AMES Therapy

03/17/2026

Continuing with themes of Organ Transplant Mental Health. When someone receives an organ transplant, the focus is understandably on survival and medical recovery. Families and caregivers often spend months — sometimes years — living in a constant state of alert. There are appointments, decisions...

03/16/2026

Caregivers of transplant recipients often push through months or years of intense vigilance and then suddenly hit a wall. Our new blog post — Understanding Caregiver Crash: Organ Transplant Mental Health — explores why this happens, signs to watch for, and practical steps to support recovery. Read more: https://wix.to/joP4Te7

Continuing with themes of Organ Transplant Mental Health. When someone receives an organ transplant, the focus is understandably on survival and medical recovery. Families and caregivers often spend months — sometimes years — living in a constant state of alert. There are appointments, decisions...

03/13/2026

There are many misconceptions about therapy that stop people from reaching out for support. Let’s break down a few common ones:

Myth #1: Therapy is only for when something is really wrong.
Fact: Therapy isn’t just for crisis situations. It can also support personal growth, help you navigate life transitions, improve relationships, and build healthier coping strategies.

Myth #2: Talking about trauma makes it worse.
Fact: When processed safely in a supportive environment, discussing difficult experiences can help the brain reprocess them and reduce their emotional impact over time. Trauma-informed approaches help ensure this work happens at a pace that feels safe.

Myth #3: Therapy is just talking.
Fact: Therapy can involve many different approaches depending on your needs. This may include trauma-informed care, EMDR, mindfulness practices, somatic awareness, or even nature-based therapy.

At AMES Therapy, the goal is to create a space where therapy can be tailored to the individual. Healing isn’t one-size-fits-all, and the process should support both your mind and body.

✨ You don’t have to wait for a crisis to prioritize your mental health.

03/08/2026

Happy International Women’s Day to all that identify! 🎉

03/08/2026

Sometimes the most important conversation you’ll have is the one you have with yourself.

Journaling with words or drawings can help you slow down and make sense of what you’re feeling. If you don’t know where to start after experiencing trauma, try these prompts:

• What am I feeling right now?
• What might this feeling be trying to tell me?
• What do I need in this moment?

You don’t need perfect words — just honesty.

Small moments of reflection can create meaningful change over time. I’m here to help you understand your thoughts and find ways to help you process trauma whether that be through journaling, art, nature walks or simple conversation.

03/07/2026

Mutual silence can develop in transplant families when everyone tries to protect one another emotionally. In our latest blog, Amy Haertel explores how caregivers and recipients often hide fears and how open communication can heal relationships as well as minds. Read more: https://wix.to/qPUsBLo

03/05/2026

Medical trauma is nervous system trauma.

Hospitalizations, accidents, invasive procedures, and sudden diagnoses can activate survival responses that persist long after recovery. EMDR and somatic therapies help the brain and body integrate these experiences so they no longer feel present-tense.

Join our webinar this Friday at 12:00 pm EST to hear more in relation to the transplant community 💚

03/03/2026

Calm Place as a Resource in EMDR

The Calm Place is a mental, imagined safe space used as a resource to help clients stay grounded and regulate during EMDR processing.

It serves as a portable, readily accessible anchor that can be used anytime distress or arousal spikes.

Purpose: Reduce activation, support present-moment awareness, and enable safer processing of memories.

How it functions as a resource: By consistently returning to a chosen Calm Place, clients can downshift physiological arousal and create a stable mental foothold during challenging sets.

When to use it: Proactively before intense sessions or reactively during processing when distress increases.

What makes it effective: Personal relevance, vivid sensory detail, and the associated calming memory or feeling of safety.

This is my calm place. Warm crackling fire- calm moody mountain range - dogs just chilling and regulating with me. Smell of fresh air and fire - calm breeze- not too hot or cold.

03/01/2026

Transition activates physiology.

Even positive change increases cognitive and autonomic demand because predictability decreases. Understanding this mechanism reduces mislabeling stress responses as dysfunction.

Save this for future transitions.

02/25/2026

Feeling disregulated?

Notice three natural things in your surrounding.

Slow your breath.

Inhale through the nose, exhale longer than you inhale. Hold for three seconds. Repeat.

Co-regulation helps the nervous system feel safe through connection with people, environment or nature.

This simple practice supports grounding and nervous system settling using mindfulness during moments of overwhelm.

Give it a try.

02/24/2026

Regulation doesn’t only happen through conversation.

Nature can act as a powerful co-regulator.

Offering rhythm, grounding, and sensory cues that help the nervous system settle.

This is why outdoor and nature-based therapy can be especially supportive for trauma, anxiety, grief, and life transitions.

Healing doesn’t always require sitting across from someone. Sometimes, it happens while walking, breathing fresh air, and allowing your system to slow — together.

🌿 Follow for more trauma-informed reflections and practices.

02/23/2026

For many people, conflict doesn’t just feel uncomfortable — it feels threatening.

From a polyvagal and trauma-informed perspective, this response often comes from the nervous system, not a lack of communication skills. When the body has learned that conflict meant harm, loss, or instability, it responds automatically to protect you.

In therapy, we work gently with these responses using approaches like EMDR, somatic experiencing, CBT, and mindfulness — helping the nervous system learn that safety is possible again.