Amanda Tolar
Hi, I’m Amanda, a neurodivergent LMSW (Licenced Master of Social Work) based in Michigan specializing in trauma therapy. I received my master's degree from Western Michigan University with both a Interpersonal Practice designation and a 'Trauma Across the Lifespan' specialization in 2018.
I firmly believe everyone deserves a sense of safety, agency, and well-being, which drives my commitment to empowering clients to navigate their healing journey.
I also received a Bachelor's of Social Work (BSW) from Ferris State University in 2009. I’m passionate about helping individuals heal from trauma, build resilience, and reconnect with their sense of safety, agency, and self-worth.
First session
We'll start getting to know each other in our first session. We will go over your intake paperwork together, and I will ask questions to make sure I have a good understanding. You are welcome to ask me questions about the therapy process, my education, training, and experience, as well as questions to get to know who I am as a person. The goal is to feel comfortable with each other, and for me to be able to gain a deeper understanding of what brought you to therapy. We'll also dive into the specific challenges you're facing, and collaboratively identify goals for us to work on in follow-up sessions.
Strengths
One of my greatest strengths as a therapist is helping clients uncover and understand the deeper patterns that shape their thoughts, emotions, relationships, and life experiences. While symptom relief is important, I believe meaningful healing comes from developing insight into the underlying factors that influence how we experience ourselves and the world around us. I strive to create a compassionate, emotionally attuned, and nonjudgmental space where clients feel safe exploring vulnerability, identity, trauma, and personal growth. Alongside fostering self-awareness and reflection, I help clients develop practical tools for emotional regulation, resilience, and coping with life's challenges, while strengthening their sense of confidence, safety, and personal agency. Through this work, clients often experience healthier relationships with themselves and others, greater emotional stability, deeper self-understanding, and a stronger ability to create lasting, meaningful change in their lives.
Ideal clients
I am especially passionate about supporting individuals navigating complex trauma and those engaged in a healing journey. Many of the clients I work with come to therapy feeling anxious, depressed, overwhelmed, or weighed down by beliefs that something is fundamentally wrong with them. They often struggle to understand how past experiences continue to influence their present-day thoughts, emotions, relationships, and behaviors. Together, we work to make sense of these experiences, identify patterns that have developed through adaptation and survival, and build practical skills that support emotional regulation, resilience, and overall well-being. My ideal clients are curious about their inner world, open to self-exploration, and seeking both deeper understanding and effective tools to support meaningful growth and lasting healing.
Treatment methods
Trauma-Focused CBT
Trauma-Focused Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (TF CBT) helps clients to: 1. Reduce symptoms of Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder and Complex Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder 2. Manage anxiety, depression, shame, guilt, or anger related to trauma 3. Process traumatic memories in a safe, structured way 4. Develop healthier beliefs about themselves, others, and the world 5. Improve daily functioning and relationships.
Eclectic
Operating from the guiding perspective of "What happened to you?" rather than "What is wrong with you?", I take an integrative, relational, and trauma-focused approach to therapy, incorporating Psychodynamic, Attachment-Based, Somatic, Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT), Dialectical Behavioral Therapy (DBT), and Internal Family Systems (IFS) perspectives. I can also incorporate a gentle spiritual perspective when appropriate and meaningful.
Location
Virtual sessions
Identifies as
Top specialties
Other specialties
Serves
Doesn't specialize in
Licensed in
- MichiganLicense 6801116573