Whole Heart Therapy

Pamela Boysen, LCSW             714 844-7282

Individual Therapy




"When we are no longer able to change a situation, we are challenged to change ourselves." Viktor Frankl

My approach to individual therapy is to offer you a safe place to talk and to be heard without judgment. A place to honor your strengths, offer feedback on your ideas, explore different perspectives, and co-create strategies to meet your goals.


Somatic-based Therapy

I call myself a somatic-based therapist. This means I believe that the mind and body have a continual bi-directional feedback loop.  In other words, our minds can affect our bodies and our bodies can affect our thoughts, feelings, and actions. Through therapy, we will address the connections between the brain, the mind, and behavior.


I work with individuals who are experiencing stress, anxiety, depression, grief, problems with relationships, and trauma and abuse.


This type of therapy will help you to release the tension, anger, frustration and other emotions that remain in your body from these past negative experiences. The goal is to help free you from the stress and pain that is preventing you from fully engaging in your life.


The therapeutic modalities I offer include:


Brainspotting

This treatment method works by identifying, processing, and releasing neurophysical sources of emotional/body pain, trauma, dissociation, and a variety of other symptoms. Click here to view a 2-minute video explanation. 


Internal Family Systems

This approach identifies and addresses multiple sub-personalities within each person’s mental system. These sub-personalities consist of wounded parts and painful emotions such as anger and shame, and parts that try to control and protect from the pain of the wounded parts. The sub-personalities are often in conflict with each other and with one’s core Self, a concept that describes the confident, compassionate, whole person that is at the core of every individual. IFS focuses on healing the wounded parts and restoring mental balance and harmony by changing the dynamics that create discord among the sub-personalities and the Self.


Motivational Interviewing

A person-centered approach to help resolve ambivalent feelings and insecurities and find internal motivation to make changes to behaviors.


Mindfulness and Breath

Mindfulness is increasing awareness of self and the outer world, being present in the moment, and without judgment. I may guide you in mindfulness meditations or practices to help reduce self-criticism and judgment with managing difficult emotions such as sadness, anger, and shame.


Sandtray

This is a nonverbal, therapeutic intervention that makes use of a sandtray and toy figures that are used to create scenes of miniature worlds that reflect inner thoughts, struggles, and concerns. This practice is often used to process experiences that are difficult to talk about or present in unconscious memory.