EMDR & IFS Therapy in Orange County

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Gentle, effective therapy to help you move through what’s been holding you back.

If you’ve tried traditional talk therapy and still feel stuck, overwhelmed, or disconnected from yourself or your relationships, EMDR and Internal Family Systems (IFS) therapy offer a different path.

These approaches don’t just help you understand what happened.

They help your nervous system and inner world actually heal.

When Insight Isn’t Enough

Many thoughtful, high-achieving people come to therapy saying:

  • “I know where this comes from, but I still feel it in my body.”

  • “I understand my patterns, but I can’t seem to change them.”

  • “I’ve talked about this for years.”

  • “I feel emotionally stuck.”

Talk therapy can be incredibly valuable. But for trauma, attachment wounds, and chronic stress, insight alone often isn’t enough.

That’s because trauma lives in the nervous system, not just the mind.

EMDR and IFS work directly with the parts of you that hold emotional pain, survival responses, and protective patterns.

This is why many clients experience deeper change, faster.

What Is EMDR Therapy?

EMDR (Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing) is an evidence-based trauma therapy that helps your brain reprocess distressing memories so they no longer feel overwhelming or present-day.

Instead of reliving painful experiences, EMDR allows your nervous system to finally complete what was left unfinished.

Through bilateral stimulation (such as eye movements or tapping), EMDR helps your brain move stuck memories into long-term storage, where they belong.

Clients often notice:

  • reduced emotional intensity

  • fewer intrusive thoughts

  • less reactivity

  • improved sleep

  • increased sense of safety

  • relief from anxiety or panic

  • greater emotional clarity

EMDR doesn’t erase memories. It changes how they live inside you.

What EMDR Helps With

EMDR is especially effective for:

  • Childhood or developmental trauma

  • Writer’s block
  • Creative shutdown
  • Public speaking anxiety
  • Performance anxiety
  • Perfectionism
  • Fear of visibility
  • Trauma and PTSD
  • Anxiety and panic
  • Attachment wounds
  • Difficult breakups or betrayals
  • Medical trauma or accidents
  • Chronic stress
  • Negative core beliefs (“I’m not enough,” “I’m unsafe,” “I don’t matter”)
It allows your system to release what it’s been carrying.

What Is Internal Family Systems (IFS) Therapy?

IFS is a compassionate, evidence-based approach that views your inner world as made up of different “parts” each trying to help you survive.

Some parts hold pain. Some protect you. Some manage emotions. Some learned to stay strong.

None of them are bad.

IFS helps you develop a relationship with these parts rather than fighting them.

Instead of pushing symptoms away, we get curious about them.

Clients often discover:

  • the anxious part trying to keep them safe

  • the perfectionist part working to prevent rejection

  • the numb part protecting from overwhelm

  • the angry part guarding boundaries

  • the younger parts still holding old hurts

Through IFS, you learn how to lead your internal system from a grounded, compassionate place — not from survival.

What IFS Helps With

IFS is powerful for:

  • anxiety and emotional overwhelm
  • relationship patterns
  • inner conflict or self-criticism
  • burnout
  • attachment injuries
  • trauma
  • identity struggles
  • feeling disconnected from yourself
  • decision making 
  • creativity & motivation 
  • sleep improvement
  • feeling more like your "best" self again 

IFS doesn’t try to “fix” you. It helps you reconnect with the parts of you that need care.

Why EMDR + IFS Together Is So Powerful

When EMDR and IFS are integrated, therapy becomes both deep and gentle.

EMDR helps process trauma stored in the nervous system. IFS helps you relate compassionately to the parts holding that trauma.

Together they:

  • increase emotional safety

  • reduce overwhelm during trauma processing

  • support attachment healing

  • prevent re-traumatization

  • help you stay present and grounded

  • create lasting change

This combination allows us to work with both your biology and your inner world.

How This Is Different From Traditional Talk Therapy

Traditional talk therapy focuses on insight and understanding.

EMDR and IFS go further.

They work directly with:

  • the nervous system
  • emotional memory
  • attachment patterns
  • survival responses
  • protective parts

Rather than revisiting painful stories over and over, we help your system actually resolve them.

Many clients report meaningful shifts in fewer sessions compared to insight-only approaches.

My Approach to EMDR & IFS Therapy

I integrate EMDR and IFS within an attachment-based, trauma-informed framework.

My work is relational, paced, and deeply respectful of your system. You are never pushed. We move at the speed of safety.

I also bring training in Emotionally Focused Therapy and Sensorimotor Psychotherapy, which allows us to address:

  • nervous system regulation

  • relationship dynamics

  • emotional patterns

  • trauma stored in the body

This creates therapy that is both clinically grounded and deeply human.

EMDR & IFS Therapy in Orange County

I work with adults navigating:

  • trauma and attachment wounds

  • anxiety and chronic stress

  • burnout

  • relationship struggles

  • identity transitions

  • feeling emotionally stuck

Whether you’re processing past experiences or wanting to change long-standing patterns, EMDR and IFS provide a path toward healing that feels both effective and compassionate.

What Clients Often Experience

Clients commonly report:

  • feeling calmer in their body

  • less emotional reactivity

  • clearer boundaries

  • improved relationships

  • deeper self-understanding

  • increased confidence

  • a greater sense of wholeness

Healing doesn’t mean forgetting your story. It means no longer being controlled by it.

Begin EMDR & IFS Therapy

If you’re ready for therapy that goes beyond talking and supports real nervous system change, EMDR and IFS may be a powerful fit.

I offer individual therapy in Orange County and would be honored to walk alongside you.

Schedule a consultation to explore working together.

You don’t have to keep carrying this alone.