Hi, I’m Sydney Petersen, a trauma-informed, EMDR-trained, and neurodiverse-affirming Licensed Marriage and Family Therapist. Healing takes place in spaces where we are truly seen, heard, and understood. I pursued marriage and family therapy to create these spaces for those who often don't experience this kind of emotional support. We all need a place to grapple with what we carry; the joy, the loss, the triumph, the suffering, the heartbreak the "this is not what I expected" moments, or the "this is not what I had planned" thoughts. If this sounds like you, I would love to join your journey and help you find more restoration and peace.
I consider the first session to be a time for us to just get to know each other and see if we both feel that we would be a good fit to work together. I am a big believer that the client must feel safe and understood by their therapist for the treatment to be effective. So, I would love to meet you, hear about what brings you to therapy at this time in your life, learn about what you hope to get out of therapy, and see if I can be of help!
I try to be as genuine and authentic as possible with clients because I believe that when care is authentic, it is felt by the other. I genuinely care for my clients and am always humbled to be let into people's most honest and vulnerable feelings and experiences.
I specialize in working with individuals and parents of individuals with a variety of diverse needs such as Autism Spectrum Disorder, Down Syndrome, Traumatic Brain Injury survivors, and others. Whether you are processing a new diagnosis or a new life stage in your life or your child’s life we all need a safe space to process the emotions that come with life's unique challenges. I also enjoy working with typically developing siblings and young adults navigating life transitions.
Attachment-based
I utilize an attachment-based approach that looks at our relationships with our primary caregivers as well as other attachment figures during our developmental years. This helps clients gain insight into how our attachment styles impact our current relationships, regulation, and functioning. As we gain this insight we can work to heal old attachment wounds and break generational cycles.
EMDR
I am an EMDR therapist. This modality utilizes bilateral stimulation to help the brain restore traumatic memories without irrational beliefs that often get tied to trauma. This decreases physiological distress that gets triggered in the body.