About Kayla

Hi, I’m Kayla!

Seeking therapy takes courage, and I’m so glad you’re here.

I’m a licensed clinical professional counselor and psychotherapist. I specialize in working with adults and couples who are navigating the long-term effects of complex and developmental trauma, disordered eating, dissociation, sexual trauma, and the painful disconnection many feel from their bodies — especially when that disconnection has been shaped by systems like religion, culture, or family.

I’m passionate about helping people not just “feel better,” but actually feel again — safely, slowly, and in a way that’s true to them. My work centers the body and nervous system — not as an afterthought, but as the foundation of sustainable emotional and relational healing.

In our sessions, we’ll aim to reach deep — but there’s always room for humor, a breath, and a well-timed joke. This is a space where you don’t have to perform or pretend. My goal is to co-create a space where you feel grounded, seen, and actively involved in your own healing. You’ll never be treated like a diagnosis or a problem to fix.

        Book an appointment with me! 

I show up as a human first, therapist second. My sessions are relational and experiential — meaning you can expect more than just talking about things. We’ll tune in, together, to how things actually feel.

• Relational. You won’t be doing this alone. I’ll meet you where you are — and stay with you through it.

• Attachment-Focused. We’ll look at how early relationships shaped your sense of safety and self.

• Body-Affirming. Your body has always had something to say. We’ll learn how to listen again.

• Anti-Pathologizing. Your symptoms aren’t flaws — they’re strategies. They make sense.

• Gentle + Honest. I’ll bring care, clarity, and compassion — and offer the kind of honesty that invites growth, not shame.

• System-Aware. Your story doesn’t live in isolation. We’ll hold the context that shaped it.

I’m not here to fix you. I’m here to walk alongside you as you reconnect with the parts of yourself that adapted to survive — the ones that went quiet, hid away, or carried more than they should’ve had to.

What Healing Can Feel Like

This is slow work. Brave work. Beautiful, messy, nonlinear work.
There’s no one “right way” to do it — and certainly no prize for doing it fast.

But with time, healing might start to feel like:

• Taking up space — without apology

• Feeling emotions while they happen (yes, that’s allowed here)

• Making decisions from self-trust, not fear

• Noticing your body… and actually staying with it

• Resting. Laughing. Saying no. Saying yes. Being in your life — for real

You get to define what healing means for you. I’ll be here — not to push, not to pull — but to walk beside you as you become more of who you already are.

I approach each client with a trauma-informed, systemic, and sociocultural lens — always considering the bigger picture of your story, your environment, and the survival strategies you’ve had to carry. My work integrates somatic (body-based) and experiential approaches, because healing isn’t just a cognitive process — it lives in the body, too.

When we experience trauma or emotional distress, our brains and bodies adapt in ways that prioritize survival. These adaptations are wise — even when they later feel confusing or exhausting. My training in Somatic Experiencing (SE), Internal Family Systems (IFS), and EMDR supports clients in gently shifting out of survival mode and building the capacity to experience more choice, more safety, and more aliveness in their daily lives.

Curious about these approaches?
Click here to learn more about SE, IFS, and EMDR.

Associations

• American Counseling Association (ACA)
• Somatic Experiencing International (SEI)

Trauma is not what happens to us, but what we hold inside in the absence of an empathetic witness. – Peter Levine, PhD