About Safe Haven Therapy

Welcome to Safe Haven Therapy

I specialize in providing trauma-focused care for individuals and relationships struggling with family-of-origin challenges, anxiety, and OCD. I help you heal from from constant worry, self-doubt, and relationship challenges so you can reclaim the joy and freedom of a meaningful life.

Why Choose Safe Haven Therapy?

  • Healing Family Wounds: Specialized focus on family-of-origin trauma, its lasting impact, and its’ connection to present struggles.

  • Specialized Care for OCD & Anxiety: Trusted and evidence-supported therapy to get to the root of constant worry and self-doubt.

  • Neurodiversity-Affirming: Compassionate care for highly sensitive, autistic, and ADHD individuals struggling with OCD, anxiety, and family-of-origin trauma

At Safe Haven Therapy, I am committed to providing integrative and whole-person care, focusing on the intersection of root causes so that you can truly heal from the past by overcoming the challenges of the present.

Areas of Specialty

OCD

  • If you are struggling with OCD, you may:

    • Find yourself trapped in cycles of rumination and secret rituals

    • Constantly doubt yourself

    • Obsess about something you fear or dread

    • Frequently seek reassurance from others or the internet

    • Feel overwhelmed and out of control

    • Feel disconnected from your life and yourself

    • Use specific behaviors or patterns of thinking to prevent something bad from happening

    • Feel an overwhelming sense of fear, disgust, guilt, or dread

    Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder (OCD) is a mental health condition characterized by persistent, unwanted thoughts (obsessions) and repetitive behaviors or mental acts (compulsions) that a person feels driven to perform in response to those thoughts. The compulsions are intended to reduce anxiety or prevent a feared event, but they often provide only temporary relief and can interfere with daily life. People with OCD may recognize that their thoughts or behaviors are excessive, but feel unable to control them. Common obsessions include fears of contamination or harming others, while compulsions might include washing, checking, or arranging things in specific ways.

silhouette of woman sitting down and hugging her knees

Family Trauma

  • Family Trauma can feel like:

    • Difficulty knowing and setting boundaries

    • Insecurity or lack of self-trust

    • Being especially attuned to others’ emotions and able to read people

    • Pervasive confusion and self-doubt

    • Feeling like you don’t fit in, but good at adapting to a variety of groups and environments

    • Trouble sleeping and relaxing

    • Panic or frequent overwhelm

    • Being hesitant to trust that others care about you

    • Trouble with relationships no matter how hard you try

    • Longing for something that feels like home

    • Trouble focusing

    • Sensitivity to sounds, lighting, or stimulating environments

    • Chronic feeling of resentment, shame or self-hatred

    Family Trauma (Complex Trauma) refers to exposure to repeated or prolonged trauma, often over an extended period, typically in situations where the individual feels powerless to escape (e.g., chronic abuse, sudden and significant loss, neglect, pervasive unpredictability, living with addicted or mentally ill family members). These experiences –often but not always–occur in childhood, adolescence, and early adulthood. Complex trauma can impact emotional regulation, relationships, self-esteem, and mental health, often leading to difficulties in trust, attachment, processing emotions. and other mental health conditions such as anxiety or OCD. It is distinct from single-event trauma due to its ongoing nature and cumulative impact on a person's well-being.

woman with glasses looking down

Anxiety

  • Struggling with anxiety can feel like:

    • Constant worry, unease, and restlessness

    • Trouble falling or staying asleep

    • Ruminating, replaying scenes in your head, and like thoughts are moving too fast

    • Specific fears (including phobias) or a more general sense that something bad is going to happen

    • Physical discomfort such as racing heart, feeling wired while tired, lack of appetite, sweaty palms, a pit in the stomach, shortness of breath, and more

    • Hyper-vigilance

    • Trouble focusing

    • Meltdowns or panic attacks

    Anxiety conditions are marked by a pervasive sense of worry, nervousness, or unease, often about a future event or uncertain outcome. It’s a natural response to stress but can become problematic when it’s intense, chronic, or disproportionate to the situation. Anxiety can manifest physically (e.g., rapid heartbeat, sweating), emotionally (e.g., fear, dread), and behaviorally (e.g., avoiding situations). Anxiety disorders, such as generalized anxiety disorder, social anxiety, or panic disorder, involve persistent and excessive anxiety that interferes with daily life.

brain with illustrated lightbulb above it

Neurodivergence

  • Challenges with being neurodivergent can feel like:

    • Exhaustion from masking and trying to fit in with others

    • Burnout, overwhelm, and regular meltdowns

    • Trouble with executive functioning (planning, task initiation, task switching, etc.)

    • Being misunderstood or invisible

    • Everyone got a handbook on how to function in society–besides you

    • Shame and having a strong inner-critic

    Neurodivergence refers to variations in the way people's brains and bodies experience the world, which can affect the ways we think, feel, learn, and processing sensory input. While autism and ADHD are common forms of neurodivergence, there are many other variations. Brain and body differences are natural and should be accepted rather than treated as disorders. Just like biodiversity, neurodiversity is essential for a thriving and diverse society. However, society does not always support these differences, and certain systems are failing us–not the other way around. Neurodivergent individuals tend to have both unique strengths and challenges, and the focus is on understanding, embracing, and supporting these differences.

Hands holding a small plant seedling

Relational Therapy

  • All effective therapy happens within the context of a safe and healing relationship, so having trust and a genuine connection is foundational to the process. Carl Jung said, “Know all the theories, master all the techniques, but as you touch a human soul be just another human soul.” We are people first, and therapy can be a powerful way to explore what is possible when another person sees and supports us in all of our and pain and in all of our brilliance. A relational approach fosters compassionate self-inquiry that is curious, brave, and self-preserving.

Tree roots underground

Trauma Informed Stabilization Treatment

  • Inspired by world-renowned experts Bessel van der Kolk, Judith Herman and Daniel Siegel, Janina Fisher founded a comprehensive approach to treating individuals impacted by family trauma. Trauma-Informed Stabilization Treatment (TIST) places an emphasis on how family trauma fragments the self. Fisher integrates Structural Dissociation Theory and Sensorimotor Psychotherapy to help individuals recognize and heal internal parts that form in response to family dynamics, such as abuse, neglect, or addiction. By understanding how these fragmented parts—whether characterized by fear, shame, or hypervigilance—function, clients can work towards integrating them. This process fosters self-compassion, courage, and resilience, ultimately leading to the healing of deep wounds rooted in family trauma.

Therapeutic Modalities

A starry sky over Wonderland Lake

Exposure & Response Prevention

  • Exposure and Response Therapy is the gold standard of treatment for most anxiety disorders including OCD, OCD-related disorders and health anxiety. This modality is rooted in facing ones fears and building tolerance for uncertainty. Therefore, my personal approach to ERP is gentle, adaptive and flexible. OCD and anxiety can be quite distressing. For some, it can be debilitating. ERP therapy has been a primary source of relief for many people who are now able to live their lives happily and freely. 

neuron fibers

Neurodiversity Affirming Therapy

  • Neurodiversity-affirming therapy is a non-pathologizing approach that was born out of a need for more awareness, acceptance, and advocacy for neurodivergent individuals. NAC is about helping you explore the tools, environments, and perspectives that will strengthen your identity and support your wellbeing as a neurodivergent person. The neurodiversity umbrella includes ADHD and autism along with OCD, bipolar disorder, and trauma. While NAC can be an affirming experience for anyone, it especially benefits those who feel rejected for differences in social preferences, sensory processing, communication, and executive functioning. A neurodiversity-affirming therapist understands that eye contact is optional, fidgets are available, and tangents are welcome. No matter who we are, a neurodiversity-affirming therapist can offer an incredibly validating, accepting, and empowering therapeutic experience.

A group of diverse hands lay on top of each other

Acceptance & Commitment Therapy

  • This is a values-based modality that encourages the development of principles drawn from buddhist psychology, including self-awareness, self-compassion and acceptance. Anxiety, OCD and Family Trauma can hold us back from living a fulfilling and meaningful life. ACT offers an empowering path toward a life that is inspired by personal values rather than driven by anxiety and fear. ACT therapy helps us manage temporary and distressing thoughts, beliefs and feelings that we have about ourselves and the world. Once we begin to quiet the fear-based, mental chatter, we are able to tap into our deeply resilient, compassionate and ever-present humanity.