Trauma & PTSD Therapy
For Women | Online Across California
Mind–Body Therapy for Trauma. Help Your Nervous System Finally Settle.
You might notice it in small ways at first—feeling on edge at times you expected to feel settled.
A hesitation in trusting others or forming relationships.
Strong reactions to moments that feel like rejection.
Or a quiet awareness that something hasn’t fully resolved.
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.
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.
This doesn’t mean you’re stuck.
It means the work may need to happen in a different way.
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.
What You Can Expect to Shift.
Over time, things begin to feel different.
There’s less bracing, more presence.
More choice in how you respond, instead of feeling carried by the reaction.
More ease in staying connected with others, even in moments that used to feel activating.
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
If you’re noticing patterns that haven’t shifted with insight alone, this may be a place to begin working differently.
You’ve likely done the intellectual work.
If you’re ready for embodied change, I invite you to schedule a consultation.
Frequently Asked Questions
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No. In my approach, the goal is not to force you to revisit or retell painful experiences before your system is ready. Mind–body therapies such as Brainspotting allow us to work with how trauma is held in the nervous system without requiring detailed verbal processing of every experience. Therapy moves at a pace that prioritizes steadiness, safety, and regulation rather than overwhelm.
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Yes. Trauma is not defined only by dramatic or life-threatening events. Many people experience long-term nervous system activation from chronic stress, emotional neglect, relational instability, identity-based stress, repeated criticism, or environments where they did not feel emotionally safe or supported. Often, what matters most is not only what happened, but how the nervous system adapted in response.
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Many trauma responses are stored physiologically rather than only cognitively. You may understand where certain reactions come from and still notice your body responding automatically during conflict, closeness, stress, or perceived rejection. This does not mean you are failing to heal. It often means the nervous system is still operating from patterns that were learned through experience and survival over time.
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Nervous system–based trauma therapy focuses not only on insight, but on helping the body experience greater regulation, flexibility, and safety over time. Sessions may include attention to body awareness, activation patterns, grounding, pacing, and emotional processing in ways that feel manageable rather than overwhelming. The work is collaborative and gradual rather than forcing immediate disclosure or intense emotional exposure.
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For many people, yes. Brainspotting is a brain–body therapy designed to work with trauma, attachment wounds, anxiety, and other nervous system patterns held beneath conscious awareness. Rather than focusing only on talking through experiences intellectually, Brainspotting helps access deeper physiological processing in a way that can feel more direct, contained, and less verbally demanding for some people.
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Many people who seek this work have already done significant insight-oriented therapy. They often understand their patterns clearly but still feel stuck in certain emotional or physiological responses. Nervous system–based approaches can offer a different layer of work by focusing more directly on how trauma and chronic activation are held in the body, not only how they are understood cognitively.
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Often, yes. Trauma can shape the way people experience trust, vulnerability, boundaries, conflict, and emotional safety in relationships. As the nervous system becomes less organized around protection and vigilance, many people notice greater ease in staying present, communicating clearly, tolerating closeness, and responding less automatically during emotionally activating moments.