The past lives in the body.
Careful, body-aware trauma work that builds safety first — and revisits what was painful only when you're ready.
How I Work ↓"Nothing ever goes away until it teaches us what we need to know."
— Pema Chödrön
Trauma is not stored in narrative. It is stored in the body — in patterns of activation and shutdown, in the reflexive tightening or withdrawal that happens before the mind has a chance to intervene. This is why talk therapy alone, if it moves too fast toward the painful material, often does not help and can occasionally make things worse. My trauma approach is informed by polyvagal theory, somatic and body-aware methods, and depth psychology. I do not move toward painful material until the therapeutic relationship is established and your system has developed the capacity to work with what arises.
Working directly with nervous system states — not just talking about them. Learning to recognize and regulate activation before moving toward difficult material.
Understanding the protective parts that organized around the trauma — and building relationships with them rather than trying to override them.
The traumatic experience carries meaning. Understanding that meaning is part of integration.
Memories and triggers lose their grip as the nervous system recognizes they are no longer happening. The present becomes available in a way it wasn't before.
Much of what blocks intimacy is trauma-organized. As that material integrates, the capacity for genuine contact with others often increases.
Chronic tension, hypervigilance, and the exhaustion of running a constant threat-detection program gradually resolve.
The reflexive responses that felt involuntary begin to have a pause — a space in which something different becomes possible.
A real conversation — not a form, not a questionnaire. No commitment required.
An unhurried intake. Your history, what brings you here, how you make sense of things.
Regular 50-minute sessions. In-person in Palo Alto or telehealth throughout California.
A Good Place Therapy · Palo Alto · Supervised by Christina Miller-Martinez, LMFT #105663
My training at CIIS, combined with Gestalt and somatic approaches, gives me a framework for depth-oriented work that goes beneath insight — to what is actually organizing the pattern.
Full biography →No. Depth-oriented trauma work can proceed without detailed narration of traumatic events. Often, working with the body and the present-moment experience is more useful than reconstructing the story.
Trauma therapy that moves too quickly toward the material often activates the nervous system without resolving it. My approach prioritizes building the relational and somatic foundation first. Slower is often more effective.
My approach is informed by somatic and body-aware methods but is primarily relational and depth-oriented. I'm not formally trained in EMDR or SE as standalone modalities.
Yes — in-network with. Superbills available for other PPO plans.
Working with dissociation and overwhelm is part of the work — we develop tools for orienting and grounding, and we move at whatever pace your system allows.
A free 15-minute consultation is a good first step — slow, low-pressure, no expectation.
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