When Talk Wasn’t Enough – Depth Work Therapy

You’ve done the coping skills. You’ve tried to explain your story. And still, something doesn’t quite settle. Maybe you’ve heard of depth work therapy but don’t know what that is.

Maybe therapy has helped some, but not in a way that lasts. Have you been told you’re “too much,” too complex, or that your story is hard to track. Or maybe you’ve started to worry that nothing is actually wrong – you’re just bad at fixing yourself.

That’s often a sign that surface‑level work isn’t enough.

Who I Am and Why I Do Depth Work Therapy

I’ve been a therapist for over 21 years, much of that time working in hospital settings with people who fell through the cracks of outpatient therapy. Many of them had good therapists and were still struggling. My role was to help stabilize, slow things down, and understand the deeper “why” so we weren’t just chasing symptoms.

I used to joke that I was an “and” therapist:
depression and ADHD, anxiety and PTSD, trauma and neurodivergence. Because real life is rarely just one thing.

Long‑term or complex trauma isn’t resolved by processing a single memory or talking through one chapter of your life. It impacts your nervous system, your relationships, and how you see yourself. When your system is hijacked, no amount of positive thinking or breathing exercises can bring you fully back to center.

That’s where depth therapy comes in.

How I Work with You

Depth therapy in my practice blends practical tools with deeper exploration. We identify the beliefs you’ve formed about yourself, look at the origins of your trauma responses, and notice how they show up in your relationships and daily life. From there, we build a plan rooted in self‑compassion, understanding, and long‑term change, not just symptom management.

Coping skills can help, but they often move the needle only until things get overwhelming again. Depth work focuses on what’s happening underneath.

This work usually includes a balance of addressing what’s on fire in your life right now, while also gently exploring what your internal system learned to do to survive. I often use Internal Family Systems (IFS) and narrative processing to help clients understand the different “parts” of themselves that step in to manage pain, fear, or responsibility. I also blend EMDR and NDIT, a new emerging model for complex trauma with roots in neuroscience, narrative processing therapy, and EMDR work so that we are using a lot of tools to help you when your story is getting stuck or has branching paths.

We move at a pace that feels safe. Over time, we build a steady therapeutic relationship where those protective parts don’t have to work so hard anymore. My role is to be an anchor – someone who can hold the heavier pieces with you, without judgment.

As you get to know yourself more deeply, reactivity softens. Survival mode loosens its grip. Confidence grows, not because you’re forcing it, but because your system finally feels understood.

What Depth Work Therapy is Like With Me

The greatest compliments I receive from my longer term clients who do depth work is that they feel better about themselves and better able to handle their lives. They feel understood because I take the time to not only get to know them but their patterns and help them peel back these layers slowly so that they are not stuck anymore in a life that feels unmanageable.

Depth work looks different for everyone but in my practice you are not responsible for holding all of the parts of it. That’s my job. Even if your trauma made you feel that trusting people is dangerous we can do depth work. We just do it slowly so your system doesn’t shut you down. If you’re on the rapids of a life full of anxiety you need someone else paddling with you. Let me get in the boat with you.