What trauma therapy is here
Trauma isn't just the memory of what happened. It's also the way your body learned to survive it. After difficult experiences, the nervous system can stay braced: scanning for threat, shutting down to cope, or swinging between the two. You may look fine on the outside while feeling overwhelmed, numb, or restless on the inside.
My approach to trauma therapy is slow, structured, and grounded in the present moment. We don't have to excavate the past before your body has the tools to handle it. The first priority is safety — helping you feel stable enough, resourced enough, and connected enough to explore what needs healing.
From there, we use evidence-based and experiential approaches to work with the patterns trauma leaves behind: avoidance, shame, hypervigilance, emotional flooding, and a sense of being distant from yourself or others. The goal isn't to erase the past. It's to help you live with more steadiness, choice, and self-compassion now.
That work is integrative by design. In a single course of therapy we may combine Acceptance and Commitment Therapy for avoidance, Compassion Focused Therapy for shame and self-criticism, somatic and mindfulness practices for regulation, and — only if you want it — optional Reiki or sound healing as a low-demand way to practice rest. You choose what's included, and we can add or set aside any piece as we go.
Virginia Beach brings its own context to this work. Many clients here are active-duty service members, veterans, military spouses, first responders, and healthcare workers — people trained to stay functional under pressure, who often arrive competent, composed, and exhausted. Sessions are available in person locally and by telehealth anywhere in Virginia, with evening options for shifting schedules, deployments, and PCS moves.
Who This Is For
You don't need a diagnosis to begin
- PTSD, complex trauma, or developmental trauma
- Nervous system dysregulation — hypervigilance, shutdown, or overwhelming emotional waves
- A single difficult event that still feels present in your body or relationships
- High-functioning patterns that mask exhaustion, anxiety, or disconnection
- People who want body-based, experiential support alongside psychotherapy
How I Work
A paced, integrative approach
Safety first
Before anything else, we build stability. That means grounding tools, clear boundaries, consent, and a pace that respects your nervous system.
Evidence-based foundation
I draw from Acceptance and Commitment Therapy and Compassion Focused Therapy — well-researched approaches that help with avoidance, shame, and emotional overwhelm after trauma.
Somatic and body-aware
Trauma lives in the body as much as the mind. Drawing on somatic experiencing principles, we use gentle body awareness to notice sensations, tension, and survival responses without forcing anything open — which matters especially with complex PTSD (C-PTSD) and developmental trauma.
Regulation practices
Mindfulness, grounding, breathwork, and guided imagery are used to help you develop a steadier internal state — both in session and in daily life.
Compassion for the parts of you that adapted
Many trauma responses once kept you safe. We work with self-compassion rather than pushing, judging, or trying to override survival patterns.
What to Expect
From first contact to ongoing sessions
- 1
Reach out
Send a brief email through the contact page or book directly through Headway. We'll confirm whether we're a good fit and set up a first appointment.
- 2
Build safety and stabilization
Early sessions focus on understanding what you're experiencing now and building tools that help you feel more grounded — inside and outside the room.
- 3
Work with trauma patterns at the right pace
As stability grows, we explore the emotions, beliefs, body sensations, and avoidance patterns connected to difficult experiences — always at a pace you can tolerate.
- 4
Reconnect with what matters
Trauma can shrink life. We also work toward what you want your life to include: relationships, meaning, presence, and a sense of yourself beyond survival.
Is This the Right Fit?
When trauma therapy here may not be enough
Inner Peace Counseling is not a crisis or intensive outpatient service. If you are in active danger, having thoughts of harming yourself or others, or need immediate psychiatric stabilization, please call or text 988 or go to your nearest emergency room. When you're safe and stable, trauma therapy can be a powerful next step.