We cannot expect to calm anxiety, detox shame, prevent reactivity, tame our inner-critic, heal regrets, heartbreak or trauma, if we don't know how. So let's learn how with proven methods.
Nervous System Informed & Skills-Building
More Than Talk Therapy
Learn. Heal. Balance.
Rather than passive listening, nod therapy, I provide a collaborative, empowering approach with skills-building, evidence-based therapy methods and integrative psychoeducation to experience results you can actually feel. The latest neuropsychological research shows most emotional and mental health disorders, and stress-related medical conditions are due to chronic nervous system activation.
Stuck in chronic stress is linked to depression, anxiety, OCD, ADHD, reactivity, insecurities, relationship conflict, low self-esteem, and maladaptive coping patterns like people-pleasing, sabotaging, obsessing and self-berating. To get 'unstuck' we need emotional nervous system calming and secure relating skills. Therapies include DBT, CBT, CFT, EMDR, IFS and Nervous System Informed Therapy.
About Athena
Licensed Counselor
Best of Scottsdale Counselor Awardee
Masters Degree, Clinical Counseling
MBA, HR & Organizational Behavior
With 10 years of experience and 40+ years of life experience 😉, I provide an experienced, compassionate therapeutic space for you to vent about all the things big and small — while learning and healing with empowering emotional processing, nervous system calming and secure relating skills to build self-trust and mental, emotional and relational well-being. I am also a mom of two teens, so I get to practice my emotional health skills a lot. 😉😉
I just wanted to say thank you. It is wonderful... for the first time in my life, I am seeing and feeling healing!!!!
Client, Age 42
_edited.jpg)
4
Learn and Practice
Foundation Capacities
Once you learn and practice these four skills, you'll notice how all four skills are needed. Much like a car needs four wheels to function, studies show we need these four core abilities for emotional, mental, behavioral and relational health. For example, you may be awesome at communicating your wants, but if you are not able to calm your own nervous system you will be left feeling anxious, confused, resentful, insecure and codependent! Causing more harm than good.
.png)
Give a woman a fish, feed her for a day. Teach her how to fish — feed her and her 'village' — for a lifetime.
Emotional pain changes relative to how you react to it. When you move toward it in an adaptive way, pain shrinks. When you move away from it, pain grows. If you flee from it, pain pursues you like a monster in a dream.
Tony Fahkry
Learn
We spend 12 years in school, learning math, reading, writing and more. But why don't we learn about our nervous system and social-emotional health skills? We need the knowledge to process emotions, overcome limiting beliefs and insecurities, calm our nervous system, communicate clearly and create secure relationships. The good news is, it's never too late to learn.
Learn Why
Heal
With knowledge and evidence-based therapy, like EMDR, DBT skills and IFS Parts Work, increase your self-awareness, self-connection and self-trust, recognize triggers, resolve maladaptive core beliefs and insecurities and detox shame. Healing may also involve processing trauma, self-compassion and tapping into your genuine wants and personal values so you can make choices and achieve goals that matter to you.
Your Balance
With these therapies and skills, gain access to what DBT and IFS therapy refers to as Balanced Self-Leadership. For example, balanced boundaries rather than over-sharing. Care for others, without sacrificing yourself. Instead of ADD or procrastinating, tap into your natural fuel source of dopamine and productive energy. Gain confidence you can literally feel neurochemically. Create secure relationships as you learn to interact more authentically with others. 💖
Gives time to talk about your therapy goals and answer any questions you have
Truly grateful for all you have done for me. I've had dozens of therapists throughout my life but never felt benefits until now. I can feel such a shift. Thank you!
— Client Age 50
I just wanted to say thank you. It is wonderful... for the first time in my life, I am seeing and feeling healing!!!!
— Client Age 42
I used to have panic attacks. Now if I feel anxious I trust myself to self-soothe and feel better in a few minutes.
— Client Age 19
The ability to calm my nervous system with regulation is something I didn't even know existed. Learning DBT has improved my entire life.
— Client Age 28
Thank you for your help over the past several weeks. You helped me restore my self-worth and push my confidence to move forward with my life and career.
— Client Age 38
I hope you have a smile knowing how you are really having a healing impact on people! Thank you for helping me heal and learn to love myself.
— Client Age 47
Contact Me
If we lack emotional health skills, whenever stress arises the human brain switches to autopilot and has an inherent tendency to do more of the same, only harder [maladaptive protective reactions]. Which is precisely, more often than not, the wrong approach in today's world.
Robert Cooper, PhD
NERVOUS SYSTEM INFORMED THERAPY
How Our Emotions, Thoughts, Beliefs, Behaviors, Automatic Reactions and Relationship Patterns
Impact Our Nervous System:
Both Causes and Effects
-
Neurochemicals and Symptoms
-
Core Beliefs and Trauma Triangle Patterns
-
Maladaptive Reactions Fight, Flight, Freeze, Fawn
-
Secure Sense of Self vs Insecurities
-
Secure Attachment vs Insecure Attachment
_edited.png)
.png)
Why focus on learning and skills-building?
The latest neuropsychological research shows that most emotional and mental health conditions are due to a lack of social-emotional health skills and maladaptive coping, 'getting' and 'protecting' behaviors that cause havoc on our lives and relationships — people-pleasing, sabotaging, obsessing, blaming, binging, etc. only to feel depleted, exhausted, stressed and disconnected.
UNDERSTANDING WHY AND HOW TO FEEL BETTER
_edited.jpg)
Why emotional nervous system health skills?
Lack of processing skills results in unprocessed emotions results in what neuropsychologists refer to as 'emotional constipation' — a chronic stress state with cortisol, adrenalin and other stress chemicals stuck in our cells. This results in anxiety disorder, OCD, depression and other mental health conditions, along with depleted health, immune system, metabolism, and even 'feel good' oxytocin. Chronic stress also decreases our capacity to connect with self and presence where 'feeling safe, valued and loved' by others (secure connection) occurs. is only possible in this state of calm nervous system.
PRACTICING SKILLS AND ACTUALLY FEELING BETTER
Leads to inner critic and depressing helplessness
To make matters worse we berate ourselves or blame others, thinking we should just be able to 'snap out of it' and 'feel better' even though we don't know how to deactivate our nervous system. Our inner critic rails against us only making matters worse by increase more stress chemicals, falling victim to the cycle of feeling powerless or anxious about our emotions and symptoms, grappling with shame, anxiety and helplessness.
PRACTICING SKILLS TO RELATE TO YOURSELF BETTER
.png)
What is an insecure vs secure attachment style?
Our attachment style — stemming from childhood, directly correlates to the quality and duration of our relationships with family, partner, friends and career. It is foundational to our self-worth, self-trust, purpose and naturally provides us with the strength, awareness and capacity to stay out of the Codependency Trauma Triangle (conflict triangle, drama triangle, abuse cycle) where we lose ourselves and suffer.
PRACTICING SKILLS TO RELATE WITH OTHERS BETTER
Evidenced Based
Therapy and Skills
Attachment Style Focused Therapy
Gain the capacity for a secure, trusting balanced relationships by healing your attachment style, while resolving previous relational trauma, insecurities, triggers and maladaptive protective behaviors that can cause havoc in relationship.
_edited.jpg)
Somatic Attachment Focused EMDR
Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing (EMDR) therapy facilitates processing of trauma. After successful treatment, distress is relieved, negative beliefs are reformulated, and current day physiological symptoms such as anxiety, panic and other triggered emotions are reduced or completely resolved.
Dialectical Behavioral Therapy
Mindfulness, Emotional Regulation
You may be surprised to learn that every emotion had a distinct message and purpose. With DBT and neurosensory skills, you gain the power to understand and process your emotions in a productive, beneficial way. Calm anxiety, anger, OCD, panic and even ptsd emotional flashback.
.png)
IFS and Compassion Focused Therapy
Gain balanced self-leadership over your inner critic, your thoughts, emotions and maladaptive protective strategies (parts) such as people-pleasing, perfectionism, etc.
_edited.png)
DBT Core Skills
You may be surprised to learn that every emotion had a distinct message and purpose. With DBT and neurosensory skills, you gain the power to understand and process your emotions in a productive, beneficial way. Calm anxiety, anger, OCD, panic and even ptsd emotional flashback.
To be most effective, DBT is designed to learn one lesson a week, with individual guidance from a licensed therapist or DBT trained instructor, and DBT Skills group (optional) for six months. It takes time to use the skills and have them work. When they do, you will have "lightbulb moments" and actually experience results you can feel.
Mindfulness is the foundational element and starting point in therapy, providing essential groundwork for the other three skill modules.
Distress tolerance skills help you get through intense emotional pain without making the situation worse. Builds neuroplasticity 'tolerance muscles.'
Emotional regulation involves understanding and processing your emotions, and choosing how to express and respond.
Interpersonal effectiveness help you be more effective at listening and communicating your wants and needs to ensure you feel respected, supported and cared for.
Four Stress Reaction Types
Get Unstuck from Fight, Flight, Freeze and Fawn
Understanding your stress types, associated symptoms and maladaptive coping methods (maladaptive 'protecting' reactions and 'getting' behaviors) is the first step. Our Attachment Style, childhood and adulthood experiences, adaptations, personality, birth order, trauma, and genetic predispositions impact how we develop stress types.
Flight Type
-
Anxiety, Panic
-
OCD, Hypervigilant
-
Impulsivity, Binging
-
Busyaholic
-
Perfectionism
-
Achievement Addict
.png)
.png)
Fawn Type
-
People-pleasing
-
Compliant
-
Inner Critic
-
Sacrificing / Resentful
-
Anxious Attachment
-
Hero/Helper Addict
Freeze Type
-
Depression
-
ADD, Dissociation
-
Substance Use
-
Fatigue
-
Avoidant Attachment
-
Achievement Underminer
Fight Type
-
Outbursts
-
Controlling
-
Outer Critic
-
Shaming / Blaming
-
Abusive (Unintentional)
-
Personality Disorders
A current event can have only the vaguest resemblance to a past situation and this can be enough to trigger the psyche’s hard-wiring for a fight, flight, fawn or freeze response.
Pete Walker, MA, Complex-PTSD From Surviving to Thriving
Heal Your Insecure Attachment Style
The latest research shows 50% of adults in our society have an Insecure Attachment Style. This also results in chronic nervous system activation.
When you understand Insecure Attachment Styles (Anxious, Avoidant, Fearful-Avoidant) everything suddenly clicks. Stemming from childhood and influenced in adulthood, our attachment style effects:
-
How we feel about ourselves and others
-
Thoughts, emotions and behaviors
-
Nervous system and neurochemicals in each moment
-
Mental, emotional and physical health
-
Responses to stress and vulnerability, both adaptive and maladaptive
-
Foundation of self-worth and sense of lovability
-
Self-care consistency to align with personal values, wants, needs, safety, connection
Fortunately, our attachment style isn't set in stone. It can change, evolve and is treatable. Through learning, we can develop more secure patterns and secure sense of self.
With secure relating skills, needs, preferences and requests are stated explicitly. Whereas in the [trauma/codependency] triangle there's this eternal game of trying to get your needs met without explicitly stating what your needs and wants are.
Heidi Priebe
Four Attachment Styles
Secure and Insecure Types: Anxious, Avoidant and Fearful-Avoidant
Even though we all tend to have some traits and tendencies of each style at some point in our lives, we tend to default to one more than the other, along with associated triggers, assumptions, core beliefs and maladaptive reactions that cause can havoc on our lives.
.png)
Secure Self-Worth and Resolving Inner Critic
Inner Criticism without Self Leadership Leads to Chronic Stress and Associated Mental, Emotional and Physical Health Conditions
This is complex and transformational work. With IFS Parts Work, DBT and Compassion Focused Therapy (CFT) gain awareness and learn to balance and mentor your inner critical thoughts with Wise Mind.
We all have an Inner Critic influenced by our childhood, adulthood, attachment style, core beliefs and expectations from culture, family and friends, and fueled by social survival needs (connection needs, sense of belonging, purpose, value, etc). Inner Critic uses shame, guilt, and self-berating. It results in a slew of maladaptive protective stress reactions trying to 'get' connection or 'protect' from punishment or rejection.
Our Inner Critics are unique, however there are seven common types
-
Perfectionist berates you with impossible standards
-
Taskmaster drives you to work and achieve at all costs
-
Inner Controller controls and shames like a dictator
-
Guilt Tripper unrelenting regret and shame, refusing self-forgiveness
-
Inner Destroyer attacks your self-worth (worthiness to even exist)
-
Underminer minimizes your accomplishments and strengths
-
Molder / Conformist people-pleasing, self-shaming, self-rejecting
My Credentials
Licensure
Licensed Professional Counselor: Arizona / LPC-23927
Certifications and Awards
-
Best of Scottsdale Award, Best Counselor 2019
-
Certified Relationship Coach / 08101704
-
Certified Clinical Trauma Professional / IAPT
-
IFS-Informed Therapist (Parts Work) / IFS Institute
-
Level 1 Gottman Method Therapist
-
Certified Dialectical Behavior Therapist
Education
MASTER OF SCIENCE PROFESSIONAL COUNSELING
2019
Grand Canyon University / Phoenix, AZ
MASTER OF BUSINESS ADMINISTRATION (MBA)
Human and Organizational Behavior
2012
Grand Canyon University / Phoenix, AZ
BACHELOR OF SCIENCE IN BUSINESS
ECONOMICS
2005
Arizona State University / Tempe, AZ
