difficulties, emotional flashbacks, dissociation, chronic self-doubt, or a persistent feeling that something is wrong with them.

The truth is that many of these patterns make sense when we understand the experiences that shaped them.

Together, we’ll explore how your childhood experiences may be impacting your relationships, emotions, beliefs about yourself, and nervous system today. Therapy isn’t about forcing yourself to “get over it.” It’s about creating enough safety and understanding that your system no longer has to work so hard to protect you.

Healing involves more than understanding your story intellectually. It also means learning to reconnect with your emotions, your body, and the parts of yourself that may have been carrying pain, fear, shame, or responsibility for far too long.

My goal is to help you develop a deeper sense of self-understanding, self-compassion, and connection so that you can move through life feeling more grounded, present, and authentically yourself.

Anxiety, Perfectionism, and People- Pleasing

Anxiety is more than worrying.

It can look like replaying conversations in your head, constantly second-guessing yourself, seeking reassurance, struggling to make decisions, or feeling like you’re always waiting for something to go wrong.

You may hold yourself to impossible standards and still feel like you’re falling short. No matter how much external validation you receive, the relief never seems to last.

Together, we’ll explore the fears underneath these patterns and develop a different relationship with uncertainty, self-criticism, and perfectionism. My goal isn’t to help you become perfect at managing anxiety. It’s to help you feel less controlled by it.

Internal Family Systems 

One of the primary approaches I use in therapy is Internal Family Systems (IFS), a powerful and compassionate model developed by Dr. Richard Schwartz.

IFS is based on the idea that we all have different parts of ourselves. Perhaps one part of you is highly critical and pushes you to achieve. Another part wants everyone to be happy and avoids conflict at all costs. Another part may carry anxiety, fear, shame, or pain from earlier experiences.

These parts are not bad or broken. They often developed for very good reasons and were trying to help you survive difficult experiences.

Rather than judging or fighting against these parts, IFS helps us get curious about them. Together, we’ll explore the roles they have taken on, what they are trying to protect, and what they might need from you today.

At the center of IFS is the belief that every person has a core Self—a calm, compassionate, grounded presence that exists beneath the anxiety, self-criticism, overwhelm, and protective strategies. Healing happens as we strengthen your connection to this Self and develop a more trusting relationship with the different parts of you.

In our work together, this may look like traditional talk therapy, guided exercises, mindfulness practices, or experiential interventions that help you connect more deeply with your inner world.

IFS can be especially helpful for childhood trauma, anxiety, perfectionism, people-pleasing, dissociation, relationship difficulties, and substance use recovery.

Attachment and Relational Therapy

Our earliest relationships shape the way we view ourselves, others, and the world around us.

If you grew up feeling unseen, criticized, responsible for other people’s emotions, or unsure whether your needs would be met, those experiences can continue to impact your relationships long into adulthood. You may find yourself people-pleasing, struggling with boundaries, fearing abandonment, avoiding vulnerability, or feeling caught in the same relationship patterns over and over again.

Attachment-focused therapy helps us understand how these early experiences may still be influencing the way you connect with others today.

Together, we’ll explore the beliefs, emotions, and protective strategies that developed in response to your relationships growing up. As we gain a deeper understanding of these patterns, new ways of relating become possible.

Healing often happens in relationships. Through our therapeutic relationship and the work we do together, you’ll have the opportunity to develop greater self-trust, healthier boundaries, and more authentic connections with others.

CBT and ERP

I have extensive training in Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT) and Exposure and Response Prevention (ERP), the gold standard treatment for Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder (OCD).

Many of the clients I work with struggle with chronic overthinking, rumination, intrusive thoughts, reassurance-seeking, and difficulty tolerating uncertainty. They often find themselves caught in a cycle of trying to think their way to safety.

For individuals with childhood trauma and CPTSD, these patterns can make a great deal of sense. When your early experiences felt unpredictable, overwhelming, or unsafe, your mind may have learned to stay on high alert, constantly scanning for potential threats, mistakes, or ways to prevent something bad from happening.

Together, we’ll explore how these thought patterns developed while also learning practical skills to help you respond differently to anxiety, fear, and uncertainty. Rather than getting pulled deeper into analysis, you’ll learn how to step back from anxious thoughts and reconnect with the present moment.

My goal is not to help you control every thought that enters your mind. It’s to help you develop a different relationship with those thoughts so they no longer have so much power over your life.

Services

Trauma Recovery
Anxiety and Perfectionism Substance Use Recovery