Trauma-Informed Therapy: Individual and Relational Work

With over 33 years of clinical experience, Aleta’s therapy work is grounded in a trauma-informed understanding of how experiences shape the nervous system, sense of safety, and patterns of connection. This includes individual work with trauma and Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) using Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing (EMDR), as well as couple’s therapy using Emotionally Focused Therapy (EFT) and informed by Gottman’s research with couples.

Whether working one-on-one or with partners, the focus is on helping people understand how past experiences and attachment traumas continue to influence present reactions, and supporting new ways of responding that feel safer, steadier, and more connected.

EMDR Therapy for Trauma Recovery

Trauma doesn’t always look dramatic.


Sometimes it looks like exhaustion, anxiety, disconnection, or feeling stuck long after the danger has passed.

EMDR therapy helps the nervous system process experiences that were never fully resolved — so the body and mind can finally rest so .

This is not about reliving the past.
It’s about releasing what no longer needs to be carried.

What Is EMDR Therapy?

EMDR is a trauma-informed therapy approach that helps the brain reprocess distressing experiences in a way that reduces their emotional charge.

Rather than relying solely on talk therapy, EMDR works with how memory, emotion, and the nervous system are wired — allowing the body to complete what it couldn’t at the time of the experience.

Many clients notice:

  • reduced emotional reactivity

  • fewer intrusive thoughts

  • increased calm and clarity

  • a sense of resolution rather than endless analysis

EMDR is evidence-based and widely used for trauma, anxiety, and complex life stressors.

What EMDR Feels Like in Practice

EMDR sessions are paced gently and intentionally.


You remain present, aware, and in control throughout the process.

We move only as fast as your nervous system allows.

My role is to help create a sense of safety and steadiness while your system does the work it already knows how to do. This is not about forcing insight. It’s about allowing resolution.

EMDR May Be Helpful If You

  • feel emotionally “stuck” despite insight

  • carry unresolved trauma or loss

  • experience anxiety, hypervigilance, or shutdown

  • feel disconnected from yourself or others

  • want deep healing without staying in therapy indefinitely

EMDR is especially effective for people who are thoughtful, capable, and tired of managing symptoms instead of resolving them.

Who EMDR May Be Helpful For

EMDR can support people who feel stuck in patterns shaped by past experiences — including trauma, anxiety, relational wounds, or moments that still live in the body even when the mind understands they are over. You don’t need to relive everything or have a single defining event for EMDR to be helpful.

Couples Therapy & Relational Healing (EFT)

Emotionally Focused Therapy (EFT) supports couples in understanding how past experiences shape present patterns of connection, conflict, and withdrawal.

Rather than focusing on blame or technique, this work helps partners recognize the emotional and nervous-system dynamics underneath their interactions — and create safer, more responsive ways of relating.

Couples therapy may be helpful if you are:

  • caught in recurring cycles of conflict or distance

  • struggling to rebuild trust or emotional safety

  • navigating the impact of trauma, loss, or life transitions together

This work is guided by the same trauma-informed principles of safety, pacing, and attunement that shape all of my work with individuals and couples.

My Approach

EMDR is most effective when paired with presence, experience, and respect for the nervous system.

With over three decades of clinical experience, I approach this work with care, patience, and attunement — not urgency.

I don’t push clients to revisit what they aren’t ready to touch.
I don’t believe healing requires endless therapy.

My focus is on helping you regain steadiness, clarity, and a sense of inner trust — so you can move forward in your life with confidence.

Considering Therapy

If you’re curious whether this is a good fit for you, the next step is simply a conversation, call (706) 917-8733.