Amanda Vacca, M.A, LMHC

Amanda Vacca, M.A, LMHC My name is Amanda, and I’m a licensed psychotherapist and owner of Mindful Living Counseling & Consul

04/14/2026

A little mahj ASMR for your Monday🀄️💕

This is one of the things I do as a trauma therapist to help reset my own nervous system. Solo mahjong, Siamese mahjong, or a 4 person game - just being able to lock in with mindful intense focus is the mental escape I need after a long day😮‍💨😮‍💨😮‍💨

And how stinking cute is this mini travel set from My Fair Mahjong 💛🩷🩵 SMILES & TILES ?!

There’s a narrative out there that young men are “unmotivated,” “checked out,” or “just not trying.”In my work, that’s r...
04/12/2026

There’s a narrative out there that young men are “unmotivated,” “checked out,” or “just not trying.”

In my work, that’s rarely the full story. More often, what we’re seeing are adaptations—responses to overwhelm, shame, pressure, or disconnection that have nowhere else to go.

I’m really excited to be part of an upcoming event in Westchester where we’re having a much more honest conversation about this.

I’ll be joining Vince Benevento—author of Boys Will Be Men: 8 Lessons for the Lost American Male—who will be leading the discussion on what keeps so many young men feeling stuck, and what actually helps them move forward.

I’ll be bringing a trauma-informed lens—reframing behaviors not as a lack of motivation, but as meaningful adaptations.

And Frank Brittan will be rounding out the conversation with his expertise in addiction and work with individuals and families.

Because sometimes it’s trauma.
Sometimes it’s substance use.
Sometimes it’s both.
And sometimes it’s neither.

But if we’re only looking at the surface, we’re missing the point.

This is a free event and an incredible opportunity for:
• Parents of young men
• Professionals working with adolescents/young adults
• Anyone wanting a deeper understanding of what’s really going on

Details + registration link below:

https://www.eventbrite.com/e/boys-will-be-men-helping-young-men-find-their-path-tickets-1985768286400?aff=oddtdtcreator

Vince Benevento Causeway Collaborative

03/31/2026

What if I told you that your “bad dating choices” were really your nervous system’s way of adapting?

Follow if you want to understand more about how trauma shows up in your relationships!

03/12/2026

As a therapist, business owner, partner, and mother myself, I understand how complex the parenting juggling act can be. Many days feel like managing a thousand moving pieces; children’s schedules, a household, relationships, and the responsibilities that come with running a practice and consulting work.

One thing I see often in my work with high-functioning professionals and parents is this: the people who are most capable of holding everything together are often the ones who forget they deserve support too. Therapy can be a place where you don’t have to carry it all alone. A space to slow down, reflect, and understand the deeper patterns shaping how you show up in your life, your relationships, and your work. Because even the strongest and most capable people deserve a place to be held as well🩶🙌

So happy National Working Mom day, to ALL the mothers out there - because I don’t know a single one who doesn’t put in WORK!!!

Trauma isn’t just something we remember.It’s something the brain and nervous system hold onto.When overwhelming experien...
03/11/2026

Trauma isn’t just something we remember.
It’s something the brain and nervous system hold onto.
When overwhelming experiences happen, the brain’s natural processing system can become disrupted. Instead of being stored as something in the past, the memory can remain stuck in the nervous system, which is why certain situations, thoughts, or sensations can feel as if the experience is happening again.

EMDR therapy helps the brain process those experiences differently. Through bilateral stimulation and guided processing, the brain can begin to integrate the memory in a way that allows it to move from something that feels immediate and overwhelming to something that feels resolved and in the past.

The memory doesn’t disappear; But the emotional intensity often shifts in profound ways. This may look/feel like, fewer triggers, less emotional flooding, greater self-understanding, or a deeper sense of calm in situations that once felt overwhelming. Healing trauma is not about forgetting what happened.It’s about helping the brain process what it couldn’t at the time.

Save this if you want to learn more about how trauma actually works in the brain! Follow for more conversations about trauma, recovery, and EMDR ;)

😉🩶
02/10/2026

😉🩶

I hear SoOoOo many of my clients say “I didn’t know that was grief” around the holidays.Grief isn’t only about death — i...
11/20/2025

I hear SoOoOo many of my clients say “I didn’t know that was grief” around the holidays.

Grief isn’t only about death — it’s also about:
• the childhood you didn’t get
• the safety you never felt
• the family you had to emotionally parent
• the version of you that had to grow up too fast
• the fantasy holiday you hoped for but never experienced
• the coping strategies that protected you then, but exhaust you now

The holidays pull on old attachment threads. They activate sensory memories your body still holds onto EVEN IF your life is safe now. If you’re feeling “off,” overwhelmed, disconnected, irritable, or oddly sad this season…
your nervous system might actually be grieving. Not because you’re doing anything wrong,
but because you’re FINALLY safe enough for the truth to surface and to feel🫶🏼🫶🏼🫶🏼

Did you know that GRATITUDE is nervous system regulation? It’s not a mindset, it’s actually a body state. Gratitude isn’...
11/17/2025

Did you know that GRATITUDE is nervous system regulation? It’s not a mindset, it’s actually a body state. Gratitude isn’t about denying your stress or acting like everything is fine.
It’s about helping your nervous system find safety in real time.

When you slow down long enough to feel one thing, like warmth, comfort, relief, support—your system begins to regulate. So just start small. One breath. One person. One soft moment - a mini practice for you.

❤️

10/22/2025

Sorry, my fight-or-flight retired early. Nothing you say hits harder than Medicaid documentation during an audit. Regulated, unbothered, unfazed.😂🤯😳

10/15/2025

This is what healing actually sounds like.
Not perfection. Not forgetting.
Just the moment your body finally realizes it’s safe.
The pause between tears and calm.
The “ah-ha” moment.
That’s EMDR. That’s trauma reprocessing. That’s peace finding its way back in.

So many of us have parts that shut down, distract, numb out, or overthink when we start to feel something real.That’s no...
10/08/2025

So many of us have parts that shut down, distract, numb out, or overthink when we start to feel something real.
That’s not self-sabotage, that’s protection babe🙌🏽💪🏼

In trauma therapy (and EMDR), we don’t just bulldoze through that defense… we get curious about it.
So in session, I ask questions like, “What’s that part trying to keep you safe from?” OR, “What story does it believe about your capacity to handle pain, joy, or connection?”

When we stop fighting those protectors and start listening to them, something shifts. The system relaxes, healing becomes possible, and emotions we previously pushed away (think joy, anger, connection) don’t feel so dangerous anymore.

Healing isn’t about “getting rid” of your walls, it’s about understanding who built them and why they were needed.
Befriending your protector is where the real freedom begins.

Just a few therapy hills I’d die on…
08/09/2025

Just a few therapy hills I’d die on…

Address

500 Mamaroneck Avenue Suite 320
Harrison, NY
10528

Telephone

+19144144497

Website

Alerts

Be the first to know and let us send you an email when Amanda Vacca, M.A, LMHC posts news and promotions. Your email address will not be used for any other purpose, and you can unsubscribe at any time.

Contact The Practice

Send a message to Amanda Vacca, M.A, LMHC:

Shortcuts

Share

Category