Complex trauma & C-PTSD
Hypervigilance and never standing down
Somewhere early on, your body concluded that the safest posture is ready, and nothing since has talked it out of that. Everyone tells you to relax, and nobody explains how.
You might recognize
Some of this may sound familiar
- You read the mood of a room before you've set your bag down.
- Rest registers as a lapse in duty, so you find something to do.
- A door shutting too hard resets the whole afternoon.
- Your jaw is tight before anyone has said a word to you.
In the work
What we actually do
Respecting the alarm
Vigilance is not a character flaw, and arguing with it has never yet lowered it. We start by treating it as an old and fairly accurate assessment of a world you were genuinely in at the time. Once it isn't being fought, it often has less to defend.
Moving at your speed
Pushing a braced nervous system into the material faster than it can take just confirms what it already suspects about people. Pacing here is a clinical choice, not politeness. That principle runs through all of the complex trauma and C-PTSD work I do.
Finding down, briefly
Before you can stand down for an evening, you generally need to feel it for a moment first. Somatic and mindfulness-based work builds that in small repeatable pieces, with no physical touch and your eyes open if that's what you need. Therapy outcomes are not guaranteed, and this part gets measured in inches.
“Trauma-informed pacing isn't caution for its own sake.”
FAQ
Questions people ask
Why can't I just relax?
Because relaxing is the thing your system has been reading as unsafe. Understanding your history rarely changes a survival setting on its own, which is why this work goes through the body as well as the conversation.
Is this anxiety or is this trauma?
From the outside it can look like either. Hypervigilance sits inside the complex trauma and C-PTSD picture as a threat response that stayed switched on, and it usually travels alongside anxiety and depression as well. We can work with it from either door.
Do you work with people outside New York?
Weekly therapy takes place via telehealth. I am licensed in New York and can only offer psychotherapy services to people who reside in New York State. You also need to be within the state whenever we meet. Coaching is a separate service, available beyond New York, and it is not therapy or licensed mental-health treatment.
What does a session cost?
Individual psychotherapy is $235 for a 50-minute session, usually weekly. I'm out of network with all insurance plans, there is no sliding scale, and I provide a monthly superbill for possible out-of-network reimbursement, which is never guaranteed. Canceling or rescheduling needs 24 hours' notice, or the full fee applies.
What if things escalate?
If you are in danger right now, call or text 988 or dial 911. This site isn't a crisis service and email is not monitored for emergencies.
Start with a free consultation
A short conversation to see whether we would be a good fit for working together. Weekly therapy takes place via telehealth. I am licensed in New York and can only offer psychotherapy services to people who reside in New York State.