Trauma Therapy in Walnut Creek
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Explore Our Specializations
Trauma runs deep and shapes our sense of safety in an already overwhelming world. It affects how we interact with others and handle everyday situations. It can make relationships feel strained or trigger reactions that seem intense or out of place. You may struggle with intense emotions or feel isolated or unsure of who you are at times, even react in ways you don’t fully understand.
Therapy helps by providing a safe space to explore complex emotions without judgment. We’ll take a close look at how past experiences are impacting your life now. We’ll work through how those experiences have manifested in your life and begin to gently untangle their hold. You’ll learn coping skills that help in everyday life. You’ll learn to regulate intense emotions while gaining clarity and relief from the trauma. The goal is to find healing while easing the toll it’s taken on your mind and heart. Whether the trauma stems from childhood, relationships, or unexpected events, therapy can help you move forward with confidence and real solutions.
We Help With:
Developing tools to manage trauma-related anxiety and triggers
Creating a safe space and pace to process painful memories
Rebuilding a sense of safety, trust, and self-compassion
Identifying and breaking free from survival patterns
Navigating the impact of trauma on relationships and daily life
Processing & releasing stored emotions from past experiences
Strengthening emotional regulation and resilience
Managing dissociation, hypervigilance, or feelings of disconnection
Transforming self-blame into self-understanding & empowerment
Healing attachment wounds and rebuilding healthy boundaries
Guiding you toward post-traumatic growth, reclaiming your life
Our Counselors who Specialize in Trauma Therapy
Brianna Webb Almanza, LMFT
Ashley Nazario, LCSW
What we help with:
Developing tools to manage trauma-related anxiety and triggers
Creating a safe space and pace to process painful memories
Rebuilding a sense of safety, trust, and self-compassion
Identifying and breaking free from survival patterns
Navigating the impact of trauma on relationships and daily life
Processing & releasing stored emotions from past experiences
Strengthening emotional regulation and resilience
Managing dissociation, hypervigilance, or feelings of disconnection
Transforming self-blame into self-understanding & empowerment
Healing attachment wounds and rebuilding healthy boundaries
Guiding you toward post-traumatic growth, reclaiming your life
Bessel van der Kolk
the body keeps the score
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Our Preferred Evidence-Based Treatments
Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT) is an empirically supported treatment that helps change distressing thought patterns that contribute to anxiety and depression. Through CBT, you'll learn to identify and challenge negative thoughts, reframe irrational beliefs, and replace them with healthier, more realistic perspectives. CBT also focuses on breaking patterns of self-doubt and worry by learning how to re-evaluate situations and adopt more constructive thinking. These tools empower you to make lasting changes in how you think and respond.
ERP is a structured therapy that helps reduce distress from obsessive thoughts and compulsive behaviors. It involves gradual, guided exposure to feared situations or thoughts without doing the habits or rituals you usually do to feel better. This process helps decrease anxiety over time and breaks the cycle of obsessions and rituals. You remain fully present and supported throughout, learning new ways to tolerate discomfort and regain control. ERP is especially effective for OCD, skin picking, hair pulling, and related anxiety challenges. Sessions are available in person and via telehealth throughout California.
Dialectical Behavior Therapy (DBT) combines cognitive-behavioral techniques with mindfulness principles to help individuals manage emotions, navigate challenges, and improve relationships. It focuses on four key areas: mindfulness, distress tolerance, emotion regulation, and interpersonal effectiveness. By building these skills, DBT empowers individuals to replace destructive patterns with practical, lasting strategies that promote resilience, balance, and a greater sense of control in daily life.
EMDR helps your brain reprocess stuck memories so they no longer feel overwhelming or intense. Unprocessed experiences can trigger or worsen anxiety, shame, distress, and physiological reactions. After EMDR, difficult experiences often feel neutral, distant, or easier to manage. We use techniques like eye movements or handheld tappers to activate both sides of the brain, supporting your brain’s natural ability to heal and make sense of the distressing experiences. Sessions follow a structured 8-phase protocol to help you build resilience and process memories, while fully awake and alert. EMDR is effective for distress related to loss, illness, trauma, childhood wounds, and relationship pain.
1870 Olympic Blvd
Walnut Creek, CA 94596
925-830-7900
flashbacks
emotional numbness
avoidance of triggers
hypervigilance
dissociation
substance abuse
Trauma runs deep and shapes our sense of safety in an already overwhelming world. It affects how we interact with others and handle everyday situations. It can make relationships feel strained or trigger reactions that seem intense or out of place. You may struggle with intense emotions or feel isolated or unsure of who you are at times, even react in ways you don’t fully understand.
Therapy helps by providing a safe space to explore complex emotions without judgment. We’ll take a close look at how past experiences are impacting your life now. We’ll work through how those experiences have manifested in your life and begin to gently untangle their hold. You’ll learn coping skills that help in everyday life. You’ll learn to regulate intense emotions while gaining clarity and relief from the trauma. The goal is to find healing while easing the toll it’s taken on your mind and heart. Whether the trauma stems from childhood, relationships, or unexpected events, therapy can help you move forward with confidence and real solutions.