Therapy for Trauma, OCD, Anxiety & Depression from the Big Island for Hawai`i

Are you just going through the motions of life? From the outside, you seem to have it together. You’re high functioning, you meet your responsibilities, and most people would never guess what you’ve been through. But inside, it feels like you’re carrying a weight that no one else can see. Some days you convince yourself you’re “fine,” and other days the memories come crashing back without warning. If this sounds familiar, it may not be because you’re “too sensitive” or “broken.” Your mind and body may still be responding to trauma, and healing is possible.

My goal is to provide a safe, supportive space where you don’t have to carry these experiences alone. Together, we’ll work to understand how trauma has affected your life while helping your brain and body learn that the danger has passed. Using evidence-based treatments such as EMDR, I’ll tailor treatment to your unique experiences, goals, and pace. You will never be rushed to talk about things before you’re ready.

Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing (EMDR) is an evidence-based therapy designed to help your brain process distressing memories so they become less emotionally overwhelming. Originally developed to treat trauma and PTSD, EMDR is also effective for anxiety, panic, phobias, grief, and other experiences that continue to affect daily life.

How does EMDR work?

Our brains naturally process experiences so they become part of our life story without continuing to cause intense emotional distress. However, highly stressful or traumatic experiences can sometimes become “stuck.” During an EMDR session, you’ll briefly focus on a distressing memory while also engaging in a form of bilateral stimulation, such as following your therapist’s fingers with your eyes, listening to alternating tones, or feeling gentle alternating taps. You remain awake, aware, and in control throughout — you are never hypnotized, and you can pause or stop at any time.

What can EMDR help with?

• Trauma and PTSD
• Childhood trauma
• Anxiety and panic attacks
• Disturbing memories
• Grief and loss
• Phobias
• Medical trauma
• Performance anxiety
• Low self-esteem related to past experiences

Healing doesn’t mean forgetting what happened. It means reducing the hold those experiences have on your life so you can respond to the present instead of remaining anchored in the past. If you’re wondering whether EMDR could be a good fit for you, I’d be honored to explore that question together.

Like tending a kalo plant, healing takes place in the right environment. EMDR isn’t about erasing your past — it’s about helping your mind and body process painful experiences so you can continue to grow with greater freedom, resilience, and hope.

Are you tired of feeling like your mind is constantly working against you? Maybe you spend hours caught in unwanted thoughts, fears, doubts, or mental battles that you can’t seem to turn off. You might find yourself checking, cleaning, repeating things, seeking reassurance, avoiding situations, or replaying conversations in your mind just to feel a moment of relief. The truth is, having intrusive thoughts does not define who you are, and you are not alone in this struggle.

Using Exposure and Response Prevention (ERP), an evidence-based treatment considered the gold standard for OCD, we’ll work together to break the cycle of obsessions and compulsions while building confidence in your ability to tolerate uncertainty. Therapy will be collaborative and move at a pace that feels manageable.

How does ERP work?

OCD thrives on a cycle of fear and reassurance. An unwanted thought triggers anxiety; to reduce it, you may perform a compulsion such as checking, washing, seeking reassurance, or repeating mental rituals. While the compulsion brings temporary relief, it unintentionally teaches your brain that the obsession was dangerous. ERP gently interrupts this cycle. Together, we’ll create a plan that gradually helps you face triggers while resisting compulsions, so your brain learns that anxiety naturally rises and falls on its own — and that you are capable of handling it.

What can ERP help with?

• Contamination fears and excessive washing
• Checking behaviors
• Intrusive violent, sexual, or religious thoughts
• Fear of making mistakes or causing harm
• Perfectionism related to OCD
• Relationship OCD (ROCD)
• Health-related obsessions
• “Just right” feelings
• Mental compulsions such as reviewing memories, praying, counting, or seeking certainty
• Avoidance of people, places, or situations because of OCD

The goal of ERP isn’t to eliminate every intrusive thought. Everyone has unwanted thoughts from time to time. The goal is to help those thoughts lose their power so they no longer control your decisions or keep you from living the life you want.

Like a kalo plant, healing isn’t about forcing growth — it comes from creating the right conditions for it to happen. ERP helps you cultivate the courage to face fear, strengthen your resilience, and reclaim the freedom to live according to your values rather than OCD’s demands.

Has chronic pain started to take over your life? Maybe you wake up each day wondering how much pain you’ll be in, or whether your body will allow you to do the things you want to do. You may have tried treatments, followed medical recommendations, and done everything you can to feel better — yet the pain continues.

Your pain is real. Seeking mental health therapy does not mean your symptoms are “all in your head.” Chronic pain involves a complex relationship between your body, brain, nervous system, emotions, and experiences. Pain Reprocessing Therapy (PRT) is an evidence-based treatment designed for people with chronic primary pain — pain that continues even after an injury has healed or when there is no ongoing damage to the body.

How does PRT work?

Pain is the brain’s way of protecting us from danger. Normally, when an injury heals, the brain stops sending pain signals. Sometimes, however, the nervous system remains stuck in a state of high alert. You can think of it like a smoke alarm that keeps going off after the fire has been extinguished — the alarm isn’t broken, it has simply become overly sensitive. PRT helps “retrain” that alarm system so that, as your brain becomes more confident your body is safe, it can gradually reduce the pain signals it has been producing.

What conditions can PRT help with?

• Chronic back or neck pain
• Fibromyalgia
• Persistent headaches or migraines
• Chronic joint or muscle pain
• Pain that continues after an injury has healed
• Symptoms that have persisted despite medical treatment and evaluation
• Other forms of chronic primary pain, when appropriate

Before beginning PRT, it’s important that serious medical conditions have been evaluated by a qualified healthcare provider. PRT is not intended to replace necessary medical care, but can be an effective treatment when pain is being maintained by changes in the nervous system rather than ongoing tissue damage.

At Ka Mana Services, we believe healing involves reconnecting with your own inner strength (mana) and resilience. Pain Reprocessing Therapy helps calm an overprotective nervous system, allowing your brain to respond to your body with greater accuracy instead of unnecessary alarm.

Are you tired of feeling like your mind is always on high alert? Maybe you spend your days worrying about what could go wrong, replaying conversations, second-guessing your decisions, or trying to prepare for every possible outcome. From the outside, you may look like you have everything together, but inside you feel overwhelmed, exhausted, and unable to truly relax.

Anxiety is a normal part of being human — it helps us recognize danger and respond to challenges. But when it becomes constant or begins to interfere with daily life, it can leave you feeling stuck. Anxiety is one of the most common reasons people seek therapy, and it is highly treatable. Using evidence-based approaches such as Person-Centered Therapy, Cognitive Behavioral strategies, EMDR, Mindfulness-Based Cognitive Therapy, and Motivational Interviewing, I’ll tailor treatment to your unique experiences and goals.

What can anxiety therapy help with?

• Generalized Anxiety Disorder (constant worry)
• Panic attacks and panic disorder
• Social anxiety
• Health anxiety
• Specific phobias
• Stress and burnout
• Perfectionism
• Anxiety related to life transitions
• Anxiety connected to trauma or grief

The goal isn’t to eliminate anxiety altogether — some anxiety is a healthy and important part of life. The goal is to help anxiety become a helpful signal instead of something that controls your decisions or limits your potential.

At Ka Mana Services, I believe healing begins by understanding — not judging — your experiences. Together, we’ll build the skills and confidence to help you feel safer, calmer, and more connected to the life you want to live.

Are you tired of feeling like you’re not yourself anymore? Maybe you wake up feeling exhausted before the day even begins, struggle to find motivation, or feel like simple tasks require more energy than you have. From the outside, others may not realize how much you’re struggling, but internally you may feel overwhelmed by sadness, hopelessness, irritability, or a sense that something has changed.

Depression is more than feeling sad. It can affect the way you think, feel, and experience the world around you. If this sounds familiar, know that you are not alone. Depression is a common and highly treatable condition, and seeking support is a courageous first step toward healing. Using evidence-based approaches such as Person-Centered Therapy, Behavioral Activation, Mindfulness-Based Cognitive Therapy, and Motivational Interviewing, I’ll tailor your treatment to your needs, goals, and pace.

What can depression therapy help with?

• Persistent sadness or emptiness
• Loss of motivation or interest in activities
• Feelings of worthlessness or excessive guilt
• Low self-esteem
• Fatigue and low energy
• Difficulty concentrating
• Grief and loss
• Depression related to life transitions
• Depression associated with chronic stress or trauma

The goal isn’t to eliminate every difficult emotion. Instead, therapy helps reduce the weight of depression so those emotions no longer define your days or prevent you from living according to your values.

At Ka Mana Services, I believe healing begins with compassion. Even when depression makes it difficult to see your own strengths, they are still there. Together, we’ll work to cultivate hope, build resilience, and help you reconnect with the life, relationships, and values that matter most to you.

Sometimes you don’t need someone to fix your problems — you just need a place where you can finally talk about them. You may be facing a major life change, dealing with stress at work or home, navigating family challenges, struggling in relationships, or simply feeling overwhelmed by everything that has been happening.

Person-Centered Therapy is built on a simple but profound belief: you are the expert on your own life. Rather than telling you what you should do or trying to “fix” you, this approach creates a supportive environment where you can better understand yourself, discover your own strengths, and move toward the life you want to live. It emphasizes empathy, authenticity, and unconditional positive regard.

What can Person-Centered Therapy help with?

• Anxiety and stress
• Depression
• Life transitions
• Relationship challenges
• Grief and loss
• Low self-esteem
• Identity exploration
• Burnout
• Emotional overwhelm
• Personal growth and self-discovery

Therapy isn’t about becoming someone different. It’s about removing the obstacles that have kept you from living as the person you already have the potential to be.

At Ka Mana Services, I believe healing happens within the context of a trusting relationship. By creating a space where you feel genuinely heard, accepted, and supported, we can work together to cultivate your strengths, reconnect with your inner mana, and help you move toward a life that feels more authentic, balanced, and meaningful.