TRAUMA-INFORMED THERAPY FOR persons of public persona, academics, or leadership positions
in seattle, bellevue, and all of washington state
Unpack in a safe, discreet, non-judgmental zone.
You are a person, not your persona.
YOU DESERVE TO BE witnessed FOR WHO You are.
I offer a free, virtual 30-minute consultation so you can find out if this is the right next step for you.
Heal your Heart. Live with Ease. Thrive with confidence.
I help high-functioning adults understand how traumatic past events manifest as emotional problems in the present. Together, we rewrite old scripts and exit negative cycles through neurological change.
You can move from “making it through the day” to “flourishing emotionally” even if it seemed impossible before, too time-consuming, too painful, ineffective, and too disruptive.
“I am always waiting for the other shoe to drop.I can’t stop worrying what if… I felt like this for as long as I remember. I’m exhausted.”
“I can’t relax, I’m constantly wired. I feel like it’s all going to come crashing down if I don’t take care of everything myself. Better be safe than sorry.”“
“I can’t stop thinking about what they said and what they are thinking of me now. I hope I didn’t mess it up. Maybe I should have...
“If they really knew me, they wouldn’t like me and leave. I don’t trust people. Sometimes I feel like there is something wrong with me. Maybe I am just too broken.”
You are not broken. You have done nothing wrong. You did the best you knew how.
This is not who you are. It’s how you adapted to harsh living conditions when you didn’t have many options.
THESE FEELINGS STARTED EARLY, DIDN’T THEY?
They have been with you for so long that they feel as if they are part of your personality.
They aren’t.
You worked hard to get where you are today. From the outside, it seems like you have it all together, but no one would guess how dark your thoughts and feelings can get.
You can’t even afford to show how you are feeling. You’re in the public eye. One wrong move makes for a good story at your expense as if you weren’t human as well.
It’s hard to talk to someone who isn’t in your close circle. It can get lonely. Others don’t readily understand your unique struggles and your sacrifices.
What you do is admired, envied, glorified. As if it were so easy.
Perhaps a critical inner voice constantly comments on what you did wrong, again. “This didn’t go so well and you know it. They didn’t really like you, they were just being polite. You could have done better than this. You’re inadequate, not quite cutting it, an impostor. If they knew who you really are, they’d leave you or fire you. You’re a phony and a fake, and life is going to come crashing down if you don’t watch out.”
You are up at night, tossing and turning as you replay important meetings, conversations, or work events in your head. You’re evaluating what you could have done better, or you wish you could go back in time to do differently.
Sometimes you hate your job. You want to escape to a place in the world where no one has heard of you. The constant hiding from the press is sheer horror. The kind of horror hardly anyone understands.
Perhaps you are so used to living in your persona and acting the way you are expected to act, that you’re not quite sure what your inner self is saying. Maybe you feel like a shell of a person that’s supposed to function.
Perhaps you are experiencing burnout. Stuffing down your feelings is getting too hard and your handle on self-control is starting to slip.
Perhaps, growing up wasn’t a picnic and you did whatever you could to survive. You still do. You’re an excellent survivor, but when is it going to stop? When do you get to unburden yourself?
Trusting people? Forget it. Relationships don’t last. They always leave. The schedule comes first, because it must.
You grew an armor to get to where you are today and to hold it all together, but you’re exhausted.
Your emotions seem to have a life of their own. It’s as if small triggers hijack your brain and the physical response is too powerful to contain sometimes. You need a sustainable solution and measurable results.
YOU’VE TRIED EVERYTHING TO FEEL BETTER BUT IT HASN’T WORKED.
SOMETIMES, YOU FEEL AS THOUGH…
Does it feel like it's not getting better no matter what you do?
What if you have been treating the symptoms but not the cause?
* Has therapy made you feel better, but never brought about the profound changes you hoped for?
* Do you wonder if you are “too broken” or “unfixable” and therapy doesn’t work for you?
* Do you wonder if you might have to settle for going through life in semi-resignated acceptance that this is as good as it gets?
* Does your career require you to maintain a persona or a facade, and no one would guess how dark your thoughts can become sometimes? Do you feel exhausted, like a burned out actor in your own life?
* Do you struggle with thoughts or emotions that can get out of control, as if your emotional brain hijacked your body?
* Do you feel demoralized, hopeless, or numb?
* Do relationships tend to go sour?
* Do you feel like you can’t keep going like this anymore, but you don’t know what to do about it?
What if you’ve been chopping away at the leaves and branches of a weed, but the leaves keep growing back because you didn’t know you needed to pull the weed out by its root?
What if trauma is at the root of anxiety, depression, relationship problems, substance abuse, workaholism, busy-aholism, social anxiety, low self-esteem, and many other ailments?
What if you’ve been chopping away at the leaves and branches of a weed, but the leaves keep Trauma is an event that diminishes your previous capacity.
Trauma can be hard to detect. Trauma can begin in the third trimester before birth and affect brain development in a fetus.
Trauma can be small, such as unintentional neglect in childhood because older siblings overwhelmed the parents.
Unrecognized and untreated trauma can leave you feeling distrustful of yourself, out of control, numb, untreatable, or “crazy”.
When you identify the root cause, targeted healing can begin.
* You can leave the past where it belongs and move forward. You can experience post-traumatic growth, and integrate your experience in a way that leaves you stronger than before.
* You can feel safe again, in your body, mind, and existence, without losing the vigilance that kept you safe. We’ll just turn the volume down to appropriate levels by teaching your nervous system to recognize the difference between safety and real threat.
* You can keep the resilience trauma has taught you and release what’s no longer serving you.
* You can turn a new chapter in intimate relationships; one that doesn’t have “mayhem” in the headline.
* You can move from “getting by” to thriving, and learn to create a life you love to live.
* You can regain healthy tranquility and inner peace without losing your edge. You can shed the contracted state of “waiting for the other shoe to drop”.
* You can laugh again and participate fully in the preciousness of the moment.
* You can step free of the uncontrollable emotions and confusing reactions that are at the core of trauma, and be in charge of yourself, your thoughts and feelings, your behaviors, and your choices.
* You can learn to tell which people are good for you and which ones aren’t, let go of hurtful relationships, and choose more suitable partners.
* You can recover from unspeakable trauma and regain confident relaxation without losing your ability to protect yourself.
* You can go from being numb to fully feeling again without the fear of getting hurt.
There is a light at the end of the tunnel.
This is where I can assist you best:
Hi, I am Veronika Stutz, LMHC.
I believe it can be done.
CHANGE IS IN OUR NATURE. THE BODY IS DESIGNED TO ADAPT, GROW AND HEAL. THE BRAIN POSSESSES NEUROPLASTICITY - THE ABILITY TO GROW OR REORGANIZE NEURAL NETWORKS. WE ARE MADE TO CONTINUE ADAPTING TO OUR ENVIRONMENT; PHYSICALLY, STRUCTURALLY, NEUROLOGICALLY, AND PSYCHOLOGICALLY.
I am an EMDRIA-certified EMDR therapist. I specialize in trauma, and I conceptualize symptoms through a trauma-informed lens.
WE CAN ENGAGE THE INNATE ADAPTABILITY OF OUR BRAINS AND NERVOUS SYSTEMS FOR NATURAL HEALING.
I am an experienced guide with a powerful lantern. I know a way out of the dark tunnel because I've been there many times. I know that the scary shadows on the walls can't hurt you if we flash my lantern and pass by them, leaving the past where it belongs.
I'll take your hand, and I won't let go unless you want me to. We’ll walk together until you safely reach the light.
Why EMDR Works with My Approach
I believe healing happens through real human connection — not through sterile professionalism or endless clinical jargon. When you’re in my office, you’re sitting with a real person. I’ll meet you where you are, without judgment or pretense. Sometimes that means we’ll talk deeply about pain and meaning, and sometimes we’ll use humor to make the hard moments a little easier to bear.
I don’t see you as “broken.” I see a nervous system that’s been doing its best to protect you — even if those old strategies don’t work anymore. Together, we’ll help your system learn that it’s finally safe to let go.
If it fits for you, we utilize EMDR to engage the innate adaptability of your brain and nervous system for natural healing.
My approach to EMDR is integrative and personalized. While the Adaptive Processing Model of EMDR is at the heart of trauma work, we also draw from the Rogerian Person-Centered Approach, Internal Family Systems (IFS), Ego State interventions, Gestalt Therapy, Polyvagal Theory, Attachment Theories, and Mindfulness.
Together, these perspectives allow us to work not only with the memories but also with the parts of you that hold pain, survival strategies, and resilience—creating a deeper, safer, and more lasting transformation
You won’t have to tell your story over and over again or re-live the worst moments of your life. Instead, we’ll work with your nervous system to gently reprocess what’s been stuck, so the memories lose their charge — and you can finally feel grounded, present, and more you.
Clients often tell me that sessions feel surprisingly calm, even when we’re moving through painful material. EMDR allows healing to unfold in a way that feels natural, safe, and integrated — not forced.
My approach is part neuroscience, part soul work. I bring both structure and humanity into the room. You bring your courage, curiosity, and truth. Together, we create the conditions your system needs to finally rest and heal.
Always at your pace, on your timing, and with your consent.
WORKING TOGETHER -
THIS IS WHAT IT MAY LOOK LIKE
1) Preparation: ASSESSMENT, DIAGNOSIS, TREATMENT PLAN
Generally, we will meet 1-2x per week for 60-90 minutes at your appointed time.
For the first 2 sessions, we meet for 90 minutes to complete an assessment together, identify a diagnosis if you want one (unless you’re an insurance client, then we must add a diagnosis), identify your goals, and make a treatment plan.
2) The beginning stage: Playing puzzle
We get to know each other until we know and trust each other. Since we don’t want to waste any time, we’ll start by spilling all the puzzle pieces of your life on the table. We’ll look at each piece and see how they all fit together until we have a coherent picture.
We’ll start an EMDR case conceptualization and possibly do a brief demo of how EMDR works.
We may use Gestalt therapy/parts work/Ego States therapy. You’ll playfully give different personality parts, thoughts, feelings, or memories a voice until your entire inner committee feels heard and understood. It’s a bit like role-playing or theater, and it saves you from “talking about it”. You’ll just … spill it. I’ll show you and support you, and we make it fun. Of course, I’ll always be open to your feedback, and you don’t have to use interventions you don’t like.
We may learn cognitive-behavioral strategies and behavioral supports as necessary, such as learning Dialectical Behavior Therapy skills by workbook or groups, or creating action-plans to begin changing habits.
We’ll engage in EMDR resourcing, which means strengthening the part of you that is wise, capable, skilled, heroic, resilient, and so very lovable and worthy.
3) The intermediate stage: Detective work
We’ll start the detective work of seeking the needle in the haystack, which we do by riding feelings back in time to the earliest time you remember feeling this way. We may give parts a voice again to find out what “decisions” you made about life at a time when you were too young to know the final truth about life. We’ll identify limiting beliefs that may have kept you safe at the time but are no longer needed.
We’ll identify negative core beliefs about yourself that are associated to traumatic experiences.
From here, we’ll either continue parts work and engage in Healing of Memories or self-parenting, move into EMDR processing, or alternate and mix modalities depending on what works best for you.
4) The end stage: The Harvest
We continue EMDR processing until you report no symptoms, we see behaviors change positively, you reached your goals, we measure your progress on a scale from 0-10, and we determine that you have achieved significant change.
When we are certain that you are satisfied with the improvements, we switch to bi-weekly therapy sessions to taper off and see how you do on your own. After a month or so, we’ll officially end therapy and switch to voluntary wellness visits. This means that you can schedule irregular single sessions to check in.
the FREE CONSULTATION
1) Click on the “Schedule Your Free Consultation” button. It will take you to my secure client platform Simple Practice, where you can schedule a meeting. You can also email me directly at vivi@phoenixrisescounseling.org, or use the contact form to ask for a meeting time that is not listed. I may be able to see you earlier if someone cancels.
2) I will either confirm your consultation through Simple Practice, or email you additional availabilities.
3) You will receive an email from Simple Practice, giving you access to the portal. For a consultation, please fill out the Informed Consent for a Telehealth Consultation form. (Simple Practice is so easy to navigate, even I can do it.) If you run into problems, email me.
4) A few hours before your appointment, Simple Practice will send you an email with a link to access the virtual consultation. Try the link ahead of time. Some cell phones require you to download an app. Desktops or laptops won’t.
5) We’ll meet! I will ask you what brings you into therapy and what your goals are. You can ask me anything and I will do my best to address your concerns. We will connect informally to get to know each other, but observe professional boundaries.
WHO THIS WORK IS FOR
* You have been in therapy before and you’re looking for the next phase in your growth.
* You have an understanding of your mental and emotional processes, and you can verbalize them.
* You can verbalize your goals.
* You’re done being an externalizer, and you appreciate personal responsibility for thoughts and feelings.
* You are ready for measurable change or willing to try, and able to commit to a window of time to achieve it.
* You can stay present in your body and maintain present awareness, or you’re willing to take the extra time to achieve this ability before we can engage in trauma work.
* You appreciate humor. Humor is a therapeutic intervention, not a sign of lacking professionalism.
* You seek a real relationship with an authentic therapist while maintaining professional boundaries. No blank slate here, that’s so last century.
THIS WORK MAY NOT BE FOR YOU IF…
* You require a level of care I can’t offer, such as active suicidal ideation, substance abuse, or a mood disorder. If we find out that this is the case, I will help you with a referal.
* You need around-the-clock support, or depend on ongoing support to function. I am unable to offer this level of care in solo practice as I don’t have any staff.
* You are unable to make a consistent time commitment of 3-6 months. While I do take time off as well, I aim to provide shorter-term, focused therapy that builds on self-supportive momentum.
* You “just want to talk about it”. While I hold a safe space for you and honor your pace, I am not a good fit for small talk.
*You are not ready to experience your thoughts, feelings, and sensations, or to verbalize. Therapy may be uncomfortable at times, even though I take great care to close each session with positive resourcing.
FEE SCHEDULE
60-minute therapy/EMDR: $160
90-minute therapy/EMDR: $240
90-minute IADC therapy: $250
60-minute couples counseling: $180
90-minute couples counseling: $270
I offer out-of-network benefits and I will provide superbills for insurance reimbursement.
PLEASE NOTE:
Insurance doesn’t pay or reimburse for IADC.
I accept Aetna, Kaiser PPO, and First Choice Health.
I offer Premera out-of-network benefits. Please feel free to inquire about details.
What others are saying
about my work
I sometimes hear that this work has ‘changed lives”, “exceeded expectations” and made clients feel “heard and understood like they haven’t before.”
Colleagues who recommend me wrote:
“Veronika is a compassionate and caring EMDR practitioner. She is innately tuned into the needs of her clients. I recommend her to men and women who have experienced abusive childhoods and/or relationships and are yearning for big life changes.“
“Also, X shared how impactful you have been to her over the past year and it was so touching. It made my eyes fill up with tears thinking of how meaningful your work is in this world. You truly are a lovely, kind and compassionate soul.” Ellie Kane, LMHC
“Veronika is a highly skilled, warm, and caring therapist. She has extensive experience treating grief and CPTSD and is an expert in treating poly, kink, and ENM couples and individuals. She excels at helping her clients achieve their goals.“ Milena Gordillo, MSW, LICSW
WELCOME TO MY YOUTUBE CHANNEL:
THE TRAUMA THERAPY LIFERAFT
CLICK HERE:
INSTAGRAM: https://www.instagram.com/veronika.vivi.stutz/
FACEBOOK: https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=61573968523843
LINKEDIN: https://www.linkedin.com/in/veronika-vivi-stutz-785a7b59/
Trauma is not who you are, it’s what happened to you.
Together, we’ll make sense of it in a way that leaves you stronger than before.
CONTACT ME
Take your time. Share only what feels comfortable. This is simply a first point of contact — not a commitment.
You can email me at: vivi@phoenixrisescounseling.org
A Good Faith Estimate is available upon request.
My license number in Washington state is LH 61526615.
Contact me
Let’s get started.
I WILL answer your questions and we can decide if I’m the right therapist for you.
For the protection of your Personal Health Information, get in touch with me through my Hippa-compliant email:
vivi [at] phoenixrisescounseling [dot] org
You can also request an appointment directly in my Simple Practice schedule by using the red button ”Request Appointment”.
If you want a free consultation earlier or at a different time than the online schedule permits, email me directly.
A Good Faith Estimate is available upon request.
My license number in Washington state is LH 61526615.
vivi [at] phoenixrisescounseling [dot] org
BUSINESS ADDRESS
Phoenix Rises Couseling LLC
Veronika Stutz, LMHC, C-EMDR
License number in Washington state: LH 61526615.
Howard St. STE W, #6727, Spokane, WA 99201