DNMS Therapy

Trauma can happen in two ways--the bad things that happen to a person ("shock" trauma) and when enough good things that a person needs to grow up and be a healthy and happy adult don't happen (developmental trauma).  Some of these good things include having caregivers who were interested in what you thought and what you liked to do, who tried to understand your feelings, who lit up with delight when they saw you, who played with you, who comforted you when you were sad or scared, and who knew how to set limits in loving, respectful ways.  For some people those two kinds of trauma occurred in tandem. The second kind can be thought of as the white spaces in a painting.  This analogy illustrates how hard it can be to know what’s wrong, why you feel anxious or depressed or are having a hard time in relationships, because it's the things that aren't in the picture.  Many people I work with don’t know why they struggle the way they do, but as we explore together we start to reveal what is missing in the white spaces of their internal landscape and then start to fill those spaces in using the ideas and protocol of the Developmental Needs Meeting Strategy (DNMS).  In DNMS therapy, I help you to mobilize and connect with a robust “team” of inner resources that can meet those unmet and often hidden needs inside you so that the child "parts" of you get to experience what it's like to have emotional needs met in a loving and attuned way.  This process can also help you to gently process any traumas you have experienced and grieve for the way things were so that you can move forward in your life.  For more information about DNMS, please visit https://www.dnmsinstitute.com/.  I encourage my DNMS clients to watch this short slide show on the DNMS website: https://dnmsinstitute.com/clients/slideshow/.