Trauma and PTSD therapy, at a pace you control

What trauma actually does

Trauma isn't only about what happened. It's about what your nervous system learned from it — that the world is unsafe, that you have to stay alert, that relaxing is dangerous. Those lessons made sense at the time. The difficulty is that they don't switch off when the threat passes.

So you find yourself reacting to things that aren't threatening. Startling at noise. Going cold or numb in conflict. Avoiding places, people, or conversations without quite knowing why. None of that is weakness or overreaction — it's a protective system that hasn't been told it can stand down.

How it shows up

• Intrusive memories or flashbacks — moments that arrive uninvited and feel present rather than past.
• Hypervigilance — scanning constantly, unable to fully settle even somewhere safe.
• Avoidance — steering around reminders, which shrinks your world over time.
• Sleep disruption and nightmares.
• Emotional numbness — feeling flat or disconnected, sometimes from people you love.
• Startle response and physical tension that doesn't resolve.
• Shame or self-blame — a persistent sense that you should have done something differently.

Single events and long-running experiences

People often assume trauma means one catastrophic event. Sometimes it is. But a great deal of what we work with is cumulative — years in an unsafe home, a long emotionally abusive relationship, chronic exposure through a job. That kind of trauma is sometimes called complex trauma, and it tends to shape your sense of self more deeply than a single incident.

If your experience came from an emotionally manipulative relationship, our narcissistic abuse recovery page covers that specific ground in more detail. Many people find both pages describe parts of what they're carrying.

Our approach — and what we don't do

We use CBT and DBT-informed approaches to trauma. In practice that means working with how trauma affects your thoughts, emotions, and reactions now, building concrete skills for managing distress, and gradually reducing the grip that avoidance has on your life.

Worth saying plainly: we don't provide EMDR. It's a well-supported approach and many people specifically look for it — if that's what you want, we'd rather tell you now and help you find a clinician who offers it than have you discover it three sessions in. What we do offer is evidence-based and effective, and for many people it's a better fit precisely because it's less confronting.

Stability comes first

A common fear is that therapy means being walked straight back through the worst thing that happened to you. That's not how good trauma work goes. The first phase is about safety and stabilization — understanding your responses, developing tools that work, and building enough steadiness that difficult material doesn't overwhelm you.

Only then, and only if it's useful, does processing come into it. Some people find enormous relief without ever recounting events in detail. You are never obligated to share more than you want to.

What often travels alongside

Trauma rarely arrives alone. Many people also carry anxiety — particularly the hypervigilant kind — or depression from years of managing it. We address these together, because separating them is usually artificial.

Sessions and coverage

All sessions are by secure video anywhere in New York State, with evening appointments. For trauma work particularly, being in your own space rather than an unfamiliar office is something many clients find helps rather than hinders.

We specialize in NYSHIP and The Empire Plan, working with those benefits out-of-network. We verify your coverage for free before your first session and handle the billing.

This page is general educational information, not medical advice or a diagnosis. If you are in immediate danger, call 911. If you are in crisis, call or text 988. The National Domestic Violence Hotline is available at 1-800-799-7233.