Every September, I notice a familiar pattern in my practice: more emails, more phone calls, more people deciding this is the moment to finally start therapy.

Looking for trauma therapy in Houston can feel overwhelming. There are so many options, and not all are the right fit. In this post, we’ll cut through the noise and talk about what actually matters when choosing a trauma therapist in Montrose or the greater Houston area (and the red flags you’ll want to avoid along the way).

Most advice about sleep treats it like a simple habit. Go to bed at the same time, cut the caffeine, put away your phone. While those things can help, they leave out something crucial: sleep is one of the most vulnerable states we enter as humans.

Most people expect a rush of relief or satisfaction after they finally reach a long-awaited goal. When milestones like graduation, a promotion, finishing the marathon, or passing the exam come along, you imagine yourself celebrating, proud, or maybe even transformed.

You can name the emotion and trace it back to the moment it started. You might even know exactly which childhood experience planted the seed. And yet… nothing changes.

If this sounds familiar, you’re probably no stranger to over-analyzing your feelings, a habit that can feel productive, even therapeutic, but often leaves you stuck in the same emotional loop.

You’ve found someone kinds who listens to you and treats you with respect. And yet, your body doesn’t seem to believe it. Instead, your body buzzes with anxiety: feeling jumpy when they walk into the room unexpectedly, pulling back when they reach for your hand. You can’t quite relax, even when you logically know there’s no sign of danger.

Struggling to communicate with an emotionally immature parent? Learn why your conversations may go nowhere and how to set boundaries that protect your peace and support your healing.

If you’ve ever felt confused, disconnected, or even irritated by that phrase, you’re not alone. Many people—especially those who’ve experienced trauma, chronic stress, or simply grown up in a culture that values thinking over feeling—find the idea of “being in your body” abstract at best and overwhelming at worst.

Ever found yourself going completely blank during a heated conversation?

You’re in the middle of an argument and your mind fogs over, your chest tightens, or suddenly you completely lose track of what you wanted to say.  This isn’t just a matter of being “bad at communicating”, it’s a trauma response that deserves attention.

Trauma has a profound impact on the brain. It can leave individuals feeling stuck, emotionally overwhelmed, and disconnected from their sense of safety. However, a groundbreaking therapeutic approach known as Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing (EMDR) is changing the way we understand trauma recovery. EMDR doesn’t just help individuals process difficult memories—it actually works to rewire the brain.

For many high-functioning adults, work isn't just something you do — it's who you are.

You don’t just have a job. You are the doctor. The founder. The reliable team lead. The problem solver.
And over time, it can become difficult to separate your identity from your role — until the job ends, changes, or drains you so completely that you’re left wondering, Who am I without it?

When a natural disaster hits—like the recent flooding across parts of Texas—the damage isn’t just physical. Even if your home is safe or your family wasn’t directly impacted, kids may still absorb the emotional weight of what’s happening around them. They hear adult conversations. They pick up on fear. They see images on the news or TikTok that they don’t fully understand.

And yet, many parents feel unsure about what to say.
How much is too much? Should I protect them from the details? What if I don’t have the right words?

Many adults enter therapy having never had an emotionally attuned caregiver. Parents may have been physically present but emotionally unavailable, unpredictable, or wrapped up in their own survival. In these environments, you learn to stay quiet, stay helpful, or stay strong—but not how to stay connected to yourself.

If you’ve lived in Houston for more than five minutes, you already know: summer isn’t just “hot” here—it’s oppressive. The kind of heat that makes your skin stick to your clothes, your thoughts feel heavy, and your motivation completely disappear. And yet, we don’t talk enough about how this relentless weather can impact our mental health.

Let’s start with the honest answer most people don’t love to hear:
It depends.

But before you click away, let’s get into what that actually means—and why asking “how long will this take?” is often a stand-in for something much deeper.

If Pride feels heavy, bittersweet, or even disorienting, you’re not doing it wrong. You might just be bumping up against something deeper—something from the part of you that didn’t get to exist freely the first time around.

You may have heard about somatic therapy from TikTok, your trauma-informed friend, or even your last therapist. But if you’re still not totally sure what it is—or whether it’s right for you—you’re not alone.

There’s a particular kind of ache that comes with burnout. It’s not just exhaustion—it’s a bone-deep weariness paired with a quiet, persistent question: Is this really all there is?

You didn’t start your career expecting this. At one point, you were driven, creative, maybe even lit up by what you were building. But somewhere along the way, the hustle became survival. And now, after months (or years) of pushing, striving, and sacrificing sleep for output, you’ve hit a wall.

In conversations about trauma healing, the focus is often on resolution. Closure. A turning point that finally makes everything make sense.

That’s not how complex trauma works.

So you’ve found a therapist who gets it—someone you actually want to open up to. There’s just one problem: they’re out-of-network with your insurance. Cue the headache.