THERAPY FOR HEALING FROM COMPLEX TRAUMA
Carter Psychotherapy Collective
South Pasadena + Online Across California
Our therapy is for those whose past still shows up in how they feel, act, and relate.
Do you feel like you’re barely keeping it together?
You might be holding it together outwardly, but inside, things feel unstable. Emotions feel untethered or overwhelming. You hit walls in relationships. You know, or wonder, if your childhood is still shaping how you connect and feel today.
Complex trauma is subtle and cumulative. It’s not a single moment that breaks you, but the repeated wounds, the neglect, the invalidation, the pattern of instability that erodes your inner ground over time.
Clients Come to Us When They’re:
Struggling with panic, mood swings, or dissociation
Repeating painful patterns in relationships
Carrying wounds from childhood that are resulting in depression, anxiety and emotional dysregulation
Impacted by caregiver addiction, absence, or mental illness
Easily overwhelmed
Having nightmares or scared to go to sleep
“Checking out” from the present
Frustrated because traditional cognitive behavioral therapy hasn’t worked for them
If this sounds familiar, you’re not broken - you’re likely living with the effects of complex trauma.
Common examples we treat include:
Misattuned or invalidating parents
Growing up with emotional abandonment or neglect
Survivors of childhood sexual abuse
Children of parents who had a mental health or addiction issue
Children of narcissistic parents or parents with borderline personality disorder
Survivors of intimate partner violence
People who grew up in a volatile environment
What is complex trauma?
Sometimes it’s easy to point to a single moment of trauma, but often it’s more complicated than that. Complex trauma, or C-PTSD, develops when there is an ongoing pattern of circumstances or events that are upsetting, disruptive or overwhelming. These moments might be really obvious or they might be more subtle and cumulative.
How We Work with C-PTSD
We build therapy around your pace and process. Every session is about safety, listening, and honoring what you need. We do not push or step into what you’re not ready for. But once you are ready, we hold space and support you in dealing with whatever you have been through, no matter how tough it was.
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Our therapists offer you a safe space to talk about what you are experiencing, including parts of your experience that feel more complex or difficult to explain.
You will have opportunities to talk about what you have been through in a grounded, slow and manageable way.
We also help you make connections between past and present experiences, and we work on noticing and reworking any unhelpful beliefs you might have learned from your experiences that might be keeping you stuck.
Talking it through with a supportive, attuned therapist offers a corrective experience that helps you begin to feel more safe and connected in the world around you.
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We’ll talk about how trauma builds up over time in the nervous system, relationships, and thought patterns, not just in big events.
Knowing how it works gives you power - so you can cultivate self compassion while you try out new ways of moving through the world.
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We pay attention to what your body is holding: for example tension, sensations, or past protective postures, and bring in gentle practices that help you reconnect, process feelings, and take charge of your nervous system.
Grounding in the body helps you feel safer in your skin and more present in your life.
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DBT gives concrete tools for regulating emotion, handling complex interpersonal situations, and tolerating distress without reacting impulsively.
For complex trauma, these skills are crucial so moments of stress don’t become moments of crisis.
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These practices help you tune into what’s happening inside - your thoughts, sensations, and emotions - as they arise.
That awareness gives you the chance to catch overwhelm earlier and keep from getting pulled into old trauma loops.
Meet our Complex Trauma Therapists
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Alexandra Gaty, LCSW
I'm compassionate and curious, helping you explore your past to heal now using mindfulness and DBT.
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Allison Carter, LCSW
I help you make sense of your experience and cultivate more effective responses to difficult situations using a blend of somatic therapy and DBT.
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Toph Eggers, AMFT
I help you locate and cultivate compassion for rejected parts of yourself while supporting you in processing old wounds.
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Lianna Kirakosyan, LMFT
I help you understand and disrupt destructive patterns, while making connections that increase insight.
After Working with Us, Clients Report
Feeling more grounded and able to stay present despite triggers
Soothing emotional reactivity more quickly
Handling interpersonal conflict gracefully and with less spiraling
Greater comfort with physical and emotional intimacy
A deeper sense of being integrated with their body and self
4 Steps To
Get Started
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Fill out the contact form. Share as much or as little as you’re comfortable with.
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We’ll have a 15‑minute call to answer any questions, explain how we work, and see if our approach feels like a fit.
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We’ll map your trauma history, emotional patterns, and what feels most important to tackle first.
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Regular sessions to build safety, integrate the work, and help you feel steadier in your life and relationships.
You don’t have to be stuck in the past.
We’re here to help you heal.
Therapy that honors your complexity.
Therapy is available in person in our office in South Pasadena, or over video anywhere in California, using a free, HIPAA compliant telehealth platform.
We are LGBTQIA+ affirming and experienced in supporting clients around the intersection of mental health and body image with issues related to faith and spirituality, sexuality, gender, and race.