From Fight-or-Flight to Fully Present: How Attachment-Focused EMDR Helps High-Achieving Moms Release Fear of Failure and Build Real Resilience
You carry the weight of success on your shoulders but still wake up tangled in fear of failure. Your mind races with “what ifs,” and perfectionism feels like both armor and cage. Attachment-focused EMDR offers a path out of that exhausting loop by healing old wounds that keep your nervous system locked in fight-or-flight. This […]
From Fight-or-Flight to Freedom: How Attachment-Focused EMDR Helps High Achievers Break Burnout and Fear of Failure
Burnout and fear of failure often sneak in when you least expect them, especially if you’re the kind of woman who’s always pushing harder to prove she’s enough. You carry the weight of perfectionism and that relentless inner critic telling you to hustle more. Attachment-Focused EMDR offers a way to heal those deep childhood wounds […]
Understanding Attachment Wounds: A Pathway to Emotional Safety
You work hard to control every outcome, but some fears keep sneaking in—especially around how you connect with others. Those hidden attachment wounds shape your emotional safety more than you realize, fueling anxiety and the urge to people-please. Let’s unpack how these old hurts hold you back and how EMDR therapy at Authentic Gains can […]
It’s Social Work Month
My Social Work Journey I grew up working with older adults as a candy striper in hospitals while volunteering many hours in middle school and High School at nursing homes and hospitals. While completing my Bachelors Degree in Psychology and Minor in Gerontology interning at St. Joseph’s hospital in Orange County, I learned that becoming […]
Understanding the Fear and Stress in the Transgender Community: A Call for Empathy and Support
What’s Happened In recent months, the transgender community has faced an unfortunate wave of challenges, particularly concerning the documentation that defines their identity in society. As laws and policies shift, many transgender individuals are being told that they must secure passports with their birth gender—something that can create significant distress and fear. This upcoming change […]
Understanding Personality Development in the Wake of Attachment Trauma
Attachment trauma can significantly impact the development of personality, particularly when an individual is raised in an invalidating environment. I recently participated in an advanced training with Ann E. Potter and Debra Wesselmann who wrote “EMDR and Attachment-Focused Trauma Therapy for Adults, Reclaiming Authentic Self and Healthy Attachments.” I am now incorporating the concepts of […]
Family Wounds and Politics
Here We Go It’s that time again, where familial conflict around differing views is at its height. This past Monday President Trump was inaugurated and it feels as if many are struggling with uncertainty. Even in my own family, there is a significant divide that brings up lots of emotions, hurt, and assumptions. I was […]
Small Consistent Changes
No Resolution The recovering perfectionist in me has learned to be much kinder to myself in this decade of my life. There was a time when I set many goals and lived with the rigidity of accountability to try to meet more than was feasibly possible. Today I embrace smaller changes with the knowledge that […]
Can a Perfectionist Have Clutter?
If you’ve worked with me you know I consider myself a recovering perfectionist. I have done years of work on myself to let go of the need to impress or even worry about what others think of me. Yet, just when I think I’ve done such a great job, there’s that little voice that creeps […]
Holiday Gratitudes and Boundaries
Thanksgiving Every year it seems that the holidays just sneak up on me and then they’re here. I always feel challenged to hold onto the holiday decor for Thanksgiving when I really want to put up all the Christamas decorations. This holiday will be quite mild at my house. We just had all the kids […]