Trauma and PTSD Therapists in Decatur, GA

I have been a counselor since 1996. I work collaboratively with you to create therapy goals that fit with your hopes, dreams, values, personal goals and commitments. I regularly seek your feedback on how the therapy is working for you.

Are you looking for a place to work through trauma's impact, heal amidst anxiety, and find peace as your authentic self? I would be honored to cultivate space for you to share your story and be met with compassion. Seeking out therapy is courageous and rewarding. I believe everyone can benefit from therapy, as we all face challenges in this life. My vision is to journey with clients as we lean into the truths that our stories and experiences are valid, and finding compassion for our imperfections is often where we find our greatest strength.

As a holistic psychotherapist, I strive to meet my clients where they’re at and always consider the mind, body, spirit, and environment. Each client is unique, so I use compassion and multicultural awareness to tailor they way I serve each client. I use a feminist, humanistic, and integrative approach and enjoy working with adults of all ages and backgrounds, but especially young women. The collaborative process of healing and growth allows my clients to reach the goals we set together and to navigate challenges of many sizes they face in their lives.

Hope is the key to healing, emotional wellbeing, and the high-quality life that you desire. Whether you are a mom who needs support, are living with depression or anxiety, or someone who wants to work thru past trauma, I have hope for you! Hope that you will have healing, reach your goals and live a high-quality life. I have 19 years of experiencing empowering individuals to overcome their most challenging issues and I would be honored to walk with you on your path to healing!

Working through trauma requires tremendous courage. No one wants to find themselves having to focus on healing the past, but once you realize that’s what you need to move forward, there’s no looking back. Whether you are dealing with triggers, flashbacks, nightmares, relationship issues, anxiety, chronic health problems, or simply struggling to stop thinking about unpleasant events from the past, trauma can affect us all differently. I have the experience and training to support you as you shift the patterns you have developed in response to adversity.

Thank you for taking the time to visit my page. I consider therapy a collaborative endeavor in which client and therapist work together to process emotions, events, and behaviors in the quest to facilitate understanding and change. I enjoy working with adult individuals, couples, and groups. I have worked extensively with survivors of trauma and those suffering from PTSD. I also especially welcome those who struggle with depression, anxiety, relationship issues, LGBTQ concerns, stress management, grief and loss, infertility, or career decisions.

Have you suffered overwhelming experiences that are too big for words? Maybe you believe what you are going through is too great a burden to share with others? Are you ready for your past to loosen its grip on your present, and future? I am here, with no judgments, to hold a calm and nurturing space for you. My passion is in providing a safe and collaborative space for healing, where you are seen, heard, and understood. I specialize in working with trauma, grief, chronic illness, anxiety and depression. If you are ready to reconnect with your authentic self and live life in the present, I would be honored to work with you.

My goal to to assist people in finding a way forward from their distress and pain. Stressful and/or traumatic events can result in extreme anxiety that leads to isolation from your family and friends and withdrawal from what you used to enjoy. I would like to work with you to decrease that anxiety, increase your engagement with the world and nurture your relationships with others. This is done by teaching you new habits, experiences counter to stressful/trauma ones, and examining how you think about your life.

My goal is to provide focused treatment to help you feel better quickly. You can learn skills to reduce anxiety, mood swings, and negative life patterns. We may be a good match if you are experiencing grief or loss, relationship distress, anxiety, depression, or PTSD from trauma, or if you want to increase self-care. I also work well with children of alcoholics and caregivers (w/ a loved-one with dementia or illness.) Overall, I strive to help clients become more joyful and successful with themselves and with others. I welcome clients with a range of multicultural, gender and sexual identities, and I am committed to social justice.

I seek to create a safe and inclusive space for black-bodied individuals, LGBTQ+ folks, survivors of trauma, sex workers, and clients who are struggling with relationship and intimacy issues. My approach to mental health care is rooted in anti-oppressive and decolonizing frameworks. The treatment modalities that I use have been found to be effective across many cultures, ages, genders, and experiences. I am here to support my clients in rediscovering themselves, strengthening their mind-body connection, and living the life they have always wanted.

My aim is to help you ease your most difficult emotions while addressing the patterns that keep you feeling "stuck" or powerless in your life. With compassion and a non-pathologizing approach, I offer a effective framework for recovery and growth, so that you can enact change in your life that is consistent with your most authentic and purposeful self. I believe we are all capable of improving the quality our lives no matter how difficult and chronic problems have been. Seeing my clients evolve through self-acceptance and meaningful action is a true privilege and passion for me.

Living fully in the present can be hard when we’re still holding onto pain from our past. Far too often, to cope with our pain, we adapt in ways that helped us survive back then but limit us now. While it can be challenging to understand why we do the things we do and feel the way we feel, I’m here to meet you with compassion and curiosity. Together, we can explore the behaviors and beliefs that are holding you back from experiencing increased joy, purpose, and self-love.

Do you sometimes find yourself operating from outdated beliefs and patterns that no longer serve you? Such patterns can hold us back and make life seem futile and meaningless, leaving us feeling drained and defeated. They may stem from traumatic experiences, life transitions, unexpected events, and setbacks. However, we can find new meaning and inspiration in life even after major setbacks or traumas. We can rekindle creativity and purpose through therapy. I help people update their belief systems and functioning so they can live and experience more adaptive and fuller versions of themselves.

I am licensed in Georgia & Utah and have over ten years of experience working with children, adults, and families. My primary focuses include grief and loss, life stage changes, depression/anxiety, relationship issues, and trauma & abuse. I enjoy working with a wide variety of clients and have experience with diversity in regards to gender, race, culture, religion, and sexual orientation. I find that people who feel that I am a good match for them have a desire to begin to strengthen their internal sense of self and strength and are eager to begin their journey to a higher level of self-actualization.

The process of starting or returning to therapy can be overwhelming but I am so glad you’re here! Practicing with openness and curiosity, I place great importance on meeting you where you are and creating a safe and nonjudgmental space for us to work together toward growth and healing. Whether you’re seeking therapy for yourself or as a couple, I want to help you create positive change and move towards living a rich, full, and meaningful life in a way that aligns with your identity and values. Guided by evidence-based therapies, I believe in adapting multiple modalities in treatment to best fit your unique needs.

My name is Dr. Cruz, but you can call me Stella. I am a Clinical Psychologist and Certified Clinical Trauma Professional, and I've been in practice since 2014. I offer services in English and Spanish. I have extensive experience providing individual and group therapy to adults. I specialize in working with trauma, PTSD, dual diagnoses, and other related issues, and I use a mix of Acceptance and Commitment (ACT), Cognitive Behavioral (CBT), Trauma Focused Motivational Interviewing, and Solution Focused Brief Therapy. “When we nurture others from a place of fullness, we feel renewed instead of taken advantage of.” — Jennifer Louden

For people who have faced extraordinary difficulties, navigating the ups and and downs of everyday life can be a challenge. As a therapist who specializes in working with people dealing with addiction or anxiety or those who suffered a personal trauma, my goal is to help men, women, and teens who struggle with those issues learn the skills to not just get by, but to grow and thrive.

Do you feel overwhelmed by thoughts of the past or worries of the future? Are you struggling to manage relationships with family, friends and coworkers? Is it hard to take care of your needs? I practice a merriment of evidence-based therapy approaches tailored to meet your needs, including exposure therapy, dialectical behavior therapy and cognitive behavioral therapy. I specialize in trauma, anxiety, depression, women’s issues and body positivity.Together, we will process difficult feelings and identify tools that work for you so you can live your best life.

Experience tells me that most people who seek counseling feel unable to make changes in their life that could bring them greater happiness. I consider it my responsibility and a privilege to facilitate your journey of self-empowerment to make these desired changes. Together we will explore how current patterns of feeling, thinking and acting could be altered by increasing mindfulness and self-compassion. While most of our focus is on the present and future, I also seek to honor your past by exploring how unresolved feelings may be hindering your growth and ability to meet personal goals.