When Something Stays With You
Trauma & PTSD Therapy in California
From stuck to flow.
Move through your life with more steadiness, more ease, and a nervous system that no longer stays on high alert.
You might notice it in small ways at first.
A sense of being on edge, even when things are going well.
Difficulty relaxing in relationships.
Reactions that feel bigger than the moment.
Or a quiet awareness that something hasn’t fully settled.
The word “trauma” can feel loaded.
For some, it brings to mind a specific event.
For others, it’s less clear—something cumulative, relational, or long-standing.
Either way, the body can continue to respond in ways that haven’t fully settled.
You may have already done meaningful work.
You might understand where patterns come from. You may have developed insight, language, and strategies that help you function day to day.
And still, certain responses remain.
This often isn’t a matter of understanding more—it’s about where the pattern is held.
Much of what we call trauma is not stored in the thinking, analytical parts of the brain.
It lives in the nervous system—in patterns of activation, protection, and response that were adaptive at one time, but no longer fit the present.
Because of this, approaches that rely primarily on insight may not fully reach it.
I’m Dr. Ly Franshaua Pipkins, a licensed clinical psychologist, and in my work we use approaches that engage the nervous system directly, including Brainspotting and other mind–body modalities.
This allows us to work with what is held beneath the level of thought—without requiring you to revisit or retell everything in detail.
The focus is not on pushing through, but on allowing the system to process in a way that feels steady and manageable.
This work may be right for you if you’re navigating:
Attachment wounds
PTSD or Complex Trauma
Relationship instability or repeated patterns
Anxiety rooted in early experiences
Burnout from chronic hyper-responsibility
Emotional numbing or over-functioning
Childhood emotional neglect
Grief or unresolved loss
Identity-based stress or relational trauma
You may have tried therapy before…
Maybe you’ve read the books, journaled extensively, and can explain your attachment style with precision.
Or perhaps you’ve built a successful life through discipline and resilience — yet relationships still feel activating, intimacy feels complicated, or your body stays on guard.
You’re not here for symptom management.
You’re here because you’re ready to feel different — not just think differently.
This is not surface work.
This is regulated, intentional, trauma-informed depth work.
Why Brainspotting?
Brainspotting allows us to access and process trauma at the subcortical level — where trauma is stored — without requiring exhaustive verbal recounting.
It is precise, contained, and deeply effective.
For clients who are thoughtful and insight-oriented, Brainspotting often creates the shift that traditional talk therapy alone cannot.