Trauma Therapy & Recovery for Millennials of Color in Chicago, IL
"Knowing Better" Isn't Always Enough to Heal the Trauma
I’m sure you’ve done all the things to figure out why you respond the way you do to stressful things that come up at work or in your relationships. You’ve likely spent hours reflecting, read the books, and mentally mapped out exactly why you feel the way you do. Maybe you’ve already drawn the connections between your response and how you grew up or something bad that happened to you. You know intellectually that you are safe, that you are capable, and that the past is in the past.
Yet, you still get hit by triggers. Maybe you tense when too many people are waiting at the same Red Line stop. Your apartment has a doorman, but you’re still on edge until you get into your place and double lock the door. Maybe the way your boss engages with you reminds you of a difficult relationship with your parent. Whatever the trigger, your body acts as if the threat is happening right now. Your chest tightens. Your heart races. The old narrative of "I'm not safe," "I have to be perfect," or "I'm entirely on my own" take hold and flood your nervous system instantly.
Trauma therapy can help you calm your nervous system and reduce the intensity of these triggers. Imagine a world where your body doesn’t feel like it’s constantly sending up panic signals and you can think about experiences without shutting down.
Trauma recovery is not one-size-fits-all. There isn’t a right way to heal.We integrate evidence-based trauma modalities tailored to your nervous system, lived experience, and treatment needs.
What We Process in Trauma Therapy
When I work with people, my focus is always culturally sensitive and trauma informed. I want to help you target the things that continue to impact you in your day to day life. Our work together can help you learn to navigate through the pain you’ve spent so much time trying not to think about or feel. Here are some of the things we could tackle together (this is not an exhaustive list):
Relational & Generational Trauma: Untangling early childhood experiences and messages you’ve internalized about yourself.
Workplace & Systemic Trauma: Processing the cumulative, exhausting effects of corporate microaggressions, being the “token”, and the pressure placed on you to succeed.
Attachment Wounds: Re-wiring the deeply rooted beliefs that you are only loved or safe when you are producing, performing, or being useful to others.
High-Functioning Anxiety & Perfectionism: Clearing the early life experiences that taught your nervous system that dropping the ball equals absolute danger.
Evidence-Based Modalities for Trauma Healing
EMDR Therapy
EMDR (Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing) is designed to help the brain naturally process stuck, traumatic memories. EMDR uses bilateral stimulation (like side-to-side eye movements, alternating taps, or audio tones) to stimulate both hemispheres of your brain. This allows the nervous system to gently unlock that frozen memory, process it, and file it away correctly in the past. You won’t forget what happened to you, but your body will be less likely to respond as though it is happening all over again every time you think about it.
Note: EMDR is available in weekly session or intensive format.
Narrative Therapy (Rewriting Generational & Cultural Scripts)
Narrative Therapy helps you separate your identity from the trauma and oppressive expectations you’ve carried. When you have difficult experiences, you may start to internalize “stories” about yourself. Sometimes that story is created by external forces. Narratives like "I am the strong one who can never break," or "My worth is tied only to my productivity" start to feel true and make it difficult to create a fulfilling, aligned life. Narrative therapy helps you realize that you and your trauma are separate. We can work together to create a new narrative that looks at your whole story (including the ways in which you have grown and survived) and is rooted in your values and wisdom.
Cognitive Processing Therapy (CPT) (Unsticking Unhelpful Trauma Beliefs)
Cognitive Processing Therapy (CPT) is designed to help you identify, challenge, and shift the "stuck points" in your thinking created by trauma. We humans like to make meaning of things and when trauma happens, your brain tries to make sense of what happened. Sometimes you might assume you are to blame (“it was my fault”), or you may try to create rules to protect yourself (e.g. "I can never trust anyone,""If I'm not perfect, I'm not safe", etc.) While these rules were built to protect you, over time they become outdated filters that distort how you see yourself, your safety, and your relationships today. CPT uses targeted reflection and structured exercises to help you pull those core beliefs out into the light. We examine the evidence together, helping your brain gently untangle trauma-based assumptions from actual reality.
STAIR (Building Emotional Regulation & Relational Safety)
STAIR (Skills Training in Affective & Interpersonal Regulation) is a skill-building therapy designed to help you regulate your emotions more effectively and feel safer in your relationships. If you have experienced trauma, you might notice that your emotions feel “too big” or “all over the place.” Your body has started to interpret stress as danger, and alarms are going off everywhere in your brain. This therapy does a good job of helping you to develop a toolbox that you can use when your body starts to respond to trauma triggers or everyday stressors.
Note: You don’t have to come in knowing which option would be right for you. We will work collaboratively to discuss your needs and which approach would be a good fit.
Pathways to Recovery: Weekly Therapy or EMDR Intensives
1. Weekly Sessions
Perfect for individuals who prefer a steady, paced approach to healing. Over standard weekly sessions, we gently build your internal coping resources, map out target memories, and systematically process them over time. This approach allows you to seamlessly integrate your healing alongside your day-to-day routine.
Investment: $275 per 50-minute session
2. Intensives (Accelerated Trauma Recovery Packages)
For the busy professional or adult who is ready for deep, concentrated healing without spending months in weekly therapy. EMDR Intensives condense months of traditional care into focused, multi-hour blocks. We bypass the weekly checking-in and winding-down time, allowing us to dive straight into deep processing. It is highly efficient, deeply transformative, and designed to fit the timeline of a demanding life.
The EMDR Intensive Program Structure
Intensives are structured as comprehensive programmatic packages designed to fully support your nervous system before, during, and after processing:
1.The Focused Intake & Mapping Session: Phase 1.
A 60 to 90-minute deep dive where we assess your history, isolate the exact memories or systemic triggers driving your current anxiety, and build the stabilizing somatic resources your body needs to feel completely secure.
2.The Custom Intensive Workbook: Phase 2.
A personalized preparation tool sent out ahead of time to help you organize your insights, identify subconscious negative beliefs, and set explicit therapeutic intentions before your intensive day.
3.The Deep-Processing Intensive: Phase 3.
Conducted in-person at our Chicago office or virtually via telehealth, complete with structured breaks, built-in nervous system regulation, and continuous EMDR reprocessing.
4.The Integration & Continuity Session: Phase 4.
A 50-minute post-intensive session scheduled 1 to 2 weeks later to evaluate how your brain has settled the material, solidify your new positive insights, and map out a sustainable plan for moving forward.
Investment Options for EMDR Intensives
The Half-Day Intensive: 3 Hours Total- $1,200
The Full-Day Intensive: 6 Hours Total (With a built-in lunch break) - $2,200
The Weekend Intensive2 Days (4-5 hours per day)- $3,800
Ready to Take the First Step?
Click below to schedule your free 15-minute virtual consultation to discuss whether weekly sessions or an intensive is the right fit for your healing journey.