Services | Angeliki Kanavou

Guiding adults, adolescents and families through life transitions; A Trauma-Informed Practice

FAMILY THERAPY

Our busy lives are hard on our families. Because every family has a unique structure, one family member's challenges impact all of the others. Imagine for example, one of the children missing classes unbeknownst to you, or your partner being diagnosed with a life threatening disease, or having the feeling that for some reason, things are not the way they used to. I am here to help you and your family look at both the tree and the forest view of the situation. I will stand behind your family as well as every single member as you reach the best solution (and resolution).

I am a systemic therapist and I believe that families are like a green house. Children can be seen as off shoots of bigger plants, the parents. In healthy plants, the off shoots will grow their own root system. Children inherit their parents' genes, and sometimes parents' behavior and ways of coping. As Erik Erikson said, “Healthy children will not fear life if their elders have enough integrity not to fear death.”

My role as family therapist is to help your family identify what works and what does not. Keep in mind, in family therapy, the therapist is "employed" by the family as a whole, not one member in particular. I will assist you in helping your family develop shared viewpoints on mutual or individual challenges, which will, hopefully reduce points of friction where they exist. Ultimately, we want our families to reach healthy paradigms.

"In all cultures, the family imprints its members with selfhood. Human experience of identity has two elements; a sense of belonging and a sense of being separate. The laboratory in which these ingredients are mixed and dispensed is the family, the matrix of identity." Salvador Minuchin

TRAUMA INFORMED THERAPY

Trauma can leave us struggling with emotional dysregulation, intense mood swings, anxiety or depression. After a single traumatic event, or a series of traumas, we are likely to find ourselves avoiding memory triggers. We may also tend to experience strained relationships or disruptions in all aspects of life.

Whether you have experienced a traumatic event such as an accident or a cancer diagnosis; or have experienced adverse events such as physical abuse or neglect during childhood or, later as an adult, I am here to help.

While not all of life's hardships can be classified as trauma, we all have different thresholds for adversity. Similarly, we are all different in how we perceive a similar trauma and react to it. The purpose of therapy is to help you regain your sense of control and stability and tap into your reservoir of resilience. As you experience this restoration, you will see your autonomy strengthened. Ultimately, you will make positive changes that will get you to beneficial goals.

Research has showed us that individuals with secure attachment as infants tend to be more resilient with adversity later in life. When I treat trauma, I follow the client's lead. It is important to do so as a client may not be ready to tap into painful experiences. As an attachment-informed therapist, at the beginning of each session I use stabilization modalities such as mindfulness. Also, the combination of EMDR and Internal Family Systems-IFS, allows my clients to become aware of how different parts of themselves were impacted by a traumatic experience.

Schedule an appointment to see how we can work together to help make sense and overcome the experience.

TRANSITIONS

Transitions are universal experiences. As we go through life we transition across stages, for example, from adolescence to early adulthood, different careers, etc. These transitions often bring before us unfinished business that trigger, according to Erik Erikson, identity crises.

Yet, not all transitions are the same. Some are wanted such as a change of workplace, or transitioning to a different field. Other transitions are unwanted. For example, one never bargains for loss of employment, a serious health diagnosis, or, an accident. Especially when we are in the middle of the storm so to speak, transitions can be anxiety provoking and triggering. In this case, we are likely to discriminate against new information that could be useful, or, experience tunnel vision, and therefore, think that we will never be able to find the way out of the cave...

My role is to help you look at the forest, the large picture, so that you can identify thought distortions and root out maladaptive response patterns. We all have our default responses each time we find ourselves in a transition/crisis. There is no one remedy for everyone.

I believe that depending on one's secure or insecure attachment or existence of previous trauma, one can experience transitions quite differently. Ultimately, witnessing the growth that comes after a transition is one of therapist's great rewards.

I help clients navigate through wanted or unwanted transitions, become aware of the type of transition they are undergoing. My goal is to help clients tap into their own motivation to find inner power and turn challenges into valuable experiences.

INDIVIDUAL THERAPY

As life happens, we may grow disconnected from ourselves and others around us. We become overwhelmed. Depression, anxiety can cause physical symptoms that claim the best of us and leave us in the dark. Take, for example, the recent pandemic. Life resembled Plato's metaphor of the Cave with the many unknowns and no sight of the exit light. A therapist like me is like a guide -- one that may help you find the way out of a crisis, or a lasting challenge.

My role is to help you identify what blocks you from living your best life and guide you to guide yourself into a thriving space. I aspire to be a companion in my clients' journey of self-discovery. In this journey, the client is the pilot and the therapist someone who is holding a toolbox to help you, the client, clear the way. Depending on goals and needs I use different tools such as Cognitive Behavior Therapy (CBT), or, Gestalt. When my client wants to gain insight and break free of old patterns, problems or types of people that do not seem to go away, I help through depth-oriented psycho dynamic therapy. History does not have to repeat itself.

EMDR

Trauma can trigger a number of clinical complains such as mood disorders, addictions, or those that are anxiety related (phobias, obsessive compulsive disorder (OCD), panic disorder), and pain. Traumatic experiences tend to be stored in the brain mal-adaptively. In order to avoid the pain, we tend to develop a number of defenses such as anger or avoidance.

We have several tools to help with trauma recovery. None may work, however, without your lead and your therapist's respect for your desired pace for healing. Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing (EMDR) uses bilateral, dual attention stimulation. It is an evidence based, internationally used approach to treating trauma and symptoms. During an EMDR session we aim at tapping into memory networks and eventually smooth out the memory of a traumatic experience. By extension, EMDR helps establish adaptive ways of relating to the initial trauma trigger, or symptom.

Since my early involvement with EMDR, the results never cease to amaze me. The many "aha moments" of clients during treatment are followed by clients' increased mastery over how they experience their past, live in the present and plan the future.

Schedule an appointment to discuss how EMDR can help you.