How therapy works here
Understand what you learned. Make room for what you need.
Every woman arrives with a different history. The approach stays the same at its core: safety first, curiosity instead of judgment, and a pace you set. Here is what that looks like in practice.
The approach, in brief
Therapy at Healing + Renewal is relational, trauma-informed psychotherapy for adult women, paced around safety rather than speed. Care begins with your present needs and ways to feel more grounded. From there, Miriam Klein, LCSW, may draw on Internal Family Systems (IFS), which treats the mind as made up of parts with protective roles; inner-child work, which makes room for unmet childhood needs; somatic awareness, which brings attention to how the nervous system holds stress; and EMDR, a structured method for processing distressing childhood memories once preparation is complete. None of these are applied by default. You and Miriam decide together what fits, with time for questions before anything new is introduced. The goal is not to relive the past but to understand what you learned, care for what still feels tender, and make more room for your needs in daily life.
The pieces
Five things you can expect, in the order they usually appear.
Safety and pacing first
Early sessions focus on what is happening now, what helps you feel steadier, and building a relationship where your pace, questions, and boundaries matter. Nothing is rushed toward painful material.
Internal Family Systems (IFS)
IFS offers a way to notice the parts of you that criticize, please, perform, or shut down, and to understand the protective job each one took on. Miriam is trained in IFS and uses it alongside inner-child work.
Learn moreInner-child work
A way of making room for the feelings, needs, and beliefs connected to your younger self, including the mother wound, without any requirement to blame, confront, or forgive anyone.
Learn moreSomatic awareness
Attention to where stress lives in the body: tension, bracing, numbness, or the urge to fawn. Grounding and regulation practices support the rest of the work.
Learn moreEMDR for childhood memories
Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing is a structured psychotherapy in which you briefly focus on a distressing memory while following bilateral stimulation so it can be processed with less intensity. It is recognized for post-traumatic stress by the American Psychiatric Association and the World Health Organization. Miriam is trained in EMDR and introduces it only after safety and grounding are in place, most often for childhood experiences.
Learn moreWritten and clinically reviewed by Miriam Klein, LCSW. Published . Last reviewed . This page is educational and does not replace individual care.
Common questions
Questions about how the work unfolds.
Do I have to choose one approach?
No. These approaches are tools, not tracks. Most care blends them over time. Miriam explains what she is suggesting and why before anything new is introduced, and you can always say that something does not feel right or that you would like to slow down.
Will I have to talk about everything that happened in childhood?
No. You do not need a complete account of your past to begin, and you decide what feels relevant. Much of the work is about the present: how old patterns show up today and what you need now. Painful memories are approached only with preparation and at your pace.
Is this approach only for people with trauma?
No. Women come to Healing + Renewal for anxiety, self-doubt, people pleasing, perfectionism, relationship patterns, depression, and chronic pain. Some of those concerns connect to childhood experiences and some do not. The approach adapts to what you bring.
How long does therapy take?
It varies with your goals and what you are working on, and Miriam would rather be honest than quote a number. Some women come for a focused season; others continue longer as life changes. You can talk about pace and goals at any point, including the first consultation.
A gentle first step
You don’t have to have it all figured out before you begin.
Schedule a complimentary consultation to talk through what you’re carrying and whether working together feels right.
Schedule a free consultation