If I ask a group of people if they were emotionally neglected as children, the vast majority will say they weren’t. Some may ask what emotional neglect means before answering the question. Virtually no one will say they recall experiences of emotional neglect. 

None of this is surprising. We tend to remember events that create memories: family trips, fun times with friends, a significant injury or illness, a painful breakup, holiday celebrations, challenging family situations, etc.. Emotional neglect, on the other hand, involves the absence of something crucial: emotional support, care and validation. It’s much harder to recall not receiving the emotional guidance and attention that we needed (and may not have known was so crucial at the time) than remembering events that did happen.

Brainspotting is an innovative therapy that helps people identify, process, and release emotional pain, trauma, and other psychological distress that may be buried deep in the brain—beyond conscious awareness. By using eye positions to access these hidden experiences, Brainspotting allows the brain to process unresolved emotions in a way that traditional talk therapy often cannot.

Internal Family Systems (IFS) Therapy has gained a lot pf attention in recent years for its unique and effective approach to healing. Developed in the 1990s by Dr. Richard C. Schwartz, IFS applies family therapy principles to our inner world, helping us understand and create harmony between different aspects of ourselves.

If you’ve ever felt torn about a decision, stuck in conflicting emotions, or unsure what to do next, you’ve likely experienced this inner conflict.

Somatic Experiencing (SE) is a body-focused therapy designed to help people recover from trauma and stress. Unlike traditional talk therapy, which primarily focuses on thoughts and emotions, SE works directly with the body’s physical sensations, urges, and movements. It’s based on the understanding that trauma isn’t just about what happened—it’s about how the nervous system responds. SE helps people gently tune into their body’s sensations, allowing trapped survival energy to be released. This process helps the nervous system reset so that past experiences no longer feel like they’re happening over and over again.

Trauma is more than just a bad experience—it’s something that deeply affects your emotions, mind, body, and relationships. Many people think trauma only comes from extreme events like violence or abuse. But in reality, trauma isn’t about what happened—it’s about how your nervous system responds to it. If an experience is overwhelming, frightening, or too much to handle, it can leave a lasting impact, even if someone else might have experienced the same situation differently.

If you’re considering making your first therapy appointment, you may have questions as well as a mix of emotions and thoughts running through your body and mind. To answer some of the questions you may have (and hopefully ease some of your concerns), this blog post will familiarize you with the process of starting our work together.