Integrative Psychotherapy: A Personalized Approach to Healing Anxiety, Trauma & Relationship Issues

If you're reading this, you're probably feeling stuck, overwhelmed, or just tired of trying to manage everything on your own. Maybe you've been looking for the right therapy but there are so many options out there. Psychodynamic, CBT, structured approaches, more spontaneous ones, cognitive focused, mind body connection. It's a lot to figure out when you're already struggling.

I get it. You want therapy that actually works for you, not just any random approach. So let me explain what integrative psychotherapy is and how it might help you. Think of this as your guide to figuring out if this approach fits what you need.

Therapy That Fits You

When you come to therapy, you're bringing everything with you. Your thoughts, feelings, your body, your relationships, your past, your hopes for what's next.

That's what integrative psychotherapy is about: an approach that focuses on you as a whole. I don't do the same thing with every client because honestly, what helps one person might not work at all for someone else. Integrative psychotherapy pulls from different approaches (psychodynamic, cognitive behavioral, body based work, relational therapy) and I use what makes sense for you and what you're dealing with.

You're Not The Only One Going Through This

Maybe anxiety has taken over your life and even small decisions feel impossible. You're lying awake at night going over conversations in your head, worrying what people think, or your heart is racing and you don't even know why. Or your relationships keep hurting. Same patterns, same fights, same feeling of being misunderstood or disconnected.

You might be completely burned out from giving everything to everyone else until there's nothing left. You can't say no. You're always trying to make other people happy. Nothing you do feels good enough. Maybe you went through something traumatic and it's still affecting you in ways you can't control. Or you're going through a big life change and you just feel lost.

If any of this sounds familiar, here's what I want you to know. What you're going through makes sense. It doesn't mean you're broken. A lot of these struggles are actually old ways of coping that helped you get through tough times before. They just aren't working for you anymore.

How I Actually Work With These Issues

If anxiety is running your life, we'll use some cognitive techniques to help you figure out and challenge those anxious thoughts that feel so real. We'll also do some body based work to help calm your nervous system so you can actually feel safe in your own skin. We'll look at where the anxiety is coming from, and I'll give you practical stuff you can use when anxiety hits. You'll learn you don't have to just live with it.

If your relationships keep hurting, we'll look at what you learned early on about how relationships are supposed to work and what you think you deserve. Through our work together, you'll get to experience something different. Actually being heard and valued. We'll work on communication, setting boundaries without feeling guilty, and building better connections. You deserve relationships that feel good, not ones that drain you.

If you're burned out, I know you've been pushing yourself way too hard for way too long. We'll figure out what's really driving you to exhaustion. A lot of times it's not just your job or other people's demands. It's what you believe about your own worth. We'll use some techniques to help you be kinder to yourself and challenge that voice in your head that says you're never doing enough.

If people pleasing is taking over, I see what's happening. You're terrified of letting anyone down. You say yes when you want to say no. You ignore what you need to keep everyone else happy. We'll talk about where this comes from and why putting yourself first feels so scary.

If perfectionism is exhausting you, we'll dig into what you're really afraid of. Maybe you think you're not good enough. Maybe you're scared of being rejected. Maybe you think everything will fall apart if you're not perfect. We'll work on separating who you are from what you achieve. You'll learn you can mess up and still be a worthwhile person.

If trauma is still controlling your life, healing is possible. You don't have to relive everything or push yourself before you're ready. I work with trauma in a way that respects where you're at. We'll build up your resources and sense of safety first. Then when you're ready, we'll work through what happened in a way that helps instead of retraumatizing you. You don't have to deal with this alone.

If you're going through a big life change, feeling all over the place about it, we'll work through all the feelings. The grief, the fear, the uncertainty, but also what might be possible. We'll look at how you've handled transitions before and how that's affecting you now. And we'll come up with new ways to cope that help you get through this.

What Makes This Approach Work

I use different methods depending on what you need. Sometimes we'll draw from person centered therapy, where I trust that you already have wisdom inside you about what you need to heal. Other times we'll do more psychodynamic work, looking at patterns you might not have noticed and how things from your past are affecting you now. We might use cognitive behavioral techniques to tackle specific thoughts and behaviors that are making things harder. And we'll pay attention to your body too, because so much of our emotional experience lives in our bodies, not just our minds.

Is This Right For You?

This might be a good fit if you've tried therapy before that felt too rigid or impersonal. If you want to actually understand yourself better, not just put a bandaid on symptoms. If the relationship with your therapist matters to you and you want someone who gets you.

If you're struggling with anxiety, relationship problems, burnout, people pleasing, perfectionism, trauma, or major life transitions, I've worked with a lot of people dealing with these things and I can support you.

You're Already Doing Something Important

The fact that you're here reading this matters. It takes guts to admit you're struggling and look for help. You don't have to keep carrying all of this alone.

Change is possible. You getting better is possible. Not because I'm going to fix you, but because you already have what you need inside you. I'm here to help you access that, give you tools and support, and be steady and present while you work through this.

If this resonates with you at all, reach out. We can set up an initial free call to see if we work well together, answer your questions, and figure out what your path forward might look like. I offer therapy sessions online and in Groningen, with a flexible rate depending on your circumstances as well.

References

Horvath, A. O., Del Re, A. C., Flückiger, C., & Symonds, D. (2011). Alliance in individual psychotherapy. Psychotherapy, 48(1), 9-16. https://doi.org/10.1037/a0022186

Wampold, B. E., & Imel, Z. E. (2015). The great psychotherapy debate: The evidence for what makes psychotherapy work. Routledge.

Zarbo, C., Tasca, G. A., Cattafi, F., & Compare, A. (2016). Integrative psychotherapy works. Frontiers in Psychology, 6, 2021. https://doi.org/10.3389/fpsyg.2015.02021