If you're reading this, something probably feels heavier than it should. Maybe you've been carrying it for years. Maybe it happened last month. Maybe you're not even sure "trauma" is the right word. You just know you don't feel like yourself. This page is for you. We offer trauma therapy in Fairfax County from our office in Fairview Park, Falls Church, VA (just off the Beltway) and online trauma therapy in Virginia and DC, for adults and teens who are ready (or almost ready) to stop just getting through it.
You don't need to have the words figured out before you reach out. Finding them is part of what we do together.
Trauma isn't measured by how bad an event "should" have been. It's about what happened inside you: something overwhelmed your capacity to cope, you didn't have the relational support you needed, and your nervous system learned to brace. Long after the danger has passed, your body may still be keeping watch as a way of protecting you from more pain.
That can look like:
For many people, the roots go back to childhood trauma: growing up with chaos, emotional neglect, criticism, or adults who couldn't be a safe harbor. That kind of wound happens in relationship, and it heals in relationship too. Others come to us after a single event, like an accident, an assault, a medical crisis, or a sudden loss. Many carry both.
Many people will say they had a "safe enough" or "good enough" childhood. But, it is possible your body stored pain that is now trying to work its way through your system. Even the "best" family systems miss us sometimes. It doesn't have to be "that bad" to impact you long term.
None of this means you're broken. It means you adapted to survive. Those adaptations make sense, even the ones that are costing you now.
Our work is trauma-informed and grounded in interpersonal neurobiology, the science of how relationships shape the brain and body. In plain words: what got wired in relationship can be rewired in relationship. Our job is to help your nervous system learn, at a pace it can tolerate, that the past is actually past.
So we don't rush into the hardest story. We start with safety and stabilization: understanding how your nervous system responds, building tools for the moments you get flooded or shut down, and growing a relationship with your therapist that's sturdy enough to hold what comes next.
From there, depending on what fits you, our work may include:
We care about the whole person (body, mind, relationships, meaning, systems, and spirit), not just a checklist of symptoms. And yes, there's room for laughter in this work. Healing is serious, but it doesn't have to be solemn every minute.
First sessions make most people nervous. That's understandable: you're meeting someone new and being invited to talk about hard things. Here's what to expect.
Reaching out is often the hardest step. You don't need to be in crisis, and you don't need to have it all figured out. If something on this page sounded familiar, that's reason enough to start a conversation.
If you are in immediate danger or thinking about harming yourself, call or text 988, or go to your nearest emergency room.
