All my life, I felt like there must be something wrong with me.
I had a huge amount of self-awareness. I’d read all the books, done the therapy, charted the historical origins of every one of my issues. Yet somehow, the same patterns just kept showing up-- no matter how much I talked, journaled, did the workbooks.
Complex trauma (C-PTSD) is like being stuck in a box. You get the sense that there’s something else outside the box, but you can’t quite climb out to live the life you’re longing for.
Insight and effort weren’t enough.
I tried so hard to “fix myself,” but wasn’t getting anywhere. This wasn’t a failure of willpower or insight, and it certainly wasn’t a lack of effort. For individuals living with complex trauma, insight and effort aren't enough. In fact, they can actually be part of the problem.
With complex trauma, we’re always trying to think our way out of the box-- using the same tools that built it in the first place.
Homesick, for a place we’ve never been.
The longing that we feel with complex trauma is like being homesick for a place we can’t even describe.
C-PTSD develops from chronic, long-term relational and emotional trauma — particularly when it occurs during childhood in response to attachment failures or unstable environments.
What I didn’t know at the time is that C-PTSD requires a relational approach that integrates cognitive understanding with embodied experience.
This isn’t about blaming our parents, or re-hashing old wounds, but about literally feeling our way into a new way of living our lives.
It’s then that we can recognize that we built this box and that there are now different choices available to us. We can take the box apart, or climb out of it, or build a whole different box, if we want to.
There was never anything wrong with me, and there’s nothing wrong with you, either.
C-PTSD is the result of a natural, adaptive response to an unnatural situation. We develop strategies that let us survive environments, relationships, or cultures that would otherwise be unlivable. These patterns are so deeply ingrained that intellectual knowledge can’t touch them— and they can be completely overlooked in other modalities.
Hi, I'm Laura.
I’m a Registered Mental Health Counselor Intern located online throughout Florida and in Stuart, FL.
I work with adults who live with an often complex set of symptoms. These people have often been in therapy for years, chasing symptoms. Because complex trauma can look like anxiety, depression, addiction, physical illness, people-pleasing, over-working, self-criticism, or just a chronic sense of exhaustion, it is often misdiagnosed or completely missed.
Using the NARM approach, combined with somatic Jungian psychology, we’ll explore how the very symptoms and patterns that you’ve been struggling with have been necessary adaptations to help you survive-- so that new possibilities can emerge.
I also bring an anti-oppressive lens to this work, meaning that as part of our time together we will explore how the systems and culture in which we live have shaped and may continue to shape our experience.
My clients tell me that making the shift from “just trying to treat the symptoms” to “understanding that your symptoms are meaningful attempts to solve a problem” is deeply validating and life-affirming.
I can’t wait to meet you.
As a NARM (NeuroAffective Relational Model)-informed professional, I bring a body-centered, relational approach to healing from C-PTSD, developmental trauma, and early childhood wounds.
At the heart of NARM is a recognition that connection is both a deep human longing and something that can feel genuinely threatening when you've grown up with relational wounds. This work brings compassionate curiosity to the ways you may have learned to disconnect — from your body, your emotions, your needs, and your sense of self.
What is C-PTSD?
Complex PTSD (C-PTSD) develops from chronic, long-term relational and emotional trauma — particularly when it occurs during childhood in response to attachment failures or unstable environments.
Unlike single-incident PTSD, C-PTSD often includes:
Interpersonal difficulties: struggles with relationships, trust, and intimacy
Negative self-concept: persistent self-criticism, shame, and self-blame
Emotional dysregulation: difficulty managing or making sense of your emotions
Many people living with C-PTSD carry multiple diagnoses and have struggled to find lasting relief through symptom-focused treatment. Using NARM, when we work with the underlying patterns — rather than just the symptoms — behaviors and responses begin to shift naturally, as you develop more agency and choice in your own life.