Gayla Graven

If you are struggling with sleep disturbance, resurfacing memories, active addiction, or panic attacks, know there is help and recovery. Specializing in complex trauma from childhood, addictions, codependency, and self esteem issues, I partner with you to heal from the past and construct the future you desire. All beliefs and backgrounds are welcome. My goal is to make you as comfortable as possible to work on the things that are important to you. I am an EMDR certified therapist and consultant with extensive experience treating PTSD from sexual abuse, religious trauma, secondary trauma from medical careers, and combat trauma. If you are struggling with addiction of any kind, EMDR can help. I see clients both in office and online. If you prefer telehealth and have ever wondered if EMDR can work online, I can reassure you that it absolutely does!

Creating a non-judgmental, comfortable and relaxed atmosphere where you can heal is paramount. My primary modality for therapy is eye movement desensitization and reprocessing (EMDR). The EMDR approach believes what happened in the past is affecting our lives today. EMDR techniques relieve emotional, cognitive and somatic symptoms from traumatic memories, reducing "triggers" so you can have more normalized reactions to the things that are happening currently. Identifying the most impactful events from the past, EMDR reintegrates those memories into the regular memory network so they are just another memory. Together we work on improving your thought-life to a more positive state, then using EMDR techniques to visualize future goals.

In our first session, you can expect us to get to know each other, discuss your goals for therapy, and possibly talk about family of origin dynamics if you are comfortable doing so. For anyone struggling with anxiety and panic, the first session may focus on nervous system regulation instead. You set the pace of therapy and are in control. I am here to meet you where you are at. I have sat in the chair doing this type of work myself and understand it is difficult some days to talk our past traumas. We will defer to what you feel able to do, always.