reconnect with your true self.
Relational Trauma Therapy
Support for high-achieving women in California, Texas, & Florida
Are you struggling with trust, emotional closeness, or feeling safe in relationships?
You’re doing well on paper, but relationships feel confusing, overwhelming, or painful in ways you can’t fully explain. No matter how much insight or effort you put in, certain patterns keep repeating, especially in dating, partnerships, friendships, or family dynamics.
It doesn’t have to stay this way. Relational trauma therapy can help you find a new way of navigating life and experiencing relationships.
Our early childhood experiences can leave deep emotional imprints.
Who is relational trauma therapy for?
Relational trauma therapy is for anyone who feels stuck in painful relationship patterns, struggles with emotional closeness, or has a deep fear of abandonment or rejection.
Common signs of relational trauma and attachment wounds include:
You worry about being abandoned, rejected, or “too much.”
You feel anxious or unsure where you stand in relationships.
You replay conversations long after they’ve happened.
You struggle to set boundaries or communicate needs.
You work hard to keep the peace or avoid conflict.
You feel responsible for other people’s emotions or reactions.
You shut down, withdraw, or push people away when things feel too close or overwhelming.
You find yourself drawn to emotionally unavailable partners — even when you know it hurts.
You intellectually know what’s healthy, but emotionally it still feels hard.
If you see yourself here, nothing is wrong with you. These patterns are rooted in old survival strategies. They are not a personal failure. And they can change.
If you’re in Los Angeles (or anywhere in Texas, California, or Florida) and ready to break free from the emotional weight of attachment trauma, I’m here to support your healing and help you rediscover your worth.
Understanding Attachment Styles
Attachment styles form early in childhood based on how emotionally safe, seen, and supported we felt with our caregivers.
These patterns often continue into adulthood, not because something is “wrong” with you, but because your nervous system learned to survive relationships a certain way.
In therapy, we explore these patterns not as labels, but as information. Understanding these patterns serve as a way of understanding the “why” behind your emotional responses, relational fears, and longings for connection.
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People with secure attachment typically experience:
Comfort with emotional closeness
Trust in relationships
Confidence expressing needs
Flexibility during conflict
If this wasn’t something you experienced growing up, it can feel unfamiliar (sometimes even uncomfortable) but it can be developed over time through emotional safety, boundaries, and secure relationships.
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Common signs may include:
Fear of abandonment or being “too much”
Overthinking or scanning for rejection
Needing reassurance to feel emotionally safe
Difficulty trusting that someone will stay
Anxious attachment often forms when caregivers were inconsistent - sometimes providing love at times and unavailable at others.
Anxious attachment is not neediness. It’s a longing for stability.
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This attachment style may look like:
Pulling away when things feel emotionally close
Valuing independence over connection
Discomfort with vulnerability or relying on others
Feeling overwhelmed by others’ needs
Avoidant strategies often develop when emotional expression was dismissed or met with criticism, leaving connection feeling unsafe or intrusive.
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This pattern can include:
Wanting closeness, but fearing it
Oscillating between pushing people away and needing reassurance
Feeling confused about what feels safe
Relationships that feel intense or chaotic
This style often develops when caregivers were a source of both comfort and emotional harm. This experience often leads to internal conflict about connection.
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Your attachment style isn’t a life sentence. It’s a nervous system response that formed to protect you.
Through therapy, emotional safety, and compassionate connection, you can:
Build secure boundaries
Express your needs without fear
Regulate emotions during conflict
Develop a grounded sense of self-worth
Experience relationships that feel steady, mutual, and supportive
Healing doesn’t eliminate your needs. It’s helps you come to a place where you can finally honor them.
If you want support exploring your attachment patterns and building healthier relationships with yourself and others, therapy can help you move toward security and connection. Learn more →
Hi, I’m abby, a licensed therapist who specializes in relational trauma.
Healing attachment trauma through relational therapy.
Relational trauma can leave deep emotional imprints that affect how you connect with others and see yourself. As a relational therapist providing modern, trauma-informed therapy for women, my work focuses on helping women heal relational trauma, attachment wounds, and the unconscious patterns that continue showing up in adulthood, especially in relationships, identity, and self-worth.
I use a relational and attachment-based approach. This means I create a safe, supportive space where we can rebuild trust—starting with the therapeutic relationship itself. Together, we’ll work to increase emotional regulation, develop secure attachment patterns, and build healthier, more authentic connections with yourself and others.
You don’t have to keep navigating relationships from fear, survival mode, or old wounds. Healing is possible, and you don’t have to do it alone.
If you’re looking for a modern therapist who understands the emotional pain of relational trauma and offers a compassionate, depth-oriented path to healing, I’m here to help you feel seen, supported, and empowered.
Common focus areas —
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Many clients come to therapy carrying unresolved hurt from emotionally immature, inconsistent, or unavailable caregivers.
Together, we may work on:
Processing parentified or enmeshed roles
Reducing emotional fusion or guilt
Developing boundaries that feel compassionate and firm
Differentiating past emotional experiences from current relationships
Relearning secure attachment from the inside out
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Attachment wounds often surface most intensely in romantic partnerships.
Therapy may help with:
Fear of abandonment or rejection
Choosing emotionally unavailable partners
Hypervigilance, overthinking, or “relationship spiraling”
Protest behaviors (pushing away while wanting closeness)
Understanding what secure love actually feels like
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Difficulty trusting, feeling drained, or shrinking to stay connected are common relational patterns rooted in earlier attachment wounds.
In therapy, you may learn to:
Identify who feels safe and why
Practice emotional closeness at a pace that honors your nervous system
Build reciprocal friendships grounded in honesty and connection
Show up authentically without losing yourself
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Attachment trauma isn’t just relational; it affects identity and self-worth.
When early relationships taught you that love required shrinking, performing, fixing, or earning, it can feel difficult to trust yourself or express needs.
Therapy can help you:
Build internal emotional safety
Develop self-compassion
Strengthen emotional regulation
Rewrite core relational beliefs
What Relational Trauma Therapy Looks Like With Me:
Attachment trauma often stems from early relational wounds that impact how we connect with ourselves and others. When these experiences are processed within the safety of a supportive therapeutic relationship, real healing can begin. Therapy offers a corrective emotional experience—a secure, attuned relationship that helps you better understand your unconscious reactions and begin creating new, healthier ways of relating.
In therapy, you can:
Strengthen your relationship with yourself
Unpack and shift old attachment patterns
Learn to regulate your emotions more effectively
Develop healthier, more secure relationships
Because relational trauma often shapes our internal narrative, many people with attachment wounds experience anxiety, insecurity, or a deep sense of unworthiness. Through attachment-focused therapy, you can begin to rewrite those inner stories.
Common Indicators of Relational Trauma Include:
Anxious, avoidant, or insecure attachment styles rooted in fear of abandonment
Having emotionally immature caregivers who minimized or invalidated your needs
Repeating unhealthy relationship patterns in hopes of a different outcome
Growing up with a parent who struggled with mental health or addiction
Experiencing emotional or physical neglect or trauma in childhood
Difficulty regulating emotions, communicating needs, or feeling safe in relationships
Persistent relationship anxiety and attempts to soothe it in ineffective ways
Attachment therapy can help you move from reactivity and self-doubt toward connection, self-trust, and emotional security. My online therapy practice provides a safe, empathetic space for this deep and meaningful work. You don’t have to navigate these patterns alone. Healing is possible.
A common pattern in attachment-focused therapy:
Many people come to therapy feeling insecure in relationships. They are minimizing their needs, blaming themselves when things feel hard, or pulling away when they feel anxious or unsure. These responses are often misunderstood as personal flaws.
Through therapy, clients begin to recognize these patterns as protective responses shaped by past attachment wounds. With support, they can learn to communicate needs more confidently, set boundaries, and build relationships rooted in trust, clarity, and emotional safety.
Personalized, Evidence-Based Therapy for Relational Trauma.
Healing from relational trauma requires both a compassionate relationship and effective tools. While I offer a modern, person-centered approach, I also draw from evidence-based therapeutic modalities that have been proven to support healing and emotional growth. These research-backed interventions are tailored to your unique experiences, and together we’ll explore how to apply them in your everyday life in ways that feel practical, empowering, and meaningful.
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Attachment theory helps us make sense of how we relate to others—especially in close relationships. It centers around four primary attachment styles: secure, anxious, avoidant, and disorganized. These patterns are often shaped by early childhood experiences, but the good news is that they’re not fixed—your attachment style can evolve with insight and healing.
In therapy, we’ll explore your unique attachment needs, how your early relationships may have influenced your current patterns, and how to begin healing from attachment wounds. This work can help you cultivate more security in your relationships—with others and with yourself.
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Relational therapy for attachment trauma focuses on healing the wounds caused by early disruptions or insecurities in your closest relationships. This approach centers on the therapeutic relationship itself as a safe, supportive space where you can explore how past attachment experiences impact your current emotions, behaviors, and relationships. By building trust and connection in therapy, you’ll begin to rewrite old, unhelpful patterns and develop healthier ways of relating to yourself and others. Through compassionate, attuned support, relational therapy helps you repair attachment injuries, cultivate secure connections, and foster deeper emotional resilience.
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Existential analysis is a depth-oriented approach that helps you explore the core questions of your life—who you are, what you value, and how you want to live in the face of uncertainty, freedom, and change.
Rather than focusing only on symptom relief, it looks at the underlying patterns, beliefs, and choices shaping your experience, including how you relate to meaning, identity, and connection. Through a collaborative and authentic therapeutic relationship, existential therapy helps you develop greater self-awareness, take ownership of your choices, and move toward a life that feels more aligned, intentional, and genuinely your own.
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Interpersonal therapy focuses on the vital connection between our relationships and emotional well-being. This approach can help you develop practical skills for healthy communication, conflict resolution, and setting clear, respectful boundaries. By improving your relational health, you can experience more fulfilling connections and a greater overall sense of balance in your life.
What we’ll work on
You’ll walk away with —
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An understanding of how attachment trauma has impacted you and your relationships—and how to move forward with intention.
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A stronger sense of self, including increased self-worth, compassion, and confidence in relationships.
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Tools to regulate your nervous system, manage triggers, and navigate difficult conversations with greater clarity and emotional safety.
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The ability to identify your needs, communicate them directly, and build healthier, more reciprocal relationships, rather than anxiously pursuing or withdrawing.
Questions? I’ve got answers.
Frequently asked questions —
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Absolutely. Therapy can help you process unresolved attachment wounds and build a stronger, kinder relationship with yourself.
You’ll learn to cultivate self-compassion and gain insight into your unique attachment needs and patterns. When your inner critic arises, I’ll gently challenge those negative thoughts, helping you develop a healthier, more supportive inner dialogue.
Together, we’ll work toward a more positive and loving relationship with yourself.
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You’ll never be pressured to discuss anything you’re not comfortable with or that doesn’t feel relevant. That said, exploring some of your relationship history can provide valuable insight into your overall story and help me support you more effectively.
My approach is tailored to your unique needs, and I don’t believe therapy needs to focus primarily on the past. Together, we’ll focus on what feels most helpful for you in the present.
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I believe therapy can benefit anyone at any stage of life. It’s a space for growth, support, and self-understanding.
If you’re unsure whether therapy is right for you, I invite you to start with a free 15-minute consultation. This gives you a chance to ask questions, get a sense of how I work, and together we can explore if we’re a good fit.
Starting therapy is a personal decision, and it’s completely normal to feel unsure or anxious about the process. Ultimately, only you can decide when the time is right to begin.
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That’s completely normal, especially for people with relational trauma. You won’t be expected to share everything at once. We move at your pace.
In therapy, we’ll slowly build safety, trust, and emotional regulation so your story feels manageable rather than overwhelming. You’ll never be pushed before you’re ready. You and the wisdom of your nervous system will guide the pace. Over time, you’ll find that therapy becomes a space where vulnerability feels safer and connection feels possible.
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If you’re ready to begin therapy, I recommend booking an appointment directly through my online calendar here. Once your appointment is confirmed, you’ll receive your new client intake forms. Please review and sign them at least 48 hours before your scheduled session to avoid an auto-cancellation.
If you’ve read through my FAQ’s and the information doesn’t answer your questions, or if you’d like to connect before scheduling, feel free to reach out through my contact form →
Relational Trauma Therapy in Los Angeles via Telehealth
Areas I Serve
Beverly Hills • Pacific Palisades • West Hollywood • Santa Monica • Newport Beach • Brentwood
It’s okay if this feels like a big step —