Trauma & CPSTD Therapy
in Athens, GA
You may be carrying trauma from a specific moment or from a lifetime of moments that have led you to feel unsafe. Somatic Experiencing, a form of somatic therapy, focuses on supporting your nervous system, where trauma can stay stuck, so you can begin to feel safer in your body and in your life. I work with adults living with PTSD or complex PTSD (CPTSD), in person in Athens, GA and online across Georgia.
What is Complex Trauma (CPTSD)?
Complex trauma develops from repeated or ongoing experiences, often beginning in childhood and in close relationships, rather than from a single event. When these experiences leave lasting effects, it’s often called complex PTSD (CPTSD). PTSD is often linked to a specific event that marks a “before and after,” but complex trauma rarely has one obvious moment to point to. Instead, the feeling of being unsafe may have been present for as long as you can remember, in relationships that seemed normal at the time.
A diagnosis can help you understand yourself and choose treatment, but you don’t need one to start working with me. If any of this sounds familiar, you’re in the right place.
A note on diagnosis: Complex PTSD is recognized as a distinct diagnosis by the World Health Organization’s ICD-11, but isn’t listed separately in the DSM-5-TR. Many people with complex trauma symptoms meet criteria for PTSD or another trauma-related diagnosis, and a clinician can help sort out which fits if needed.
How Trauma Can Show Up
You may be beginning to notice that these experiences have left you on high alert, expecting others to hurt you, or making yourself small to avoid conflict. Trauma can show up in ways that aren’t always obvious:
In your body: startling easily, constant tension, feeling numb or disconnected, pain or fatigue that flares with stress
In your emotions: feeling either overwhelmed or shut down, shame that’s hard to explain, flashbacks (feeling as if moments from your past are happening now)
In your relationships: people pleasing, difficulty trusting or feeling close to others, expecting others to hurt you
In how you move through life: trying to hold it all together, being hard on yourself, feeling on guard even when things are fine
These responses are understandable given what you’ve been through. Not everyone experiences all of them. If some of this sounds familiar, somatic therapy, which focuses on supporting your nervous system, may be a helpful place to start.
When Your Nervous System Gets Stuck
The “window of tolerance” is the idea that your nervous system has an “optimal arousal zone” in which you can function and manage day-to-day stressors. You are alert enough to think clearly and respond to what’s important to you, while not being so alert that you can’t relax when appropriate.
After experiencing trauma, that window may shrink, meaning it takes less to send your nervous system into hyperarousal (high alert) or hypoarousal (shutdown). A nervous system shaped by trauma can feel like it’s always swinging between overwhelm and shutdown, struggling to find a sense of grounding and safety from day to day.
Fight, flight, and freeze are natural survival responses. Freeze is the one your nervous system uses when it isn’t possible or safe to fight or flee. It dials down sensation to manage danger in the least painful way possible in that moment. With complex trauma especially, this can become a more chronic state that can lead to brain fog, emotional numbness, and dissociation (feeling spaced out or disconnected from your body or surroundings).
Your nervous system is meant to move between these responses, but sometimes it can get stuck in one of them or struggle to find its way back to regulation. Somatic Experiencing is designed to gently support your nervous system in widening its window of tolerance over time, at a pace that feels manageable.
Start with a free 20-minute consultation. See whether it feels like the right fit and ask any questions you may have.
Build safety and resources. The first few sessions focus on getting to know your nervous system, learning simple exercises, and finding what feels supportive even in small ways.
Map your patterns. We identify the patterns showing up now, without having to sift through every detail of what happened, and set goals and ways to track your progress.
Practice at your pace. We use gentle, body-based work in small steps, and you’re always welcome to say no to any exercise. Over time, your nervous system can build more capacity and options for responding to triggers.
One sign this may be supporting you is your responses feel more manageable and you’re able to feel more regulated without having to force yourself to appear calm.
How Somatic Trauma Therapy Works with Me
Learn more about how Somatic Experiencing works and what a session looks like.
FAQ
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Somatic Experiencing (SE) is a body-oriented therapy for trauma and chronic stress. Instead of focusing only on thoughts and stories, SE tracks body sensations and nervous system responses, using gentle, paced exercises to help your system complete stuck survival responses and return to a sense of safety. Learn more about how SE works.
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Somatic Experiencing is an emerging approach with promising but still-developing research. Randomized trials have found reductions in PTSD symptoms, though results vary and more research is needed. I combine SE with my years of experience in psychotherapy and cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT), which offers more options when talk therapy alone does not resolve body-based symptoms.
Read the research: Brom et al., randomized trial in PTSD; Andersen & Lahav, randomized trial in chronic low back pain with PTSD symptoms; More in SEI’s SE research library
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Talk therapy is valuable and works mainly with thoughts and understanding. Nervous system responses often move faster than thought, so insight alone doesn’t always change how your body reacts. SE includes conversation, too, but also works with body sensations and nervous system responses to support change from the bottom up. Learn more about how SE differs from talk therapy.
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No. Some context may help, but details are not required. In SE, we work with nervous system patterns that are present in the body now, so I can support you with these patterns even if I don’t know everything that happened in the past. When it comes to talking and any SE exercise, we always go at the pace your body can handle. Learn more about pacing and titration.
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“Somatic release” isn’t a term we use in SE, and it often refers to big, cathartic moments. Natural discharge (like a deep breath, a wave of warmth, or a shiver) can happen in sessions, but we don’t chase it. Because we work in small, titrated steps, change tends to be subtle and build over time, which is more sustainable and less likely to overwhelm your nervous system. Learn more about what you can expect from SE sessions.
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No. You’ll still have hard days and get triggered sometimes. Regulation isn't about staying calm all the time; it’s about responding in a way that helps you take care of yourself and return to a place of settling once it’s safe to do so. Learn more about nervous system regulation.
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Somatic Experiencing practitioners complete a three-year professional training through Somatic Experiencing International (SEI) and earn the Somatic Experiencing Practitioner (SEP) certificate. I’m a licensed clinical social worker (LCSW) with an SEP certificate, and I also serve as an assistant at SEI trainings, helping teach SE to other practitioners across the country. Learn more about me.
You set the pace.
A free 20-minute consultation is a low-pressure way to ask questions and see whether somatic trauma therapy with me feels like the right fit. No diagnosis or details required.