EMDR Therapy for Trauma
Round Rock, Tx + online across Texas
Healing trauma without forcing,
reliving, or rushing.
No pressure, just a free call to see if
I’m the right fit for you.
There’s a legacy of trauma — but that doesn’t mean there’s something wrong with you.
Trauma can come from years of subtle, unrecognized wounds: emotionally absent parents, childhood abuse or neglect, a lack of attunement, or never feeling truly seen or delighted in.
I often describe it as “death by a thousand cuts.”
Your nervous system adapted to survive it. The anxiety, hypervigilance, shutdown, or deep exhaustion you feel? It makes sense.
With trauma, talking alone often isn’t enough.
Your nervous system may still be stuck in survival mode, scanning for danger even when nothing is actually wrong.
You might:
Struggle to relax, even in safe places
Feel exhausted but unable to rest
Shut down in moments that don’t seem to “match” the situation
Feel ashamed of how reactive or sensitive you are
This isn’t a personal failure. It’s how your nervous system adapted to feel safe.
PTSD and CPTSD: What’s the Difference?
For some people, trauma comes from a single overwhelming event — such as an accident, assault, medical trauma, or sudden loss. This is often what we think of as PTSD.
For others, trauma develops over time, especially in relationships where safety, care, or protection was inconsistent or absent.
This can include childhood abuse, neglect, or growing up in environments that felt unpredictable, emotionally unsafe, or overwhelming. This type of trauma can cause Complex PTSD (CPTSD).
CPTSD isn’t about one moment — it’s about what happens to your nervous system when stress or fear becomes chronic. When your system has to stay alert just to get through the day.
Both PTSD and CPTSD are real. Both are valid.
One of the hardest parts of CPTSD is that your lived experiences just feel normal.
In other words, when trauma happens early or repeatedly, the symptoms often don’t feel like symptoms. They just feel like you.
You might notice:
Difficulty sleeping or never feeling fully rested
A deep sense of shame or self-blame
Feeling on edge, tense, or easily startled
Emotional numbness or shutdown
Trouble trusting yourself or others
Chronic tension, pain, or exhaustion
Feeling responsible for other people’s emotions
A constant pressure to do more, be better, or take up less space
If you see yourself here, it means your nervous system adapted to survive. And those adaptations, as exhausting as they are, can be gently unwound.
You can learn to calm your hypervigilance and rebuild self-trust.
I’m Heather.
I create a compassionate space where you can explore the impact of difficult relationships and life events with someone who truly understands.
I am a trauma-informed therapist, meaning I focus on understanding how past experiences impact your present.
I use evidence-based approaches (like parts work and EMDR) to tailor our sessions to your needs, so we can move forward at a pace that feels right for you.
I’m also EMDR Certified, which means I’ve completed advanced training, extensive consultation, and ongoing education specifically in EMDR therapy.
Click here to learn how EMDR looks different when trauma happened over time.
How Can Trauma Therapy Support You?
Healing doesn’t happen all at once. In fact, it’s more important that we work slowly, at a pace that feels comfortable and safe for you.
But over time, many people notice gentle shifts like:
Feeling less on edge — with fewer moments of constant scanning or overthinking
Memories that feel less charged and easier to hold
A body that carries less tension and more ease
Growing trust in yourself and your reactions
A quieter inner critic and a steadier sense of self-worth
Making choices that feel aligned with your values — not fear or obligation
Relationships that feel safer, more reciprocal, and more fulfilling
You were never “too much.”
You might not have had caregivers who delighted in you or made space for your feelings.
That doesn’t mean you’re undeserving of care.
Our work together is a space where all parts of you are welcome — even the ones that feel frozen, messy, or hard to understand.
Especially those.
Curious (or Nervous) About EMDR?
Let’s Talk About It.
If you’ve heard about EMDR, you might be wondering:
Will I have to relive everything?
Is it too intense?
What if I shut down?
These are real questions.
Let’s talk about it.
(Done EMDR but felt like it didn’t help? Click here to learn more about EMDR and CPTSD.)
What is EMDR?
EMDR (Eye Movement Desensitization Reprocessing) is a psychotherapy that enables people to heal from the emotional distress that are the result of disturbing life experiences.
Repeated studies show that by using EMDR therapy, people can experience the benefits of psychotherapy that once took years to make a difference.
Unlike other treatments that focus on directly altering the emotions, thoughts, and responses resulting from traumatic experiences, EMDR therapy focuses directly on the memory and is intended to change the way the memory is stored in the brain, thus reducing and eliminating the problematic symptoms.
How Does EMDR Work?
Our brains are prediction machines. After trauma, the brain often gets stuck predicting danger—even when you’re safe. EMDR helps by briefly activating the traumatic memory while using bilateral stimulation.
When the brain checks the memory’s “danger prediction” against the calm, safe present, it realizes the two don’t match. This mismatch allows the brain to update the memory. Over time, the traumatic memory gets rewired from “I’m in danger” to “That was then, and I’m safe now.”
While not everyone who experiences trauma will go on to develop PTSD, for those struggling with intrusive thoughts, hypervigilance, nightmares, and other symptoms that often disrupt daily life,
EMDR therapy has been shown to be an effective and time-efficient treatment.
Click here to learn more about how EMDR helps with trauma and with conditions like pain.
I also collaborate with other therapists as an adjunctive EMDR provider.
Learn more about adjunctive EMDR collaboration →
I have included some common questions about EMDR with answers below.
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I use small buzzers that you hold in your hands. This helps your focus move from the left to right brain, facilitating memory processing.
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Traumatic memories are stored in the brain differently than other memories. Trauma can be stored in the body (somatically) and in the brain. Traumatic feelings and memories can be triggered (or brought back up) by smells, sounds, nightmares, or everyday relationships. We can also experience implicit memories, which are unconscious memories that can cause great emotional stress, and these memories can be stored in the body.
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Memories can get “stuck”after difficult events, relationships, and life circumstances. EMDR stimulates both the left and right brain while thinking of a memory, which helps the brain fully process the stuck memory. This means that you will remember the memory but you won’t have intense feelings or reactions related to it.
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Every person’s journey with EMDR is different and it depends on you as a person. EMDR is one part of the whole therapy and where we start is determined by your symptoms and concerns. With that said, we will go at a pace comfortable for you. Also, I will help you develop skills and techniques to help you with processing along the way.
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EMDR is helpful for many symptoms and concerns, from general anxiety, depression, heartbreak, grief, performance anxiety —the list goes on!
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An EMDR Certified Therapist has voluntarily met standards of consultation, clinical practice, and continuing education to provide EMDR therapy. An EMDR Certified Therapist has engaged in at least 20 hours of consultation with an EMDR Consultant for EMDR and has practiced their skills with at least 25 different clients in at least 50 EMDR sessions. To maintain this certification, a therapist must continue to satisfy the EMDRIA requirement including completion of continuing education requirements and adherence to ethical standards.
Is This the Right Fit for You?
Our work may be the right fit if:
I tend to work best with people who are high-functioning on the outside but internally overwhelmed—deep thinkers, deep feelers, perfectionists, and people-pleasers who are tired of holding it all together.
Many of my clients have parts that carry despair, self-criticism, or passive suicidal thoughts, while still showing up to relationships and responsibilities. They’re reflective, curious, and ready to engage in the work, even when it’s uncomfortable.
I may not be the right fit if:
You’re currently experiencing active suicidal intent and need a higher level of care
You’re struggling with untreated addiction or require intensive substance-use support
You’re feeling unable to function day-to-day or get through the basics of daily life
You’re looking for crisis stabilization. I want to make sure you get the right kind of support; I have a page with resources here.
If you’re somewhere in between
If you’re not in crisis, but you’re exhausted, anxious, over-functioning, and stuck in old trauma patterns this work may be a good fit.
We’ll move at a pace that respects your nervous system while still working toward meaningful change.
If you’re still unsure, that makes sense.
What if I need to go slowly?
(Sometimes going slow is the bravest thing you can do.)
When I work with clients who are struggling with complex PTSD, there’s often an internal conflict between parts of themselves. Sometimes they feel urgency, wanting to move quickly and feel better now. On the other hand, my clients often feel scared, hesitant, or overwhelmed by the idea of change.
This is why, in trauma-informed therapy, we talk a lot about pacing. Healing from trauma takes intention and a pace your whole system can work with. Just like we were wounded over time, we also heal over time. But that doesn’t mean therapy has to take forever, just that we move in a way that supports lasting (not fleeting) change.
What if I Can’t Heal Like Others?
(You're not broken — healing just looks different for everyone.)
While everyone’s healing path is different, everyone is capable of healing. You are not broken.
Many people who struggle with trauma fear they’ll never be able to heal or that they will always feel ‘stuck.’ This fear often stems from the trauma itself and the belief that we are different or ‘less than.’
Healing looks different for each person, and that’s okay. It’s about honoring where you are and taking it one step at a time.
Do I have to relive everything?
(You don’t.)
You don’t have to relive your trauma to heal from it.
Doing so can sometimes be re-traumatizing. The good news is, therapy has come a long way. We now know that healing doesn’t require you to revisit every painful detail of what happened.
Healing is possible.
It doesn’t have to be overwhelming.
Whether your trauma came from one event or many, you don’t have to carry it alone.
If this page feels like it’s speaking directly to you, that’s not an accident.
It’s because this work is about understanding your nervous system and your attachment patterns, not fixing you.
If you are interested in working together or
just have questions, reach out.