About Christy Reeder, Ph.D.

Specialties

Trauma

Adoption

EMDR

Teen Counseling

Child Counseling

Depression

Anxiety

Relationship Issues

Life Transition

About Christy Reeder, Ph.D.

I’ve had my share of setbacks and I know what it’s like to feel stuck. Due to these experiences and the people who helped me, I came to learn that the things that hurt us do not have to define us, and the painful things in this world do not get the final say in how we live our lives.

It takes effort to be the author of your life, rather than living out what was written for you. I believe that in order to be the person you want and live the kind of life you desire, you need someone with you – someone who is strong, sensitive, committed, and willing to walk alongside you no matter how rocky things get. As my client, I offer you the sense that someone is in your corner and I use my knowledge of the mind and body to help you succeed.

Here are some of the ways I work:

DEEP (Dynamic Enriched Experiential Psychotherapy) is a psychotherapy that integrates Accelerated Experiential Dynamic Psychotherapy (AEDP), Interpersonal Neurobiology, depth psychology, and somatic psychotherapies to help people heal and grow through new, emotionally-engaged experiences. Rather than using our time to talk only about the “there and then,” we use the “here and now” as a way to use our relationship to facilitate a healing experience. This model builds on the strengths you already have, and with gentleness and compassion helps you refine your automatic patterns of emotional expression and relational patterns.

EMDR (Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing) therapy is an integrative psychotherapy that helps the brain enter into a learning state so that painful and traumatic experiences can be revisited in a matter that promotes healing, integration, and resolution. During a traumatic or upsetting event, our brains can become overloaded and unable to process information in the typical manner. “Leftover” sensations, emotions, and beliefs can continue to disrupt our lives long after the initial event is over because information was not properly encoded and stored in the brain. EMDR helps people let go of toxic beliefs about themselves that often occur as a result of traumatic events.

(SETM) Somatic Experiencing® is a somatic psychotherapy that helps reestablish the body’s natural ability to heal from trauma by restoring the nervous system’s ability to self-regulate, rather than respond with chaos or numbness to external or internal reminders of troubling experiences. I have completed the Intermediate-level of training and will pursue Advanced training in the near future.

Education and Clinical Experience

After completing my doctoral studies at Fuller Graduate School of Psychology in Pasadena, California, I completed a 2-year postdoctoral fellowship in child and adolescent trauma at Children’s Hospital Los Angeles. During that time, I helped children, adults, and families from diverse backgrounds regain ownership of their lives. Since completing that program I have provided counseling or psychological testing for hundreds of children in the foster care system, children and adults who were adopted, adults with histories of interpersonal violence, and have completed disability evaluations for military veterans suffering from PTSD.

© Christy Reeder, Ph.D.