EMDR & Trauma Therapy in Gilbert, AZ
Move Beyond the Past. Make Room for What Matters.
Past experiences can affect how you feel, respond, and connect with others. EMDR and trauma therapy can help you process what you’ve been through so you can feel more present in your life, your relationships, motherhood, and faith.
In-person in Gilbert, AZ Virtual throughout AZ
When the Past Follows You
Sometimes, even when you know an experience is over, your mind and body keep responding as though you are still in it. You may feel on edge, overwhelmed by strong emotions, disconnected from others, or caught in patterns you don't fully understand. You may notice this in motherhood, when you react in ways you always told yourself you wouldn't.
As a Christian mother, you want to honor God in how you show up for your children. You pray, seek to respond with patience and grace, and try to do what you know is right. Yet, some patterns remain difficult to change. You may wonder whether you're doing enough, praying enough, or growing in your relationship with God as you hoped.
You want to be present with your children and live out your faith, but you struggle in ways you don't fully understand.
Trauma Therapy Grounded in Experience and Compassion
You want to understand why these patterns persist and find a way forward that honors what matters most to you. You don't have to figure it out alone.
With over 10 years of experience and extensive advanced training in trauma-informed care, I offer evidence-based therapy tailored to your needs and goals.
My approach integrates EMDR therapy with somatic techniques to address both distressing memories and how past experiences affect your body, emotions, and relationships. As a Certified Sensorimotor Psychotherapist, I bring specialized expertise in the mind-body connection.
If you'd like, we can also include your Christian faith in the process, making room to explore how your beliefs, relationship with God, and values intersect with your experiences.
Understanding EMDR & Trauma Therapy
What Is EMDR Therapy?
Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing (EMDR) is an evidence-based trauma therapy that helps people process distressing memories and experiences. Using bilateral stimulation, EMDR supports the brain's natural processing of difficult experiences, helping memories become less distressing and have less influence on daily life.
Unlike traditional talk therapy, EMDR does not always require extended discussion of every detail of an experience. Treatment includes preparation and skill-building before processing the memory, with pacing tailored to your needs.
What Is Trauma Therapy?
Trauma therapy helps you process distressing experiences that continue to affect your emotions, relationships, and responses to stress. Even when you understand what happened, your mind and body may still react as though you're in danger. For mothers, these responses can show up in parenting, relationships, or difficulty feeling present with their children.
How Does Somatic Therapy Complement EMDR?
Trauma can shape how your body responds to stress, closeness, and everyday challenges. My approach integrates EMDR with somatic techniques from Sensorimotor Psychotherapy to address both distressing memories and the body's responses.
For Christian mothers, therapy can also make room for faith, exploring how past experiences affect your relationships with your children, yourself, and God.
EMDR Intensives
For some clients, traditional weekly therapy sessions may not feel like the right pace or format for trauma processing. EMDR intensives provide an opportunity for focused, extended therapy sessions designed to allow more time for preparation, processing, and integration.
At Made to Thrive Wellness, EMDR intensives combine EMDR therapy with somatic and trauma-informed approaches to support deeper trauma processing while maintaining attention to nervous system regulation and emotional safety.
EMDR intensives may be especially helpful for individuals who want dedicated time to focus on a specific concern, have limited availability for weekly sessions, or feel ready for a more concentrated approach to trauma therapy. For mothers, this focused time may create space to address past experiences that continue to affect parenting, relationships, and the ability to feel present and connected with their children.
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EMDR intensives at Made to Thrive Wellness are typically 90 minutes to 2 hours, providing additional time for preparation, trauma processing, and integration than a traditional therapy session. This extended format allows us to move at a thoughtful pace without feeling rushed while still prioritizing your emotional safety and nervous system regulation.
The length of your intensive will depend on your treatment goals, current needs, and where you are in the therapy process. Before scheduling an intensive, we'll discuss whether an extended session is appropriate and develop a plan that best supports your healing.
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EMDR intensives may support individuals working through:
Single-incident trauma
Childhood trauma and complex trauma
PTSD symptoms
Birth trauma
Medical trauma
Grief and loss
Relationship wounds and attachment injuries
Anxiety connected to past experiences
Distressing memories that continue to feel emotionally overwhelming
Major life transitions or experiences that feel “stuck”
EMDR intensives can also help clients who have already started therapy and want additional focused time to continue processing specific experiences.
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An EMDR intensive may be a good fit if you:
Have a specific traumatic event or experience you want to address
Feel emotionally ready to begin trauma processing
Have limited availability for weekly appointments
Prefer a more concentrated therapy format
Want to make progress on a specific treatment goal
Have completed initial preparation and stabilization work and are ready for deeper processing
Before beginning an intensive, we will complete an assessment to determine whether EMDR intensives are appropriate and ensure you have the skills and support needed for the process.
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EMDR intensives provide dedicated time for trauma processing that isn't always possible during a traditional 50-minute therapy session. In a typical session, time is naturally spent checking in, discussing what's happened since your last appointment, and wrapping up before you leave. While those elements remain important during an intensive, the extended format allows significantly more time for the actual EMDR processing work.
Some potential benefits of an EMDR intensive include:
More uninterrupted time for EMDR processing and integration
The opportunity to accomplish more focused therapeutic work in fewer appointments
Less interruption between phases of processing
Time to incorporate somatic therapy and nervous system regulation throughout the session
A personalized treatment experience focused on your specific goals
Greater scheduling flexibility for individuals with demanding or nontraditional work schedules, such as healthcare professionals, first responders, firefighters, nurses, shift workers, or those who travel frequently
EMDR intensives are not about rushing the healing process. Rather, they create intentional space to engage more fully in trauma therapy while allowing time for preparation, processing, and integration within the same extended session. For many clients, this format feels less rushed and can make it easier to maintain momentum in their therapeutic work.
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EMDR intensives are personalized based on your needs and treatment goals. They can range from 90 minutes to 2 hours depending on your needs. Depending on your situation, sessions may include:
Reviewing your history and identifying treatment goals
Preparing your nervous system for trauma processing
EMDR processing sessions
Somatic awareness and regulation strategies
Integration and grounding after processing
Developing tools to continue supporting yourself outside of sessions
The goal is not to rush the healing process, but to create intentional space for meaningful trauma work while honoring your pace and readiness.
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Yes. For many clients, EMDR intensives can be conducted virtually through a secure telehealth platform. Research has shown that virtual EMDR can be an effective option when provided by a trained EMDR therapist, and many clients appreciate the flexibility and convenience of receiving care from the comfort of their own home.
Whether an intensive is appropriate virtually depends on your treatment goals, current symptoms, access to a private and comfortable space, and your ability to participate safely in an extended session. Before scheduling an intensive, we'll complete an assessment to determine whether a virtual or in-person format is the best fit for your needs.
Throughout the intensive, I incorporate EMDR, somatic therapy techniques, and nervous system regulation strategies to help you remain grounded and supported during the process, whether we meet in person in Gilbert or virtually anywhere in Arizona.
Life Beyond Survival
You can learn to respond to life's challenges with greater awareness and feel more present in the moments that matter. EMDR therapy and trauma counseling can help you work toward feeling more connected to yourself, your children, your relationships, and your faith—so your past has less influence on how you live today.
You don't have to navigate this alone.
Ready to take the next step?
EMDR and trauma therapy can help you explore what you've been through and move toward the life you want to live. Take the next step by scheduling an initial assessment.
Frequently Asked Questions About EMDR & Trauma Therapy
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No. EMDR therapy does not require you to repeatedly describe every detail of a traumatic experience. While understanding your history is an important part of treatment, EMDR allows you to process distressing experiences at a pace that feels safe and manageable.
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The length of EMDR and trauma therapy varies based on your goals, experiences, and individual needs. Some concerns may improve with shorter-term therapy, while more complex trauma, attachment wounds, or long-standing patterns may require longer support.
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Yes. EMDR therapy can be helpful for anxiety, fear, shame, self-blame, distressing memories, and difficult life experiences, even if you do not have a PTSD diagnosis. EMDR can help address experiences that continue to impact your emotions, thoughts, and nervous system responses.
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Traditional talk therapy often focuses on exploring thoughts, emotions, behaviors, and patterns through conversation and insight. EMDR is a trauma-focused therapy that helps process distressing memories, beliefs, and experiences that may still feel emotionally overwhelming. EMDR can also be integrated with other therapeutic approaches, including somatic and attachment-based therapy.
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Yes. EMDR is an evidence-based therapy approach that is considered safe when provided by a trained clinician. Treatment is paced carefully and includes preparation, coping strategies, and emotional regulation skills before processing difficult experiences.
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Yes. Trauma therapy is not only for people who have experienced one major traumatic event. Many people seek trauma therapy for chronic stress, difficult relationships, attachment wounds, grief, painful life experiences, anxiety, or patterns that continue to affect their emotional well-being.
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Somatic therapy and EMDR can work together by addressing both the emotional and physical impact of difficult experiences. Somatic approaches help increase awareness of body sensations and nervous system responses, while EMDR supports processing memories and experiences that continue to feel distressing.
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Yes. EMDR and trauma therapy can support individuals processing grief related to loss, unexpected life changes, painful experiences, or traumatic events. Therapy can help you work through difficult emotions while honoring the significance of what you have experienced.
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Yes. EMDR and trauma therapy can help process difficult pregnancy, birth, and postpartum experiences, including birth trauma, unexpected complications, pregnancy loss, postpartum anxiety, and distressing memories related to becoming a parent. EMDR and trauma therapy can also support parents who feel overwhelmed, disconnected, or impacted by experiences that continue to affect their emotions, confidence, or sense of safety.
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Yes. If you would like your faith included in therapy, Christian counseling and biblical integration can be incorporated into EMDR and trauma therapy. Therapy can address emotional, relational, and spiritual aspects of your experiences while honoring your personal faith journey. Faith-based perspectives, prayer, Scripture, or spiritual reflection can be included when they are meaningful and supportive to your therapeutic goals, including opportunities to grow your relationship with God.
