Psychotherapy with Anna

Relationship building is a two-way street in my office. So just in case you were wondering, here is a tidbit about how I got here.

 

It may sound cliché to say I believe I was always meant to be a therapist, but I truly do believe this deep in my soul. I identify as an empath/HSP, and even before I had the language to describe it, I knew this as a child. Now, as an adult in Western society, I see the brokenness in our existing healthcare systems, the freight train that is our country's mental health epidemic, and I also see my place in this entire system with clarity. I consider my life purpose to be to better the systems that exist through the work I do to increase access in my immediate community as well as in the macrosystem at large to integrative, human-centered mental health care. 

Full disclosure: I’m also a total science nerd. If you're a client of mine, you may see the evidence of this in the way I nerd out over discussions of neurobiology as it pertains to therapy. I always knew I wanted to work in the sciences and work with the human body, and this was perhaps motivated by my early life experience being a competitive gymnast for 15 years, coupled with a REALLY cool 7th grade science teacher (shoutout to the educators out there who go above and beyond every day!). In fact, I actually began my college career at Louisiana State University studying to be a physical therapist for athletes. However, as fate would have it, I found my way to a more emotionally-focused form of human science through an elective psychology course, and discovered that I connected with psychology even more. From that point on, I changed my major and life course and never looked back. I received my B.S. in Psychology and Sociology from Louisiana State University, and my M.A. in Counseling from St. Edward’s University.

 

My first experience as a therapist was working with adults in an inpatient psychiatric hospital setting. My patients were typically folks experiencing high acuity disorders and crises. I have treated for suicidality, depression, DID, panic attacks, schizophrenia, personality disorders, chronic self-harm, and substance abuse - you name it. Being a psychotherapist in an inpatient unit taught me a lot & was incredibly meaningful to me. I actually excelled at being "in the trenches" where I believe a lot of professional helpers buckle, and found that I was naturally good at being with folks in their darkest hour.

 

Thanks to that background in a hospital setting, I feel comfortable with most anything that comes my way these days, and for that I am grateful. However now, as a private practice therapist, I get to enjoy a bit of a slower pace and a longer treatment process, as many clients come to private therapy sessions weekly over a long period of time. In my private practice, I also get to serve a population that is incredibly underserved in larger hospitals and agency settings: folks with trauma/PTSD.

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Today, I bring my expertise as a trauma-informed psychotherapist, a trained psychedelic therapist, and my lived experience as a former athlete & yogic practitioner into my work by providing a form of therapy that focuses on the mind-body connection. My approach incorporates a framework of Polyvagal Theory, Somatic Experiencing, and Internal Family Systems to highlight the neurobiological underpinnings of what “safety” means to us and how a lack of safety can affect our relationships, beliefs about ourselves, and how we move through the world.

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My specialization in trauma therapy also led me to one of my greatest passions in the therapy world: Psychedelic therapies as trauma treatment. I was lucky enough to get involved in ketamine-assisted psychotherapy very early on in this current psychedelic-medicine renaissance, as I received training, certification, and a role as ketamine therapist on a multidisciplinary team here in Austin in 2020 at Transcend Health Solutions. This role led to me eventually guiding up to 15+ ketamine-assisted psychotherapy sessions per week. As I was cutting my teeth in KAP, the COVID pandemic was simultaneously destroying life as we knew it. Some of my earliest KAP clients were nurses & paramedics coping with vicarious trauma from being on the frontlines of the COVID pandemic. Again, I enjoyed being "in the trenches" with folks who needed mental health care the most. As of 2023, I have now facilitated thousands of KAP sessions for trauma survivors here in Austin, as well as for folks who flew in from accross the U.S. My experience in KAP is vast and through the years I have had the opportunity to learn how to support clients dealing with extremely varied types of trauma, from acute first responder PTSD, to the complex trauma of surviving a childhood in a religious cult, to your average Austinite with the "thousand papercuts" type of trauma that results from a dysfunctional child-caregiver dynamic. I am proud to say that I am also a "lifelong student", and as such, I am currently enrolled in formal training to become certified in psilocybin-assisted therapy via an Oregon Health Authority approved program. I can safely say that I will be actively involved in the movement towards psychedelic therapies for mental health issues for likely the remainder of my career.

 

When I’m not in the therapist chair, you can catch me on my own self-improvement journey, moving my body in some capacity through hikes, yoga, or doing my own somatic work under the sun at auditorium shores. I also love to travel, specifically to locations where I can scuba dive. I've also been known to claim my innate right to rest by taking a good ol’ nap between sessions (rest is NECESSARY!), or to pop by the local LSU bar for football games (geaux tigers!).

Thanks for reading, and I hope I get the chance to know you too!