Integrative Psychotherapy
Integrative Psychotherapy is a comprehensive approach to therapy that takes into consideration the body/mind/spirit connection and their inextricable relationship. Martina bases this methodology upon her diverse yet integrative experiences in a lengthy career in the fields of psychology, spiritual counseling and meditation that she began in 1985. ...Read more
What is Grief?
Grief is a reaction to loss, any loss, small or large. We most often associate grief with the death of a friend or loved one. But as a therapist I witness and hear about a wide variety of daily losses. Examples of familiar everyday losses range from divorce, unemployment, relocation, loss of health, loss of youth, loss of faith or friendship, to name but a few. Regrettably, in our society, we are not taught how to appropriately process the pain and disappointment accompanied by loss in order to weather it gracefully as a part of the passage of life. We therefore often suffer alone and in silence with feelings of anger, fear, sadness or loneliness. We long for the person’s presence or that which we lost, we struggle with guilt that we might have done something more or differently or even guilt that we may have caused the loss. ...Read more
Unresolved Trauma
Many of us have experienced trauma in the course of our lifetime whether from a single event to chronic exposure in the cases of childhood abuse, neglect or dysfunctional parenting. This can interfere with day-to-day functioning, create somatic distress or illness, anxiety, depression and in some cases, dissociative disorders.
When a traumatic experience (s) occurs, the basic issues of trust and safety are damaged. As a result, the traumatized individual’s radar is faster, more alert and registers a stronger threat than that of the general population. This results in heightened surveillance for perceived threats to avoid re-experiencing elements of the trauma. This is referred to as hyper vigilance, which can trap the mind/body in a biochemical cycle of stress chemicals that keep the person in a constant state of fight, flight or freeze. ...Read more
What is EMDR?
Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing (EMDR) is a method of psychotherapy that has proven highly effective for the treatment of trauma. EMDR is a set of non-intrusive standardized treatment protocols. To date, EMDR has helped an estimated two million people of all ages and backgrounds relieve many types of psychological stress and trauma including Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD).
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