Robyn Small, MSW, LICSW

“…let me take refuge in the shelter of your wings” Psalm 61:4

I love this verse. No matter what, God has shelter for us; we are not all alone. 

If you are a survivor of trauma, you may have a hard time believing that right now. You may at times feel scared, alone, dysregulated and lacking shelter. As trauma survivors, we hold negative beliefs (NBs) about ourselves deep within our nervous systems – and these NBs impact everything from our sleep, digestion and habits to our work, money and relationships. Being a trauma survivor makes life feel hard. Are you ready for a change?

Landing here on this page could be Step 1 in your healing journey.  You will find shelter here… I am a licensed social worker and mental health counselor. I specialize in recovery from trauma and its associated symptoms (depression, anxiety, panic, mood disorders, relationship problems, complicated grief, and more). I am passionate about helping each person I get to work with heal their stories of trauma and survival. Why do I care so much about healing trauma? Because I myself am a trauma survivor. 

Talk therapy helped me organize my story and ponder useful feedback. Another type of therapy called EMDR (Eye Movement Desensitization & Reprocessing) helped release the stored trauma from my nervous system. Benefits for me included: nightmares disappeared, inner dialog shifted from shaming to encouraging, and I began to relax and breathe deeply for the first time in years. I started to believe I deserved better. I started working on my life goals and achieving them. I began to genuinely express love to the people important to me. 

What do you want your life to look like? That is one of the key questions we will work on in the EMDR process. I use researched and validated EMDR techniques that are designed to cover all the bases – past, present and future – based on the high-quality training I received with Deany Laliotis, LICSW, of The Center for Excellence in EMDR Training. Deany worked closely with the late Dr. Francine Shapiro: the creator of EMDR. Deany’s trainings and ongoing group consultations provide me with effective tools to help your healing journey. I am deeply committed to providing you with high quality EMDR therapy sessions.

For some background info, I completed Lay Counselor training at Chapel Hill Presbyterian Church, Gig Harbor, in 2016 and graduated from Boise State University with a Master’s in Social Work (MSW) in 2017. I held an internship at Hope Sparks (Tacoma) where I learned and provided trauma therapy, positive parenting, emotion coaching, and Emotional Focused Therapy marriage counseling. 

From 2018-2021, I worked in the Adult Outpatient Clinic at Comprehensive Life Resources providing mental health therapy to hundreds of clients. I led groups on DBT and Codependency Recovery. In 2018 I became trained in EMDR and continue to attend trainings and consultations.

As a Christian counselor, my favorite aspect of EMDR is when Jesus enters the session and presents new images and ideas of healing that then become a person’s positive beliefs. (note: I am happy to work with people of all faiths or who are without faith as well as Christians.)