Relational Trauma & Dissociation Therapist

Therapist for Adults from Emotionally Immature Families

You learned to disconnect from yourself
to stay connected to others.

Growing up, you became highly attuned to the emotional world around you. You read the room before you spoke. Tracked tone shifts. Anticipated conflict before it happened. You managed other people’s emotions so things didn’t explode — or people didn't disappear.

You learned that being who others needed you to be was the safest option. Maybe no one called it trauma. But you never felt solid ground. Now, your relationships feel like a complicated math equation you just can’t seem to solve.

You may replay conversations long after they’re over, searching for signs you missed something. You might find yourself constantly trying to prove you’re thoughtful enough, supportive enough, or easy enough to love.

Even when nothing is technically wrong, part of you is scanning for evidence that something isn’t safe.  It can feel like your internal alarm system never fully turns off. Even when relationships are stable, part of you is still watching for signs that conflict, distance, or abandonment might be coming.

I work with adults who grew up in emotionally inconsistent or emotionally immature families and now struggle with people-pleasing, relational anxiety, and self-trust.

Many of my clients were the responsible one growing up. The caretaker. The peacemaker. The one who tried to keep everything steady. These roles helped you survive your environment.

But they can also leave you feeling like you’re constantly trying to solve a relational equation — searching for the right words, behaviors, or reassurances that will finally make things feel secure.

Often, that sense of security never quite arrives. Instead, relationships can start to feel like ongoing safety tests — trying to find the right words, the right reassurance, or the right moment that will finally prove everything is okay.

People usually feel stuck between two states: Carefully analyzing relationships in an attempt to stay safe…Or emotionally leaving when things become too overwhelming.

That emotional “leaving” might look like going numb, zoning out, shutting down during conflict, or suddenly feeling disconnected from yourself. Although frustrating, these are intelligent adaptations to growing up in an environment where emotional safety wasn’t consistent.

Many of the people I work with don’t “act out.” Instead, most of the struggle happens internally — constant analysis, self-doubt, emotional shutdown, and a deep uncertainty about whether it’s safe to trust themselves or others.

My interest in this work began early. I lost my best friend to suicide and grew up in a home where emotions weren’t openly discussed. For a long time, I struggled in silence with these experiences.

Over time, I came to understand that the way people cope isn't random — it's an intelligent response to the environments we grew up in. That simple but important understanding shaped my approach and perspectives in my career as a therapist.

In addition to private practice, I’ve worked at River City Advocacy supporting trauma survivors and single mothers, and at the Trauma Recovery Institute working with individuals experiencing dissociation. These experiences have deepened my expertise in helping people untangle the patterns formed in childhood so they can rebuild self-trust and experience healthier, more secure relationships.