About — The Relational Trauma Therapist

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Meet Dr. Katia

Trauma Psychologist Nervous System Educator Visibility Advocate

Every part of your story matters, even the parts you’ve learned to hide.

My work is rooted in helping survivors of relational trauma understand themselves in a way they’ve never been allowed to before: through compassion, nervous system science, and the restoration of identity.

Work With Me

I help adults heal from narcissistic abuse, toxic relationships, chronic burnout, trauma responses, and the nervous system patterns that keep them stuck. My work blends trauma psychology, somatic regulation, attachment theory, and body-positive healing to help survivors reconnect with themselves in a way that feels safe, sustainable, and real.

Healing isn’t about “fixing” you.

It’s about helping you understand the adaptations your body made to keep you alive, and guiding you back to who you were before survival became your full-time job.

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WORK WITH ME

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my STORy

Why I Do This Work…

𑁍 I became a trauma psychologist through early exposure to how trauma lives in the body and identity, shaping survival behaviors like perfectionism, over-functioning, silence, and emotional shutdown.

𑁍 My clinical work affirms that trauma is not just a memory; it becomes physiology and perception, repeating through the nervous system until it is understood with compassion.

𑁍 Survivors are often taught to “move on,” which deepens shame when their bodies remain in survival mode long after danger has passed.

𑁍 My work centers on creating spaces where symptoms make sense through nervous system science and the body is honored as a source of information, not pathology.

𑁍 Across therapy, education, and visibility work, my goal is to help survivors reclaim identity, voice, and the right to take up space—so they can feel safe enough to be themselves again.

“Your trauma is not a personality flaw, it’s a survival response that deserves compassion, not criticism.”

Trauma healing isn’t a one-size-fits-all process. Your body has its own history, its own wisdom, and its own way of returning to safety. My approach is deeply relational and grounded in both science and humanity. I combine clinical expertise with the lived understanding of what it means to navigate complex trauma in real life.

Here’s how I guide the healing process:

My Approach to Trauma Healing

I use evidence-based trauma modalities to help you understand your symptoms, rewrite survival patterns, and create emotional and physical safety. I am trained in more than sixteen evidence-based therapies, including Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT), Dialectical Behavioral Therapy (DBT), Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing (EMDR), Cognitive Processing Therapy (CPT), Prolonged Exposure Therapy (PE), and Skills Training in Affective and Interpersonal Regulation (STAIRS), among others. These modalities allow me to tailor treatment to your nervous system, your history, and your unique healing goals.
Your body tells its own story. I integrate somatic techniques and nervous system science to help stabilize overwhelm, reduce reactivity, and teach your body how to feel safe again.
When appropriate, EMDR offers a powerful way to process trauma memories and reduce their emotional intensity without re-living the pain.
Relational trauma wounds are healed through relational experiences — safety, attunement, and connection. Attachment work is woven into everything I do.
Trauma often fractures identity. Therapy becomes a space to rediscover who you are, what you want, and how you want to move through the world.
I integrate body neutrality and body compassion practices, especially for survivors who carry shame, invisibility wounds, or chronic illness.

Together, this approach honors your body, your story, your pace and your humanity.

The clients who resonate most with my work are survivors who feel misunderstood in traditional therapy spaces. People who say:

“Why am I still struggling with this?”
“Why does my body shut down?”
“Why do I attract the same relationships?”
“Why do I feel broken when I know I’m not?”

If you see yourself in these patterns, you’re not alone and you’re not broken. You’re healing from something your nervous system had to navigate without support.