About
Inside, you are different than the outside.
After years of appearing to be the strong one, people might not even know you struggle like you do.
You seem easygoing, happy, successful, and fit on the outside, but inside parts of you are dying from the chronic self-doubt, the harsh inner critic that always says you could have done better, and the rumination that happens after failing to speak up for yourself.
You’re giving, loving, and nurturing,…
… so you have plenty of friends and family.
But the relationships you form are often messy emotionally, maybe even codependent.
And it’s hard to believe you can have a relationship while meeting your needs and desires, too.
It takes courage and vulnerability to ask for help.
Whether your mother is a narcissist, has undiagnosed mental health issues, suffered a lot of trauma growing up, has an addiction issue, or struggles to be a mother (it’s not always the mother), but we do need one good parent or attachment figure to help us grow up with a secure foundation.
I will help you rebuild your foundation, if it was built on shaky ground.
You will feel safe, secure, seen, and understood in the therapy room. And soon, that will transfer to your other relationships and the world.
I have the experiential understanding and the clinical knowledge, so I can help you heal as an individual, including attachment work and healing your relationship, even without your partner.
Let’s work together individually or as a couple.
Most couples I work with, either one partner or both partners have a challenging family dynamic. Therapy will unite your past traumas and future dreams to a present where you can feel whole.
About Me, Bronwyn Heiss
Making things better is where my work comes in.
I am a Licensed Mental Health Counselor and a Licensed Marriage and Family Therapist.
Over 15 years ago, I started working with clients in my internships. But there was a time when I wondered if therapy even worked because I found talk therapy had significant limitations with more complicated cases, especially those involving suicidal thoughts, self-harm, dissociation, and depersonalization.
I understand the intricacies of complex trauma, along with how that affects relationships and the way you see yourself and the world. I am a complex trauma survivor as well as a mother to a six-year-old and two aging dachshunds (ages 15 and 17).
I married my college sweetheart, so we have been together for almost 23 years; we will celebrate our 16th wedding anniversary in July 2024. I share this personal information since I believe my experiential lived experiences are as important as my clinical training and knowledge.
After my son was born, my desire to continue to grow, heal, and change old patterns intensified, especially concerning parenting differently from my upbringing. The infant phase was joyful, and I loved being a mom. But as my son turned into a toddler, I found myself in the throes of increased anxiety and increased emotional flashbacks triggered by trauma as he became more and more independent. Feelings of loss of control and powerlessness surfaced, with the desire to control more…
Therapy helped me overcome my trauma.
I have had several therapists throughout my life, but something was missing. I started working with a beneficial therapist specializing in conscious parenting and took Dr. Laura Markham’s peaceful parenting course. I saw many positive changes, especially with my anger.
But I still felt like something was missing, a missing puzzle piece to my healing journey. Then, one day, while taking an Uber home from the airport, I started chatting with the Uber driver and discovered he was a trauma therapist.
I described to my driver a bit about my chronic low-grade uneasiness, anxiety, and other vulnerabilities.
My life changed that day.
It was what led me to begin doing EMDR with a trauma therapist. I also started pursuing specialized training in CPTSD and utilizing EMDR professionally with my clients.
What sets me apart?
I can describe what it feels like to live through a hurricane and its aftermath, but if you live in a place where they have never had a hurricane, it doesn’t quite resonate. Without living through one, you could even become an expert on hurricanes, but it’s not the same.
Not only did I live through the hurricane of childhood trauma, but I can also see all the purpose in my pain, and I am doing so well now. I still have bad days and moments, but it’s manageable. My inner critic is gone and replaced with a loving, nurturing voice.
Yes, you can reparent yourself, but why not give yourself a break? Please leave it to me. You will be in fantastic hands! The more I have healed myself and the more I hear the stories of other women who have gone through similar experiences, the more I realize there is so much commonality and strength in sharing our stories.
I am here to hear your story and help you overcome what keeps you from moving forward.