Trauma-Informed Therapy for Anxiety and Panic After Life- Changing Events
in Seattle, Bellevue, and all of Washington State
When your MIND and BODY feel on edge, you can find your footing
AND TRUST YOURSELF again.
YOUR ANXIETY AND PANIC AREN’T SIGNS THAT YOU ARE BROKEN - THEY ARE YOUR NERVOUS SYSTEM ASKING FOR HELP TO SETTLE, UNDERSTAND WHAT HAPPENED, AND RESTORE A SENSE OF STEADINESS.
I offer free virtual 30-minute consultations so we can see if my work is a good fit for you.
You’re not broken -
even if it feels like
everything inside you
has fallen apart.
If you’ve always been capable and high-functioning, but something happened that caused everything to unravel, you may be wondering if this means there’s something wrong with you.
Anxiety feels relentless, and panic comes out of nowhere after trauma, loss, or major life disruption. A quiet fear follows:
“What if this means I’m broken, failing, or losing my mind?”
“What if the people who hurt me were right about me?”
“What if I am not as capable as I thought?”
Many high-achieving, capable people experience anxiety and panic after a traumatic rupture, and quietly fear this means they’re failing or losing control. In reality, these responses are signals from a nervous system that’s been pushed too far.
Perhaps you feel like your life is falling apart because you were taught to see a natural trauma response as proof that there is something wrong with you.
There isn’t.
Your reactions make sense. It means your nervous system is asking for safety, understanding, and a place to land.
You are a sane person responding to something that was not okay.
You don’t need to be fixed here — you need safety, clarity, and a place where your experience makes sense.
If you’re feeling a small sense of relief — even just a softening — that matters. You don’t have to know exactly what you need
or how to explain what’s happening. We can start with a conversation that helps you feel grounded and less alone.
I invite you to reach out and see whether this feels like the right next step for you.
Therapy That Helps Anxiety and Panic Settle
My work is grounded in trauma-informed therapy that focuses on safety, clarity, and restoring trust in yourself.
Together, we gently work toward:
Calming anxiety and panic in the body
Making sense of your reactions without blame
Rebuilding a sense of stability after trauma
Helping you feel grounded, present, and more like yourself again
You are not here to be fixed.
You are here to be met with steadiness and respect.
You are not the problem — and your symptoms make sense in the context of what you’ve been through. Therapy with me is not about fixing you or pushing you to function again before you’re ready.
Instead, we move at a pace that respects your nervous system. Sessions are a space to slow down, orient, and begin restoring a sense of steadiness from the inside out. Together, we work to make sense of what happened, untangle the narratives you may have internalized, and reconnect you with your own perceptions, boundaries, and inner authority.
We pay close attention to what your body and nervous system are communicating, especially when anxiety or panic arise. Rather than trying to eliminate these responses, we listen to them, understand their purpose, and help them settle in the presence of safety and support.
Over time, this approach can help you feel more grounded in yourself — less hijacked by fear, more able to trust your reactions, and more at home in your own experience. There is no pressure to perform, heal quickly, or be “better.” The focus is on creating the conditions where stability, clarity, and self-trust can return naturally.
WHAT THIS KIND OF ANXIETY ACTUALLY IS
Anxiety and panic after trauma don’t mean something has gone wrong inside you. They’re signs that your nervous system has been pushed beyond what it could safely handle.
When something overwhelming happens - a rupture, betrayal, a loss, or being blamed or dismissed - your system shifts into protection.
Your body stays alert. Your mind scans for danger. Sensations and thoughts can be intense and feel unpredicitble or out of control.
For people who are capable and high-functioning, this can be confusing. You may be used to thinking clearly, staying calm and handling anything life throws at you.
When anxiety or panic takes over, it can feel as if you’ve lost access to yourself - or as if you can no longer trust your own reactions.
This isn’t regression or weakness. It’s not a personal failure.
It’s a nervous system doing exactly what it was designed to do when safety, reality, or self-trust have been shaken.
What often helps most is not pushing through, fixing, or forcing yourself back to “normal”, but having the space to slow down, make sense of what happened, and let your nervous system settle in the presence of safety and understanding.
What becomes possible
As your nervous system begins to settle, people often notice a gradual shift rather than
a dramatic change.
Anxiety no longer runs the show.
Moments of panic become less overwhelming.
There’s more space between what happens and how intensely your body reacts.
Over time, you may find yourself feeling more present in your own life.
Thoughts become clearer.
Decisions are less fraught.
You are better able to tell the difference between real danger and old alarm
- and to respond from a place that feels grounded rather than reactive.
Self-trust returns quietly.
You begin to believe your own perceptions again.
Your reactions make more sense to you.
Instead of questioning whether something is wrong with you,
you can recognize when something simply doesn’t feel right - and respond with clarity and care.
This work isn’t about becoming someone new or going back to who you were before. It’s about coming home to yourself with more steadiness, resilience, and confidence in your inner compass. Even after everything you’ve been through.
Who I WORK WITH
This work may be a good fit if you are:
A high-achieving, high-functioning adult who has held it together for a long time
Experiencing anxiety, panic attacks, or emotional overwhelm
Struggling after a traumatic event, loss, betrayal, or major life change
Feeling like you “can’t hold it together” the way you used to
You worry that this collapse means you’re weak, broken, or “crazy”
Quietly wondering if this means something is wrong with you
You just want things to make sense again
You don’t need a diagnosis or a clear story for therapy to help.
If you recognize yourself here, you’re not alone — and you’re not failing. What you’re experiencing is a common response when capable people are pushed beyond what they were meant to carry on their own.
Therapy with me is for people who want a space to slow down, understand what happened, and rebuild steadiness and self-trust through active, engaged work — not by being talked at or reassured, but by working directly with their inner experience.
This work may not be the right fit if you’re looking for therapy that is primarily conversational or passive, or if you’re hoping someone else will fix what’s happening for you. My approach is structured and depth-oriented, and works best for people who bring curiosity, insight, and a willingness to take responsibility for their own healing process.
My intention is to offer a grounded, relational space where your experience is taken seriously — and where meaningful change happens through collaboration, presence, and careful attention to what your nervous system is asking for.
A first step doesn’t have to be a big one. Just a place to start.
CH
Welcome to Phoenix Rises Counseling LLC.
Hi, I am Veronika Stutz, LMHC.
I immigrated to the United States from Germany in my early twenties. Growing up, I was surrounded by adults whose lives had been deeply shaped by the aftermath of World War II. My parents were children during the war, and the effects of trauma were woven quietly into everyday life.
I remember how easily adults became overwhelmed — how something as small as a fork falling off a table could trigger a sudden, intense reaction that was hard to settle. As a child, I assumed this was simply how adults were. It wasn’t until I came to the U.S. that I realized I had grown up inside a culture where many nervous systems were still carrying unprocessed fear.
That early experience gave me a lived understanding of something I now see clearly in my work: trauma doesn’t always announce itself. It often shows up as heightened reactivity, anxiety, or a body that can’t settle — long after the original danger has passed.
This is part of why I approach therapy the way I do. I don’t rush people. I don’t assume pathology. I understand that intense reactions are often the legacy of something real — something that once required survival.
I’m a licensed therapist with training in trauma-informed care and EMDR, and I work primarily with adults in private-pay therapy. More important to me than credentials is how I show up: steady, attuned, and respectful of your experience. I believe therapy should restore a sense of reality and calm — not take it away.
Why EMDR Works with My Approach
I believe healing happens through real human connection — not through sterile professionalism or endless clinical jargon. When you’re in my office, you’re sitting with a real person. I’ll meet you where you are, without judgment or pretense. Sometimes that means we’ll talk deeply about pain and meaning, and sometimes we’ll use humor to make the hard moments a little easier to bear.
I don’t see you as “broken.” I see a nervous system that’s been doing its best to protect you — even if those old strategies don’t work anymore. Together, we’ll help your system learn that it’s finally safe to let go.
If it fits for you, we utilize EMDR to engage the innate adaptability of your brain and nervous system for natural healing.
My approach to EMDR is integrative and personalized. While the Adaptive Processing Model of EMDR is at the heart of trauma work, we also draw from the Rogerian Person-Centered Approach, Internal Family Systems (IFS), Ego State interventions, Gestalt Therapy, Polyvagal Theory, Attachment Theories, and Mindfulness.
Together, these perspectives allow us to work not only with the memories but also with the parts of you that hold pain, survival strategies, and resilience—creating a deeper, safer, and more lasting transformation
You won’t have to tell your story over and over again or re-live the worst moments of your life. Instead, we’ll work with your nervous system to gently reprocess what’s been stuck, so the memories lose their charge — and you can finally feel grounded, present, and more you.
Clients often tell me that sessions feel surprisingly calm, even when we’re moving through painful material. EMDR allows healing to unfold in a way that feels natural, safe, and integrated — not forced.
My approach is part neuroscience, part soul work. I bring both structure and humanity into the room. You bring your courage, curiosity, and truth. Together, we create the conditions your system needs to finally rest and heal.
Always at your pace, on your timing, and with your consent.
WORKING TOGETHER -
THIS IS WHAT IT MAY LOOK LIKE
1) Preparation: ASSESSMENT, DIAGNOSIS, TREATMENT PLAN
Generally, we will meet 1-2x per week for 60-90 minutes at your appointed time.
For the first 2 sessions, we meet for 90 minutes to complete an assessment together, identify a diagnosis if you want one (unless you’re an insurance client, then we must add a diagnosis), identify your goals, and make a treatment plan.
2) The beginning stage: Playing puzzle
We get to know each other until we know and trust each other. Since we don’t want to waste any time, we’ll start by spilling all the puzzle pieces of your life on the table. We’ll look at each piece and see how they all fit together until we have a coherent picture.
We’ll start an EMDR case conceptualization and possibly do a brief demo of how EMDR works.
We may use Gestalt therapy/parts work/Ego States therapy. You’ll playfully give different personality parts, thoughts, feelings, or memories a voice until your entire inner committee feels heard and understood. It’s a bit like role-playing or theater, and it saves you from “talking about it”. You’ll just … spill it. I’ll show you and support you, and we make it fun. Of course, I’ll always be open to your feedback, and you don’t have to use interventions you don’t like.
We may learn cognitive-behavioral strategies and behavioral supports as necessary, such as learning Dialectical Behavior Therapy skills by workbook or groups, or creating action-plans to begin changing habits.
We’ll engage in EMDR resourcing, which means strengthening the part of you that is wise, capable, skilled, heroic, resilient, and so very lovable and worthy.
3) The intermediate stage: Detective work
We’ll start the detective work of seeking the needle in the haystack, which we do by riding feelings back in time to the earliest time you remember feeling this way. We may give parts a voice again to find out what “decisions” you made about life at a time when you were too young to know the final truth about life. We’ll identify limiting beliefs that may have kept you safe at the time but are no longer needed.
We’ll identify negative core beliefs about yourself that are associated to traumatic experiences.
From here, we’ll either continue parts work and engage in Healing of Memories or self-parenting, move into EMDR processing, or alternate and mix modalities depending on what works best for you.
4) The end stage: The Harvest
We continue EMDR processing until you report no symptoms, we see behaviors change positively, you reached your goals, we measure your progress on a scale from 0-10, and we determine that you have achieved significant change.
When we are certain that you are satisfied with the improvements, we switch to bi-weekly therapy sessions to taper off and see how you do on your own. After a month or so, we’ll officially end therapy and switch to voluntary wellness visits. This means that you can schedule irregular single sessions to check in.
the FREE CONSULTATION
1) Click on the “Schedule Your Free Consultation” button. It will take you to my secure client platform Simple Practice, where you can schedule a meeting. You can also email me directly at vivi@phoenixrisescounseling.org, or use the contact form to ask for a meeting time that is not listed. I may be able to see you earlier if someone cancels.
2) I will either confirm your consultation through Simple Practice, or email you additional availabilities.
3) You will receive an email from Simple Practice, giving you access to the portal. For a consultation, please fill out the Informed Consent for a Telehealth Consultation form. (Simple Practice is so easy to navigate, even I can do it.) If you run into problems, email me.
4) A few hours before your appointment, Simple Practice will send you an email with a link to access the virtual consultation. Try the link ahead of time. Some cell phones require you to download an app. Desktops or laptops won’t.
5) We’ll meet! I will ask you what brings you into therapy and what your goals are. You can ask me anything and I will do my best to address your concerns. We will connect informally to get to know each other, but observe professional boundaries.
What others are saying
about my work
I sometimes hear that this work has ‘changed lives”, “exceeded expectations” and made clients feel “heard and understood like they haven’t before.”
Colleagues who recommend me wrote:
“Veronika is a compassionate and caring EMDR practitioner. She is innately tuned into the needs of her clients. I recommend her to men and women who have experienced abusive childhoods and/or relationships and are yearning for big life changes.“
“Also, X shared how impactful you have been to her over the past year and it was so touching. It made my eyes fill up with tears thinking of how meaningful your work is in this world. You truly are a lovely, kind and compassionate soul.” Ellie Kane, LMHC
“Veronika is a highly skilled, warm, and caring therapist. She has extensive experience treating grief and CPTSD and is an expert in treating poly, kink, and ENM couples and individuals. She excels at helping her clients achieve their goals.“ Milena Gordillo, MSW, LICSW
FEE SCHEDULE
60-minute therapy/EMDR: $160
90-minute therapy/EMDR: $240
90-minute IADC therapy: $250
60-minute couples counseling: $180
90-minute couples counseling: $270
I offer out-of-network benefits and I will provide superbills for insurance reimbursement.
PLEASE NOTE:
Insurance doesn’t pay or reimburse for IADC.
I accept Aetna, Kaiser PPO, and First Choice Health.
I offer Premera out-of-network benefits. Please feel free to inquire about details.
CONTACT ME
Take your time. Share only what feels comfortable. This is simply a first point of contact — not a commitment.
You can email me at: vivi@phoenixrisescounseling.org
You can also request an appointment directly in my Simple Practice schedule by using the red button ”Request Appointment”.
A Good Faith Estimate is available upon request.
My license number in Washington state is LH 61526615.