Rediscovering Resilience and Hope
We provide everything we know about trauma, OCD and eating disorders to provide hope and healing—for you.
Hi, I’m Elena.
We all need a place where we can feel safe to be ourselves. Where our feelings matter deeply, our private thoughts are prized and we feel known and cherished. These values are central to my work as a therapist.
The most painful parts of our stories are often the places that need the most gentleness, curiosity and respect. The more that we approach these places of shame with “a warm and tender hand,” as Henri Nouwen says, the more we heal.
It can be tempting to do just the opposite-to blame ourselves for our isolation, fear and numbness. But the more we see ourselves clearly, the more kind we are–to the versions of ourselves that didn’t know better and to the people who deeply disappointed us. And when that feels impossible by yourself, you don’t have to heal alone. We are meant to heal within the safe community of each other.
Utilizing evidence-based practice and, at clients’ request, Christian spiritual formation practices, I offer a warm and whimsical space to explore your capacity for resilience and hope.
Whether you’re a young adult just starting out, a midlife adult trying to make sense of a “difficult hand” or a grandparent searching for meaning and hope, you are welcome here.
Work with Us
Counseling
One-on-one talk therapy to work through the places in your story that are keeping you stuck. I frequently use Dialectical Behavioral Therapy, Acceptance and Commitment Therapy, Cognitive Behavioral Therapy and Internal Family Systems concepts to help draw clients to a place of greater clarity, hope and healing. It would be an honor to meet with you in my office or virtually.
EMDR Therapy
One-on-one effective, evidence-based treatment for trauma therapy. EMDR stands for eye movement desensitization and reprocessing. Bilateral movements (eye movements or taps on left and right sides of the body) allow the brain to process emotionally-activating memories with the benefit of greater access to the cognitive and meaning-making side of our brain. With access to both the memory and the problem-solving skills we may have lacked at the time of the trauma, the brain can heal and can store the memory away as an experience–not an ongoing event needing emotional attention.
EMDR can be effective for PTSD, OCD and even lingering events that might not qualify as “capital T” trauma but are still experienced as distressing. EMDR can be done in person or virtually, depending upon acuity.
I’m happy to talk more about this process with you if this piques your interest. I would also encourage you to do your own research or check out this concise explanation from the EMDR International Foundation.
Exposure and Response Prevention
ERP is a front-line treatment for Obsessive Compulsive Disorder. Exposure refers to introducing you to stimuli that might ordinarily spike anxiety (including images, thoughts, words and imaginary scenarios) and teaching you to Respond differently (by avoiding a previously comforting repetitive behavior, including reassurance-seeking). I see clients with myriad types of OCD and especially enjoy working with those experiencing moral or religious scrupulosity. ERP can be done virtually or in person but for most clients is most effective in the office.
You can find out more about ERP on the International OCD Foundation’s website.
Welcome
You can meet us at our cozy office nestled in the heart of Winston-Salem. We are just off Reynolda Road bordering Wake Forest University. Virtual appointments are also available so, if you prefer, you can meet us from the comfort of your own home.
