Therapy For Trauma- Alex Steric LCSW Ventura, CA & Beyond
Experiencing trauma can profoundly impact your emotional well-being, relationships, and daily life. Whether stemming from childhood experiences, emotionally unavailable parents, or other distressing events, trauma often leaves lasting effects that influence how you parent, interact in relationships, and perceive yourself.
Understanding Trauma and Its Effects
Trauma encompasses a wide range of distressing events, including accidents, abuse, violence, or significant life changes. Its effects can manifest as anxiety, depression, overthinking, perfectionism, or feeling overwhelmed by daily demands. Recognizing these signs is the first step toward healing.
Engaging in trauma therapy can lead to:
- Improved Emotional Regulation: Gain control over overwhelming emotions and reduce anxiety and depression.
- Enhanced Relationships: Develop healthier interactions with your children, partner, and others by addressing past wounds.
- Increased Self-Awareness: Understand how past experiences influence present behaviors and thoughts, empowering you to make conscious changes.
- Resilience Building: Strengthen your ability to cope with future stressors and life transitions.
As a therapist with personal experience in motherhood and professional expertise in trauma, I understand the unique challenges you face. My approach is warm, direct, and collaborative, aiming to help you tap into your inner strength and create lasting change. To learn more about how I use Brainspotting to help address trauma, scroll below. See me in person in Ventura and Westlake Village, CA or virtually in California.
Therapy For Grief & Loss
Grief is a natural response to loss, but when it comes to experiences like miscarriage, stillbirth, or other deeply personal losses, the emotional pain can feel isolating and overwhelming. You may feel sadness, anger, guilt, or even numbness, unsure of how to move forward while carrying the weight of your loss.
Understanding Grief After Miscarriage or Stillbirth
Losing a pregnancy or child—at any stage—can leave you feeling shattered, unseen, or misunderstood. These losses are often minimized by others, which can make the pain even harder to process. Whether you are grieving in silence, struggling to support a partner, or navigating this loss while caring for other children, your feelings are valid, and your healing matters.
Grief can manifest as:
- Overwhelming sadness or depression
- Anxiety or fear about the future
- Feelings of guilt, blame, or failure
- Difficulty connecting with loved ones
- Physical symptoms like fatigue, headaches, or sleep disruptions
My Approach to Grief and Loss Therapy
In our work together, you’ll find a safe, compassionate space to process your loss and begin healing. I use evidence-based approaches tailored to support grief.
Therapy for grief and loss can help you:
- Process and release complex emotions like guilt, anger, or numbness.
- Find ways to honor and remember your baby’s life.
- Rebuild trust in your body and hope for the future.
- Strengthen your relationships as you grieve together or individually.
- Feel seen, heard, and supported as you heal.
Why Choose Me?
As both a therapist and a mom, I deeply understand the unique heartbreak of miscarriage and stillbirth. My approach is gentle, empathetic, and tailored to your journey. I’m here to hold space for your grief while helping you find meaning, peace, and connection. You are not alone in your loss. Together, we will honor your grief and help you find a path forward. See me in person in Ventura and Westlake Village, CA or virtually in California.
Brainspotting Therapy: A Path to Healing Trauma and Anxiety
What is Brainspotting?
Brainspotting is a powerful, brain-body-based therapy that helps you process and release trauma, anxiety, and emotional distress. By identifying specific points in your visual field where unprocessed memories and emotions are stored in the brain, Brainspotting allows you to access deeper parts of your mind that traditional talk therapy may not reach.
How Does Brainspotting Work?
Trauma and anxiety can get "stuck" in the brain and body, often outside of your conscious awareness. During a Brainspotting session, we use your eye position as a gateway to locate and gently process these unresolved experiences. By focusing on these "brain spots," the brain's natural self-healing capacity is activated, helping you release emotional pain, reduce symptoms, and restore balance.
Who Can Benefit?
Brainspotting is especially effective for individuals experiencing:
- Trauma (including birth trauma, accidents, or emotional wounds)
- Anxiety and chronic stress
- Overwhelming emotions
- Grief or loss
- Performance blocks (common in parenting, work, or relationships)
Why Choose Brainspotting?
As a certified Brainspotting therapist, Brainspotting is a gentle yet transformative approach that works faster than many traditional methods. You don't have to re-tell your entire trauma story—this therapy honors your body's wisdom to heal while helping you feel safe, calm, and grounded. See me in person in Ventura and Westlake Village, CA or virtually in California.
