Trauma Therapy in Los Angeles
Find Steadiness Again with Trauma-Informed, Affirming Care
Trauma can leave you feeling on edge, disconnected, or stuck and hopeless. For a long time, the field of therapy tried to address trauma with traditional talk therapies, and they didn’t work very well. Trauma-informed therapy is an evidence-based therapy that meets you where you are, with a real understanding of how your nervous system works. People struggling with trauma tend to feel far more understood and successful when they get the right kind of care.
Hi, I'm Toby, a Trauma Therapist in Los Angeles
I’m a Licensed Clinical Social Worker (LCSW #89672) based in Los Angeles, California. I’ve worked in mental health since 2009, and trauma-informed care sits at the center of all of my work. Whether someone comes to me for trauma specifically or for anxiety, depression, relationship work, or gender-affirming support, this lens lets me build a safer and often more fruitful dynamic with clients.
What happened to you shapes how you experience the world, and people often dismiss that factor in their own lives, which leads to shame and emotional paralysis. I love helping clients understand that experience with compassion instead of judgment.
As a trauma therapist in Los Angeles, I provide trauma-informed therapy that treats your nervous system’s response to what happened to you, not just the symptoms on the surface. I offer trauma counseling using an eclectic, evidence-based approach that’s tailored to your history, your nervous system, and your goals.
I Offer Both Online and In-Person Sessions in Los Angeles and Burbank.
Los Angeles
1910 Hillhurst Ave
Los Angeles, CA 90027
(424) 835-0516
Click for Directions
Burbank
1201 S Victory Blvd #206 Burbank, CA 91502 (213) 616-7366 Click for Directions
What Is Trauma Therapy?
Trauma therapy is a form of mental health treatment that helps you process distressing or overwhelming experiences so they no longer dominate your thoughts, feelings, and reactions. Trauma isn’t only about a single catastrophic event. It can also come from ongoing stress, neglect, medical experiences, identity-based discrimination, or relationships that left you feeling unsafe.
What to Expect from Trauma Counseling
As a trauma-informed therapist in Los Angeles, I draw from several modalities depending on what fits you best, including EMDR, somatic approaches, and attachment-based talk therapy. Sessions typically include:
- History and treatment planning
- Building coping skills and a sense of safety before processing begins
- Working through traumatic memories at a pace that feels manageable
- Reconnecting with your body, thoughts, and emotions in a grounded way
- Integrating what you’ve learned into daily life
I’m an EMDRIA-certified EMDR therapist, and for many clients, EMDR is a major part of what helps them to start moving forward again.
How Do I Know I Need Trauma Counseling?
Trauma can come in many shapes and sizes, and not all of it looks like “what happened to you” in an obvious way. Often, it shows up as patterns you can’t quite explain.
- Inexplicable, unwanted, and disturbing thoughts
- Anxiety and a constant on-edge feeling
- Sleep issues and nightmares
- Panic attacks
- Phobias and fears
- Chronic pain
- Depression
- Eating disorders
- Unresolved grief
- Confusing patterns in relationships that tend to repeat themselves
What to Expect When Working with a Trauma-Informed Therapist
As a trauma-informed therapist, my first priority is making sure you feel resourced and safe before we move into anything difficult. We’ll go at a pace that respects your nervous system, not a fixed script.
You’ll learn tools for staying grounded, and we’ll work through memories, beliefs, and body sensations connected to your experiences only when you’re ready. Many clients find that as we go, the charge around old memories softens and they start relating to themselves with more compassion. A session is usually about an hour, and the number of sessions varies depending on what brought you in and what you’re working through.
Reclaiming Steadiness Through Trauma Therapy in Los Angeles
Trauma therapy isn’t only about revisiting what happened. It’s also about learning how your body and mind responded to protect you, and finding new ways to feel safe in the present.
Healing doesn’t mean forgetting or pretending it didn’t happen. It means the memory and the charge around it become less tangled together, so you can move forward without carrying it the same way.
Start Your Journey to Wellness Today. Schedule Your Free Consultation.
Talking to therapists and seeing who feels like the right therapist for you is an important part of the process. Especially when it comes to trauma work, making sure you feel safe and comfortable with the person is very important. Reaching out can be daunting, but you’ll usually know, through setting up a consultation call, when someone feels like the right fit for you.
01.
Initial Consultation
We’ll have a brief call to get to know each other and discuss your needs and how I can help.
02.
In-Person or Telehealth
Our sessions can be held virtually for your convenience. No long commutes, and online sessions work just as well as in-person.
03.
Time to Do the Work
Recovery can be a long and difficult road, but it’s worth every step we take together.
Trauma Therapy Resources
Learn more about trauma, how it affects you, and what healing can look like. The following guides go deeper into specific experiences related to trauma.
Frequently Asked Questions
Trauma therapy specifically addresses how distressing experiences are stored in the body and nervous system as part of trauma treatment, not just discussed the way regular talk therapy does. It often includes modalities like EMDR alongside traditional talk therapy.
No. Many people benefit from trauma-informed therapy without meeting full diagnostic criteria for PTSD.
Yes, I offer telehealth trauma therapy throughout California in addition to in-person sessions in Los Angeles and Burbank.
This varies by person and history, so we’ll build a plan together based on your goals rather than a fixed timeline.
Yes, affirming care for LGBTQIA+ clients is central to my practice, including trauma related to identity, family rejection, or discrimination.
Schedule a free 15-minute consultation so we can talk through what you’re looking for and see if we’re a good fit.