FAQs
Sessions are a usually 60 minutes long. They are designed to feel supportive, confidential and to provide a space to explore your thoughts, emotions, and experiences. Depending on your needs, sessions may include conversation, skill-building, emotional processing, and mind–body-based strategies. Each session is guided by your goals and current concerns, with flexibility to adapt as your needs change.
What are sessions like?
How many session will I need and how often?
The frequency of sessions depends on your goals, needs, and current level of support. Most clients benefit from meeting weekly or biweekly, especially at the beginning of therapy, as consistency plays a key role in meaningful progress. It can be difficult to do deeper work in sessions that occur only occasionally or once a month.
As progress is made, many clients transition to monthly or maintenance sessions, or schedule appointments as needed. You are always welcome to adjust your frequency over time and increase sessions again during periods of stress, transition, or change.
Can I use my insurance for sessions?
I accept insurance through Octave Therapy. If you would like to use your benefits, please reach out to learn more about the enrollment process.
How is trauma approached in therapy?
Trauma work is approached with care, collaboration, and respect for your pace. Sessions focus first on building emotional safety, stability, and trust before exploring difficult experiences. You will never be pressured to share more than you are ready for.
Therapy is guided by your goals and comfort level, using evidence-based, trauma-informed approaches to support healing and resilience.
Emotionally and mentally balanced; calm, grounded, and self-aware.
Positioned in a state of stability, clarity, or alignment.
Having a central focus; directed toward what is most important.
Being centered helps create a sense of safety in the body and mind, which is especially important for those healing from trauma. Trauma can leave us feeling scattered, on edge, or disconnected from ourselves. Centering practices—like slowing the breath, grounding through the senses, or reconnecting to the present moment—support the nervous system in calming down.
When we are centered, we’re better able to notice what’s happening inside us without becoming overwhelmed. This makes it easier to process emotions, respond rather than react, and feel more in control. Over time, returning to a centered state builds resilience and allows space for healing to take root.
What do you mean by “Centered Self”
Why do EMDR?
Someetimes our brains do not fully process difficult or traumatic experiences the way they are meant to. Normally, when something upsetting happens, your brain processes the event, stores it as a memory, and allows it to fade naturally into the background. But if an experience is too intense or overwhelming, the brain’s processing system can become disrupted. The memory, along with the emotions, body sensations, and negative beliefs formed in that moment, can get “stuck.”
When that happens, reminders of the experience such as a sound, smell, place, or even a thought can make it feel as though the event is happening all over again. This is why people sometimes continue to struggle with anxiety, low self-esteem, or painful emotions long after the event has passed. EMDR helps the brain finish what it could not complete at the time. During an EMDR session, you focus briefly on the memory while engaging in bilateral stimulation such as gentle back and forth eye movements, tapping, or sounds. This rhythm activates both sides of the brain, allowing it to reprocess the memory and integrate it into your broader life story.
Through this process, the memory becomes unstuck. The emotional intensity begins to fade, and the brain is able to link the once distressing experience with more adaptive information such as “I’m safe now,” “It wasn’t my fault,” or “I have control.”
The brain’s integration process is similar to how physical healing works. When you get a cut, your body knows how to repair itself unless something blocks the process. EMDR removes those mental and emotional blocks, allowing your mind to complete its natural healing cycle. Over time, the memory remains, but it no longer holds power over how you think, feel, or respond in the present.