Jamie Stern, AMFT #118944

I graduated with my Master’s in Psychology from Touro University in December of 2019. I am an Associate Marriage and Family Therapist (AMFT118944) and Associate Professional Clinical Counselor (APCC7816) in the state of California. My previous degrees are from the University of Southern California (Bachelor’s in Physical Geography) and Cal-State Northridge (Dual Master’s in Human Geography and Psychology of Migration Trauma). I am a Functional Nutrition Counselor and Amen Clinics Certified Brain Health Professional. I am actively working on my Doctorate in Psychology, which is focusing on the neurobiology of trauma, transgenerational trauma, and epigenetic factors. 

I believe in a whole-body integrative approach to heal from trauma and anxiety. While providing therapy, I utilize various modalities to support my clients’ unique and individual needs. These modalities include Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT), BrainSpotting (BSP), Mindfulness Practice, as well as psychosensory therapies including the Trauma Resiliency Model (TRM), the Havening Technique, Somatic Movement, Polyvagal Nurturing, and Sensation Tracking. 

Reorienting and Creating Safety:

Often, the client has experienced stressful (or traumatizing) situations that have activated or trained their nervous system to exist in various states of hypervigilance. Being “on” all the time, or anticipating the worst creates a fatiguing and sometimes destructive internal environment. My work with clients involves a humanistic approach and creating a collaborative and supportive relationship based on trust and safety. By focusing on concrete ways to reorient the client’s autonomic nervous system and teach safety, the client will become more familiar with organic self-regulation. I like to use polyvagal exercises for safety and connection which helps to heal old deep wounds and negative core beliefs about oneself. Using the body’s natural methods to expel excess energy and encourage homeostasis will create a retraining of the nervous system and encourage calmness that requires less effort while promoting internal peace and happiness.

Trauma Reprocessing:

While learning skills to help the nervous system adapt and feel soothed, trauma reprocessing will be introduced in the forms of BrainSpotting, and use of the Trauma Resiliency Model, and The Havening Technique. 

To those who are open, I like to sprinkle in psychoeducation and practical neuroscience in helping my clients. For those who are curious, I like to teach them how trauma can live in the body long after events have passed. It can influence a variety of day-to-day experiences and how a person feels in general. Trauma does not need to be categorized as one singular catastrophic event. It can be multiple events, little or large, and / or the experience of a toxic environment that lasts for long periods of time. The inescapability of the situation often contributes to the formation of trauma. Anything that triggers the survival-brain response can be recorded in the body as a trauma depending on how it lands emotionally. And from there, the trauma can get stuck…

 These are natural and dynamic neurobiological processes that initially are meant to keep a person safe. But when they become mal-adaptive and begin to hinder a person’s life, it becomes a problem. This is that “stuckness”. I specialize in helping people to feel untangled from the web of trauma using BrainSpotting which is a cutting-edge modality developed by Dr. David Grand to assist in trauma reprocessing. It has similarities to EMDR in that eye movement is addressed. I also incorporate somatic components through the Trauma Resiliency Model and The Havening Technique. This whole-body integrative approach can effectively release trauma and promote a healthier calmer nervous system.

Supporting the Emotions:

My firm belief is that earlier trauma sets the stage for symptoms of depression, anxiety, relationship issues, grief, and life transition issues. Sometimes, emotional pains and trauma experienced early in life will get tucked away, unprocessed, while it sits there quietly influencing how a person develops into themselves. By processing this material that has been waiting to be healed, clients will see the loosening of their current issue as it heals too. This constellation network of experiences that just need a little more support, and an opportunity to be processed, can heal dynamically and allow clients to move forward feeling renewed, stronger, and at peace. 

Niche Areas of Focus:

My specialty niche is trauma and helping people to heal from toxic environments, early trauma, and loss. I can assist those who have suffered from the broad spectrum of narcissistic abuse and gaslighting as well. Toxic relationships can be with parents, siblings, partners, friends and/or bosses. I feel that toxic partners and parents specifically, whether they are just wounded individuals or full-blown sociopaths, can really harm a person’s emotional balance especially when it is for long periods of time resulting in complex PTSD (C-PTSD). If it is a partner, the emotional pain can be debilitating and even induce physical illness. If it is with a parent, then the potential attachment issues often need support and reparenting. 

Interestingly, early loss, early trauma, and growing up in toxic environments can cause a person to be vulnerable to narcissistic and/or sociopathic abuse. When encountering toxic environments, survival-brain can be triggered causing a reaction like fight, flight, fawn, or freeze. Survivors of previous emotional abuse may develop a fawning (also known as tend and befriend) or freezing response that unintentionally allows toxic personality types to come into their world.

Recovering from this type of abuse alone, can feel like trying to recover from an unwilling addiction. This is because similar mechanisms are at play deep in the brain and influencing chemical balances of dopamine, oxytocin, serotonin, and endorphins. Through support, trauma reprocessing, and compassion, clients are able to grow their resilience and heal.

Managing the Symptoms:

While deep healing is my goal for the client, sometimes they really just need help in managing symptoms while they get through certain stressful periods of life. Using a client-centered approach, I am able to teach mindfulness protocols, prefrontal cortex exercises, as well as “bio-hacks” that really work such as vergence, tapping, and breath work. We are able to harness the extraordinary power of the autonomic nervous system to help soothe and regulate one’s body. Additionally, using Functional Nutrition to aid in calming anxiety, easing depression, and helping with sleep can also be addressed.   

My goal is for clients to feel optimized and to experience life as the best version of themselves!

Individual therapy sessions are 50 minutes/$130 per session and couples sessions are 50 minutes/$150 per session. 

Please do not hesitate to contact me for a free 20-minute consultation.

Email: Jamie.D.Stern@gmail.com

Phone #: (818) 605-8376