Susan Plucknett
I’m a curious, thoughtful, and experienced therapist who believes that even in difficult times, there is room for healing, meaning, and joy. I work with adults navigating trauma (complex, developmental, relational, PTSD/PTS), anxiety, life transitions and those who may be feeling stuck, overwhelmed or disconnected from themselves and their lives. Drawing on 30 years of social work and clinical experience, I offer a collaborative, integrative, nervous-system-informed approach that honors each person’s unique story and strengths.
First session
Our first session is an opportunity to get to know one another, understand what brings you to therapy, and explore whether we are a good fit to work together. We will talk about what you are experiencing, what you hope to change or better understand, and what you would like from therapy. You don't need to have everything figured out before we begin. We can move at a comfortable pace while cultivating safety and trust and beginning to identify a direction for our work together.
Strengths
I bring curiosity, compassion, and a grounded presence to my work. I strive to create a safe space where clients feel comfortable being honest and exploring what may be difficult to see on their own. I also believe that therapy should gently challenge us when needed, and I will help you notice what is happening in real time so that greater self-understanding and meaningful change can emerge.
Ideal clients
My ideal clients are thoughtful, insightful adults who have experienced trauma or difficult life experiences and recognize that their history may still be influencing their present. They have often already done meaningful work through therapy or personal growth and are ready to go deeper—to connect the pieces of their story and understand how the past continues to shape their thoughts, relationships, body, and sense of self. They are looking for greater self-understanding, agency, self-trust, and the freedom to create a more coherent and meaningful life.
Treatment methods
Polyvagal Therapy
I use applied Polyvagal Theory to help clients develop greater awareness of their nervous system and how it responds to stress, relationships, and the circumstances of everyday life. The goal of nervous system regulation is not simply to feel calm, but to develop greater flexibility—the ability to respond appropriately in real time and have fuller access to the range of human experience. This work can support greater connection, self-understanding, resilience, and a more authentic sense of self.
Compassion-Focused
I draw on mindfulness, Polyvagal Theory, and parts-oriented work to cultivate a more compassionate relationship with difficult thoughts, emotions, and experiences. Rather than approaching these experiences from a sense of deficiency or believing that something about you needs to be fixed, I work from a perspective of wholeness—recognizing that your responses often developed for understandable reasons and may have helped you navigate what you experienced. Together, we can develop greater curiosity and compassion toward yourself while creating new possibilities for growth, choice, and healing.
Internal Family Systems (IFS)
I draw from Internal Family Systems (IFS) and Trauma-Informed Stabilization Treatment (TIST) to help clients understand their experiences through the lens of different “parts” of themselves. These parts often develop with important protective purposes and may carry different, sometimes conflicting, needs or agendas. By approaching these parts with curiosity and compassion, we can work toward greater internal coherence and access to what IFS describes as “Self” energy—the grounded, compassionate capacity within us—or what we might simply call the adult self.
Mindfulness-Based Therapy
I use mindfulness as a way of developing greater awareness of what is happening within you in the present moment—thoughts, emotions, sensations, and impulses—without immediately needing to change or judge them. Mindfulness can create space between an experience and our automatic response, allowing for greater curiosity, choice, and flexibility. Over time, this practice can support a deeper connection with yourself and a greater capacity to respond to life with intention rather than simply reacting from familiar patterns.
Somatic
I incorporate somatic, or body-based, work to help clients become more aware of the ways their experiences are held and expressed in the body. Rather than focusing only on thoughts and words, we may pay attention to sensations, tension, movement, breath, impulses, and shifts in the nervous system as they arise in the moment. This can offer another pathway for understanding experiences that may be difficult to access cognitively and can help clients develop a more connected and compassionate relationship with their bodies. The goal is not to force change, but to build awareness and capacity so that new responses and possibilities can emerge.