Brainspotting therapy to help BIPOC teens and young adults break free from trauma, addiction, and being stuck in survival mode
Telehealth in Colorado and PSYPACT Participating States
When Talking isn’t Enough
For the Stuff Your Brain Gets but Your Body Won’t Let Go Of
“Why do I keep repeating the same cycle, even when I know better?”
“I’ve talked about it, processed it to death, but I still feel stuck.”
“I don’t even have the words to describe what I’ve been through.”
“I’m so tired of trying to hold it together.”
Brainspotting helps when talking isn’t enough. We work with your nervous system—the part of you that’s been holding the pain, even when your mind gets it.
Brainspotting
Getting Unstuck from the Inside Out
Why You Still Feel Stuck
You’ve done the work—talked it out, reflected, journaled. But something still hijacks you. Old pain, trauma, or patterns that keep looping no matter how much you “get it.”
This is where Brainspotting comes in.
What Brainspotting Actually Does
It bypasses your thinking brain and works with your nervous system—where trauma and stress are stored.
You don’t have to explain it all perfectly. We use where your eyes naturally go to access deep healing from the inside out.
Who It Helps
For people who shut down, lash out, numb out, or just feel stuck in cycles they don’t understand.
Especially if you’re tired of talking and want something different. Something that actually helps.
What is Brainspotting?
Healing that starts from the inside-out
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Brainspotting is a brain-body-based therapy that helps you process trauma stored deep in the nervous system—places talk therapy can’t always reach.
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It uses specific points in your visual field (called “brainspots”) while you track what’s happening in your body. By staying with these spots, your nervous system naturally starts to release what’s been stuck—without needing to explain or analyze everything. We open a door to healing from the inside out.
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Nope. You can, but you don’t have to. Your body already knows what to do. We’re just helping it get there.
Why Brainspotting is Different
It’s not only about insight.
It’s about release.
Brainspotting bypasses the overthinking, the masking, the performance. It works directly with the survival zones in your brain—where trauma actually lives.
It is especially helpful for BIPOC teens and young adults who’ve had to stay strong, hide pain, or shut down just to get through the day by creating a space to process pain without needing to translate it into words. You don’t have to explain why it hurts. Your body already knows.
This is where we start releasing the tension you’ve been carrying for years.
What to Expect
A space to slow down, follow your body, and let it work through what words couldn’t
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We create space for your system to tune in and stay present to what’s happening inside.
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That might be a feeling, memory, or just a foggy sense.
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I help you focus your gaze where your body holds that experience.
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You might feel emotions, memories, or body sensations rise up. You’ll just notice them with curiosity.
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I guide you gently while your nervous system does what it already knows how to do.
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Music and grounding are woven throughout the process, helping your brain stay regulated and supported as it completes what it needs to.
Why Brainspotting Matters
Because sometimes words aren’t enough to name what hurts
As a psychologist working with BIPOC teens and young adults, I know that traditional Western talk therapy isn’t always enough. Trauma isn’t just a story we can tell—it lives in our bodies, passed down through generations and reinforced by cultural pressures and survival strategies we’ve learned to carry.
When your nervous system has been shaped by systemic oppression, cultural expectations, family survival patterns, and intergenerational trauma, simply "talking it out" can feel like it misses the deeper layers. Our bodies often hold the emotional weight of these experiences long before our minds are able to name them.
Brainspotting goes beyond insight by working directly with the nervous system—the place where unresolved pain is stored. It’s a bottom-up process that helps loosen what’s stuck beneath the surface and creates space for freedom from the pain, overwhelm, and survival patterns that have been holding you back.
For BIPOC clients navigating the intersection of trauma, substance use, and cultural identity, Brainspotting helps release what was not meant for us to hold. It opens the door to deep, embodied healing and makes space to reclaim a new way forward.
Because healing isn’t just about understanding the problem. It’s about moving through it.
Let’s work together
Interested in working together? Fill out some info and I will be in touch shortly. You don’t have to have it all figured out—just start here.
Want more details?
Check out this free info guide I created for clients, families, and providers. It breaks down how Brainspotting works, what to expect in a session, and why it can be so powerful for folks navigating trauma, identity, or cycles of overwhelm.
Areas of Specialty
Stuff they say you’re not supposed to talk about
— but we will
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Substance use doesn’t happen in a vacuum. For many teens and young adults—especially those navigating trauma, family pressure, cultural stigma, or mental health challenges—it can become a way to cope with pain, numb out, or feel in control.
If you come from a family or culture where addiction is seen as a moral failing, not a mental health issue, asking for help can feel almost impossible. Shame, secrecy, and fear of judgment can keep the cycle going—and make everyone feel even more alone.
In therapy, we don’t just focus on the substance. We look at what’s underneath it—the pain, the patterns, the survival strategies—and work together to build healthier ways of coping. Whether you're struggling yourself or supporting someone who is, we'll explore tools that help you reduce harm, stay grounded, and take steps toward healing that actually sticks.
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Trauma can shape the way you think, feel, and relate to others—even when you don’t realize it. For teens and young adults, it might show up as emotional overwhelm, disconnection, people-pleasing, shutting down, or self-sabotage. Sometimes, it doesn’t look like trauma at all—it just feels like something’s always “off.”
For folks from marginalized communities, trauma is often layered—with systemic injustice, cultural silence, and intergenerational pain woven in. That kind of trauma doesn’t just live in the past—it lives in your body, your relationships, your sense of safety.
In therapy, we work gently and intentionally to untangle that. Through body-based and emotionally focused approaches, we create space to process what’s happened, restore a sense of safety, and build resilience in a way that honors your culture, your story, and your pace.
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You might feel stuck, numb, or disconnected—or like your brain won’t slow down and you’re constantly overwhelmed. Maybe you shut down. Maybe you overthink everything. Maybe both. Either way, it’s exhausting.
If you’ve ever been told you’re lazy, too sensitive, or too much, you might have learned to hide how bad things really feel. Depression and anxiety in young people of color often don’t look like what people expect. They might show up as anger, fighting, lashing out, doing drugs, partying too much, overworking, or shutting down completely. Sometimes it gets labeled as “disrespectful,” “lazy,” or “out of control”—but underneath, it’s pain, fear, or pressure no one taught you how to name. They can also show up as burnout, isolation, people-pleasing, perfectionism, or never feeling like you’re “enough.”
In therapy, we slow things down and make space for the feelings you’ve had to hold in. We’ll work on understanding your patterns, building emotional tools, and reconnecting with the parts of you that have been shut out or pushed aside. This isn’t about 'fixing' you—it’s about helping you feel safe in your own skin again.
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ADHD isn’t just about focus—it’s about having a brain that works differently in a world that wasn’t built for it. For young people of color, especially those in families that value discipline, order, or emotional control, ADHD can be misunderstood as laziness, defiance, or “not trying hard enough.”
You might find yourself zoning out, forgetting things, saying stuff you didn’t mean to, or crashing after bursts of energy. Maybe you overwork to hide it. Maybe you’ve been told you’re “too much” your whole life—or started using substances to quiet the noise.
In therapy, we explore how your brain works—without labeling you or trying to make you fit into a mold. We build tools for focus, time, and emotion regulation—but we also work on releasing the shame. ADHD support is about more than just executive functioning—it’s about seeing yourself clearly and finally feeling understood.
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Growing up between cultures can feel like constantly switching versions of yourself—what’s expected at home doesn’t always match what’s expected in the world. For teens and young adults of color, especially those from immigrant families, this can lead to deep confusion, isolation, and pressure to be everything for everyone.
You might struggle with feeling “not enough” in any space—or carry guilt for wanting something different than what your family imagined for you. On top of that, the impact of racism, xenophobia, homophobia, or gender-based discrimination can make it even harder to feel safe, seen, or worthy.
In therapy, we create space to unpack all of it—cultural identity, family expectations, intergenerational conflict, and systemic stress. You’ll have room to process what’s been passed down to you, explore who you are, and build a more grounded, confident relationship with your story.
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How we learn to connect—or protect ourselves—in relationships often starts early. If you grew up with emotional distance, chaos, or pressure to perform instead of express, it makes sense if you struggle to trust people, open up, or feel safe being close to others.
Attachment wounds don’t always look like fear—they can show up as pushing people away, getting “too close too fast,” emotional shutdowns, or constantly fearing you’re ‘too much’ or ‘not enough.’ Sometimes, relationships feel overwhelming. Sometimes, they feel impossible.
In therapy, we explore those patterns with care and curiosity—not blame. You’ll learn how your early experiences shaped the way you relate to others, and how to build safer, more connected relationships—starting with the one you have with yourself.
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Supporting a teen through substance use is hard—especially when no one talks about it and parents who have not gone through it just don’t understand. People might make you feel like you’re a bad parent, like you’re doing something wrong, when in reality, you’re doing everything you can—often in silence, often alone.
Parents often carry guilt, shame, or fear of being judged, especially in families or cultures where mental health and addiction are taboo. It can feel like you’re failing, even when you’re trying your hardest to hold it all together.
Parent coaching creates a space where you don’t have to have all the answers. Together, we’ll look at what’s underneath your teen’s struggles—like trauma, anxiety, peer pressure, or emotional overwhelm—and explore how you can support their healing without losing yourself in the process.
You’ll learn tools to reduce conflict, rebuild trust, and communicate in ways that actually land. We’ll also talk about how to care for you—because your stress, grief, trauma, and fear deserve attention too. You don’t have to do this alone, and you don’t have to do it perfectly to make a difference. You just have to stay in the room—and we’ll figure it out together.