Asheville Therapist · EMDR & Brainspotting Provider

How I help

My approach is trauma-informed and grounded in a deep understanding of the nervous system, and of how relationships and early experiences affect our daily lives. Many of the challenges people come to therapy for, such as anxiety, burnout, perfectionism and relationship issues, are connected to how the body and mind learned to adapt to distress and disconnection.

In therapy, we pay attention to what's happening in the present moment, beneath the surface. That includes the patterns and parts of you that developed to protect you, such as overthinking, shutting down, people-pleasing, hyper-independence or perfectionism. Rather than trying to get rid of those parts, we work to understand them. This can help you feel less trapped in painful, shame-filled cycles and better able to move through your day without feeling like you're just existing in survival mode.

My work brings together EMDR, parts work such as IFS, somatic and polyvagal-informed approaches, and DBT-based skills. I also offer sound baths and energy-based practices such as Reiki for people who are interested.

Healing isn't about becoming someone new. It's about reconnecting with the parts of yourself you had to abandon to survive.

Who I work with

• High-achievers dealing with anxiety or burnout
• Survivors of sexual trauma and sexual abuse
• Late-identified neurodivergent adults
• Cycle breakers working to understand and change generational patterns
• People who've done talk therapy and want something deeper
• Women going through postpartum, motherhood, menopause, relationship and identity shifts, or career changes

What it's like to work with me

I pay attention to both what's being said and what might be harder to put into words, so we can better understand how your experiences are showing up emotionally, physically and relationally. We'll explore the ways stress, emotions and protective patterns come up in the moment so we can work with them instead of pushing past them. Together we'll slow things down when needed, stay with emotions or sensations in the body instead of moving past them, and work to understand the different parts of yourself.

Some sessions might feel quiet and reflective. Others might feel more active or emotionally intense. Over time, people often notice they're able to stay more present with themselves without shutting down or becoming overwhelmed.

I also tend to be very real and honest in the room, and I won't use a bunch of therapist language. Therapy works best when we build trust with one another and collaborate throughout the process.

Why I do this work

I've always been someone who notices what's happening underneath the surface, both in myself and in other people. Over time, that turned into a deeper curiosity about why certain experiences stay with us and what actually helps people heal.

My own experiences shaped that too. I know what it's like to understand something logically but still feel stuck. I've seen how protective patterns and nervous system responses can stay with us long after painful experiences are over.

I'm a social worker at my core, and I believe that therapy and social justice are intertwined. I don't see people or their struggles in isolation. Your experiences make sense in the context of your relationships, your environment and what you've had to survive. A lot of what gets labeled as “symptoms” is often an adaptive response to stress or trauma.

Fundamentally, I don't see people as broken (the systems we live in, now that's another story). I see people whose systems adapted in ways that made sense at the time. Therapy isn't about fixing you. It's about helping the parts of you that developed to survive feel less stuck in those roles.

More about Brooke

I've always been drawn to understanding people: their emotions, their stories, and what helps them heal. That pull led me to study psychology and earn my master's degree in social work at the University of Wisconsin–Madison, where I trained in psychodynamic, interpersonal and relational approaches to therapy.

Over the years, I've continued to grow my skills in body-based, trauma-informed care, blending evidence-based training with intuition and a deep respect for each person's own wisdom. My hope is that you feel able to slow down, explore who you are beneath all the expectations and survival mode, and begin to build a life that feels like your own.