Online Therapy for Trauma & PTSD

Specialized therapy that helps your nervous system stop reliving what happened so that you can sleep, concentrate, and stop bracing for the next crisis.

Online throughout California, Maryland, and Idaho.

Online Therapy for Trauma & PTSD: For When Something Happened and You Haven’t Been the Same Since

Maybe the trauma was one terrible moment that split your life into “before” and “after.” Or maybe it was years of things that accumulated.

Now you’re managing two lives: the one everyone sees, where you go to work and show up for people, and the private one, where you’re working harder than anyone knows just to get through each day without PTSD running the show.

Your Body Remembers What Your Mind Wants to Forget

You pass that intersection, hear that song, catch a glimpse of something familiar, and suddenly your heart is pounding, your hands are shaking, you can't catch your breath. Your body reacts before your mind even understands why.

You've tried to think your way through this, tried to "just relax" or "let it go," maybe even tried traditional talk therapy where you sat in a chair processing memories while your nervous system stayed on high alert.

But trauma and PTSD don’t just live in your thoughts; they live in your body, and your body still believes the danger is happening right now.

So you’ve learned to avoid: first, just that one trigger, then anything that might remind you of it, then places or situations where you might run into those reminders. Your world has gotten smaller, but you're smart and resourceful; you've found ways to navigate around the hard parts.

Still, you know this isn't the life you want to be living.

You’re On High Alert

During the day, you scan every room for exits, notice every sudden movement, track every shift in someone's tone. You can't seem to turn it off, can't let your guard down, can't just relax even when you want to. Your body hasn't gotten the message that you survived, that you're safe now, that the danger has passed.

Sometimes you're watching your life from outside your body, going through the motions but not really there, emotionally distant even from people you care about. Other times emotions flood in so intensely that you have to shut down just to cope, disappear into your phone or work or anything that lets you check out for a while. You move between feeling too much and feeling nothing at all, searching for that middle ground everyone else seems to find naturally.

The person you were before feels like someone else entirely. You can't quite explain what's changed, how you see the world differently now, how trust and safety feel more complicated, why things that used to be easy now feel impossible. But you also know you're still in there somewhere, that the core of who you are remains, even if it's buried under protective layers right now.

Then Night Comes

You can't fall asleep because you're dreading the nightmares, or you finally drift off only to wake up at 3am with your heart racing, sweating, disoriented, feeling the danger all over again, even though you're safe in your own bed. The exhaustion from staying alert all day catches up with you, but your body won't let you rest, won't let you be vulnerable enough to sleep deeply, won't trust that you're safe enough to let go.

Morning comes and you do it all over again: managing your reactions, avoiding your triggers, working harder than anyone knows just to appear normal, just to get through another day.

The Real Cost of Trauma & PTSD

You've kept functioning, shown up, and gotten through each day. But the cost is adding up:

Opportunities you've turned down because you couldn't be in certain situations, relationships that feel distant because letting people close feels dangerous, jobs or promotions you didn't pursue because the thought of the interview or the new environment felt overwhelming, experiences you've missed because your world has gotten too small, intimacy that feels impossible, simple decisions that shouldn't be hard but somehow are because your nervous system treats everything like a potential threat.

You're tired of working this hard just to get through a normal day, tired of your world getting smaller, tired of feeling like trauma is making your decisions for you, tired of just surviving when you want to actually live.

You’re Ready for Something Different

You didn’t choose what happened to you, but you’re choosing to be here now, reading this, considering that maybe there’s a way forward that’s different from just managing, just surviving, or just getting through.

You want to sleep without nightmares, go places without looking over your shoulder, have conversations where you’re fully present, make decisions based on what you want instead of what feels safe, build relationships where trust is possible again, and have a life where trauma isn’t in the driver’s seat anymore.

If You’re Like Most People, Traditional Talk Therapy Hasn’t Brought the Trauma Relief You Need…

You’ve done the trauma and PTSD work: talk therapy, medication, coping strategies, staying busy. You’ve tried what people told you would help, and some of it did take the edge off.

But the core of the trauma is still there. You can understand what happened, you can know you're safe, and your body still reacts like you're not.

Trauma gets stored in your nervous system, not just your thoughts, which is why talking about it and thinking your way through it only goes so far.

I use evidence-based trauma modalities like EMDR, Brainspotting, and Accelerated Resolution Therapy (ART) because they work with your nervous system directly.

Instead of retelling your story week after week, these approaches help your brain and body process what happened so your system can finally stop treating the past trauma like it's still happening.

A modern living room with light-colored furniture, including a sofa with beige pillows, two round wooden coffee tables, and a vase with dried flowers. The room features sheer curtains and framed wall art.

The Relief You’ve Been Looking For From Trauma Starts Here…

You wake up on Tuesday morning and feel rested. You didn’t wake up from a nightmare, and you didn’t immediately panic about what might go wrong. Just regular morning grogginess and annoyance that you’re out of coffee.

You meet friends for dinner and someone drops a tray behind you with a loud crash. Everyone jumps, including you, but here’s the thing: your body realizes it’s just a restaurant sound, not a threat. Within seconds you're back to your conversation, maybe even laughing about how everyone jumped. The sound doesn’t echo in your mind for the rest of the meal.

Your partner is talking about their annoying coworker and you’re listening, not pretending to listen while your brain replays something from years ago. You’re just having a normal conversation where you can focus on how ridiculous it is that Greg microwaves fish in the office every day.

You make plans for next month, actual committed plans where you buy tickets or make reservations, not “maybe if I'm feeling up to it” plans. You put them in your calendar and mostly feel normal about it. You even look forward to them.

This is what healing from trauma and PTSD looks like: ordinary moments start feeling ordinary again.

The trauma still happened, but it stops being the loudest thing in every room.

Tuesday can be a boring Tuesday where your biggest problem is being out of coffee and dealing with Greg’s fish smell, and that’s exactly the kind of mundane problem you’ve been hoping to have again.

Summer Verhines, LCSW, trauma therapist

About Summer Verhines, LCSW
Online Trauma & PTSD therapist

I use EMDR, Brainspotting, and Accelerated Resolution Therapy because these approaches work with your nervous system, not just your thoughts.

Most of my clients have already tried talk therapy and found that understanding their story didn't change how their body reacts to it. The work we do together gets to the root of trauma and PTSD.

I see clients online throughout California (LCSW #68507), Maryland (LCSW-C #34104), and Idaho (Telehealth Registration #9371387).

More about me here.

Self-Schedule or Contact Me Below

For the quickest and most confidential option, you’re encouraged to book directly into my calendar by clicking the Self-Schedule Here button below. That button will take you to my HIPAA-compliant calendar where you may request an appointment. Once I confirm your appointment request (typically within 24 hours), I will email you the new client forms to digitally sign. Then, we will meet on your scheduled day.

If you have questions prior to scheduling, you can also use the contact form below, and I’ll reply within 48 business hours. If you don’t see a reply, please check your junk/spam folder.

I look forward to hearing from you!

— Summer Verhines, LCSW

Logistics

50-minute Sessions are $300.

I also offer 90-minute sessions for $450 and intensive sessions (2-4 hours) ranging from $600 to $1200 for people who want to work intensively.

I don't take insurance directly, but I can provide Superbills for out-of-network reimbursement if your plan covers that.

I am available early mornings, evenings, and weekends. I provide services online only.

Contact Summer