ANXIETY & TRAUMA THERAPIST | ILLINOIS
Hi, I'm Michaela
IF THIS SOUNDS FAMILIAR
On the outside, you look
completely fine.
Capable. Steady. Put-together. The one everyone leans on in every room, in every role.
And you carry it well.
On the inside, it's a different story.
Anxious and stressed. Overthinking. Emotionally exhausted.
Constantly frustrated or angry with yourself or everyone else.
Old pain or old trauma still surfaces at the worst moments.
EVERYTHING, even small things, FEELS LIKE TOO MUCH..
You've done therapy before.It helped.
And yet here you are.
That's not because you didn't work hard enough. It's not because you're broken or resistant.
It's because most therapy works at the level of thought and story and some of what you're carrying lives somewhere deeper than that.
This work may be what's been missing.
THIS IS DIFFERENT
Therapy that honors your intelligence and your nervous system.
Your mind, body, your history, and your relationships all belong in the room.
Not as separate problems to solve, but as parts of one whole person.
This is not surface-level coping or symptom management. This work is vulnerable, sometimes uncomfortable, and profoundly freeing because it goes to the root of what's actually happening, not just the story you've learned to tell about it.
It's also not a quick fix. Real change takes time, and it tends to show up in the places you least expect...in how you feel in your body, in how you respond rather than react, orin the moments where you notice something has genuinely shifted.
What belongs in the room
✦ Your nervous system, not just your thoughts
✦ The history that shaped you, including what you can't fully remember
✦ Your body's responses, not just your mind's explanations
✦ The relationships and roles that define your daily experience
✦ Perimenopause and the way it changes everything including how you feel about yourself
✦ The version of you that exists underneath all the managing
WHO THIS IS FOR
Intelligent, self-aware, motivated women who are genuinely ready for something to shift.
What the women I work with have in common is not their diagnosis or their history. It's that they've done the work, they have the insight, and something still hasn't moved.
— THE DOERS AND THE GIVERS who are exhausted by how much they carry and don't know how to stop.
— WOMEN CARRYING OLD TRAUMA that keeps surfacing in new situations, new relationships, new seasons of life.
— WOMEN IN PERIMENOPAUSE AND/OR MIDLIFE who feel like the ground has shifted underneath them emotionally, physically, and in their sense of self.
— WOMEN IN MAJOR TRANSITIONS such as career change, relationship ending, divorce, loss, new chapter. who want support that goes deeper than coping.
WHAT CHANGES
Shifts that go beyond insight.
This is not a list of promises. It's what I watch happen, slowly and genuinely, over the course of real work.
01
You stop bracing.
You begin to feel calmer and more grounded not because life gets easier, but because you stop carrying it in your body the same way.
02
You trust yourself more.
The second-guessing quiets. You start making decisions from a place of clarity instead of anxiety or people-pleasing.
03
The reactivity softens.
You catch yourself before the old patterns take over. Not every time, but more often than you expect.
04
The chronic exhaustion lifts.
Because you stop spending energy on managing and suppressing what you feel.
05
Your relationships change.
Not because the other people change. Because you stop showing up already defended, managing, or already halfway gone.
06
You recognize yourself again.
Underneath the roles and the exhaustion and the performance, there's still a self. This work helps you find her.
This work is not a quick fix. It is vulnerable, messy, sometimes uncomfortable.
And it's also profoundly freeing.
Not ready to book yet?
Start here.
If you're still finding your footing , figuring out if this kind of work is what you need, the guide is a good place to begin. It won't ask anything of you except a moment to slow down. And it won't try to talk you into anything.
WHAT'S INSIDE:
13 sessions each designed to support nervous system healing:
• A brief explanation of the practice
• A simple exercise you can do anywhere
• Journaling prompts to reflect and notice
Get the free guide!
Stay connected with supportive practices and reflections to slow down and simplify your life.
Services
A consistent space to slow down, process what's coming up, and build real change over time. This is ongoing support for anxiety, trauma, relationship stress, perimenopause, and the work of becoming more fully yourself.
Sessions are held virtually throughout Illinois.
Two to four hours, or a full/multi day for when you want to go deeper without the stop-and-start of weekly sessions. Intensives are ideal if you feel stuck in a specific pattern, want to move through something more quickly, or prefer concentrated work on your own schedule.
You don't have to keep
holding it all together alone.
Choose what feels right for where you are right now. There's no wrong answer.
I'M READY TO BEGIN
Book a Free 20-Minute Consult
No-pressure conversation to see if this work is a good fit. We'll talk
about what's bringing you here and what working together could look like.
No commitment required.
NOT QUITE READY YET?
Start with the Free Guide. If you're still finding your footing, the guide is a good place to begin. Honest,
practical, and it won't ask anything of you except a moment to slow down.