Exposure Therapy is the frontline treatment for PTSD.

Sometimes, talking about it only gets you so far.

Have you tried therapy before and were unimpressed? Didn’t change what you wanted to change, or change it all the way? Felt like you were just venting and not being pushed? Still struggle with physical symptoms of anxiety, anger, intrusive memories, restless sleep?

You may benefit from exposure therapy.

While talk therapy is incredibly useful, it is also limited. Not all traumas can be described or even remembered. Maybe you can’t explain why you panicked, or what you felt before you punched the wall, or even notice that you tense up when someone sneezes.

Exposure therapy, on the other hand, relies more on building tolerance to what we’re avoiding — what we’re afraid or unable to talk about. Over time, we reduce your fear. We restore trust in your intuition. You can regulate more distressing emotions and expand pleasant ones.

It’s painful, but it’s powerful.

"We're Going on a Bear Hunt." By: Michael Rosen, Illustrated by: Helen Oxenbury

Courage is Built in the Face of Fear

In therapy, we will face things you’d rather avoid. You’ve probably spent years, maybe a lifetime, avoiding these fears.

The truth is, avoidance is not control. When we make decisions out of fear, the fear is really in control.

I want to help you take real control -
which means we’ve got to go through it.

If you are ready to:

  • Feel real peace and calm in your body

  • Recognize and trust your intuitive voice

  • Respond wisely rather than react impulsively

  • Improve your self-esteem and relieve guilt

  • Build intimacy and vulnerability with loved ones

  • Reduce the “war” inside yourself

Fear grows in the dark; together we can bring it to light. I will be with you every step of the way.

Exposure Therapies

  • EMDR

    Helps process past traumatic material, build tolerance to distress in the moment, change negative beliefs, and create desired future changes.

  • Written/Narrative

    Uses writing to focus on trauma-related thoughts and emotions. Both desensitization and cognitive change may promote healing.

  • Cognitive Processing Therapy

    Addresses negative beliefs stemming from the trauma that keep us “stuck,” and teaches about their relationship with emotions. We work to reframe these beliefs and shift emotional states.

  • Prolonged Exposure

    Helps reduce fear associated with the memory and fear of the symptoms themselves (e.g., racing heartbeat, nausea) by using repeated exposure in and out of session.

Schedule Consult

How do we start?

Selecting the right exposure therapy is a collaborative process between you and your clinician.

Exposure therapies can be done in traditional individual sessions or in separate intensives. Intensives are longer sessions designed to expedite the healing process.

In addition to healing from past trauma, exposure therapy can also help expand pleasant emotions and memories, as well as create “templates” for more desirable reactions to situations you’d like to have in the future.

FAQs

  • We will collaborate to determine the best therapy fit. There are a variety of factors that can influence this decision. Ultimately, these therapies all use some form of fear desensitization, distress tolerance building, and cognitive flexibility (e.g., changing thoughts) to create lasting change. So the right fit is less about which treatment is the best and more about which treatment is the best for you.

  • Short answer: maybe.

    Long answer: You will likely find a therapist willing to jump into these treatments right away with you. That’s what typically happens in medical settings. These treatments are very successful - if you complete it. However, many people drop out before finishing, for a variety of reasons.

    My goal is to help increase commitment to, and build stamina for, these therapies. Trauma exposure work is more intense than talk therapy. We spend time building our skillset, rapport and trust in one another, managing expectations, and establishing support outside session. As a result, my treatment completion rate is very high, with clients meeting their treatment goals.

  • As long as it takes. That is not the ideal answer, I know, but it is important to set realistic expectations about therapy — and we simply cannot determine that until we work together for a little while.

    Exposure therapies are designed to be completed in a few months with weekly sessions. This is what you’ll read online and receive in medical facilities. However, in my experience, this is also part of the reason that dropout rates are high — in private practice, there is room for flexibility. Life continues to happen while you’re in treatment, so we build in additional exposure opportunities and debriefing sessions as needed. We also spend significant time preparing for the exposure.