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Christy Austin, LCSW

Therapy for Complex Childhood and Relational Trauma

I help thoughtful, self-aware individuals navigate the lasting effects of complex trauma, insecure attachment, and chronic emotional overwhelm. Many of my clients have spent years trying to understand themselves, yet still struggle with self-trust, emotion regulation, boundaries, or feeling secure and connected within relationships. Therapy can help foster greater clarity, steadiness, and a more grounded relationship with yourself and others.

“You do not have to be good. You do not have to walk on your knees for a hundred miles through the desert, repenting. You only have to let the soft animal of your body love what it loves.” - Mary Oliver

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Virtual in Virginia | Based in Richmond

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You May Recognize Yourself in These Patterns

Individuals experiencing complex trauma or attachment-related difficulties often identify with repeated ways of relating such as:

  • Persistent rumination or analysis of interpersonal interactions

  • Heightened responsibility for the emotions or needs of others

  • Chronic overfunctioning or caretaking within relationships

  • Difficulty establishing or maintaining boundaries without guilt or fear of disconnection

  • Repeated involvement in emotionally inconsistent or imbalanced dynamics

  • Difficulty returning to a regulated state following stress

  • Feeling intellectually aware of these dynamics while struggling to respond differently in the moment

Many of these responses develop as adaptive strategies within earlier relational environments and can persist long after they are no longer necessary.

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Areas of Focus

My practice focuses on the treatment of complex trauma, attachment disturbances, emotional dysregulation, and relational difficulties that interfere with emotional wellbeing, identity, and connection.

  • Complex developmental and relational trauma

  • Attachment disruption and relational insecurity

  • Emotional dysregulation and chronic nervous system activation

  • Chronic people-pleasing, overfunctioning, and compulsive caretaking

  • Boundary difficulties, self-trust, and interpersonal differentiation

Treatment focuses on increasing the capacity for emotional regulation, resilience, and the ability to engage in more secure and reciprocal relationships.

Methods

How I Understand Your Experience:

My work integrates several psychological frameworks that help conceptualize the relationship between early relational experiences, emotional regulation, nervous system functioning, and interpersonal patterns.

Depth Psychology

Depth psychology explores unconscious processes, symbolic meaning, dreams, and aspects of the self outside of conscious awareness. It emphasizes insight, reflection, and deeper understanding as part of psychological healing and growth.

Systems Theory

Systems theory views individuals within the context of larger relational, social, and environmental systems, recognizing that emotional experiences and behaviors are often shaped by ongoing interactions between people, roles, and environments.

Feminist Psychology

Feminist psychology considers how social expectations, identity, culture, and power dynamics can shape emotional experience, self-worth, and mental health. It emphasizes autonomy, and understanding people within their lived experience.

How I Work:

In practice, I draw from a combination of approaches depending on what’s most relevant in the moment.

Internal Family Systems (IFS)

Internal Family Systems (IFS) conceptualizes the mind as consisting of distinct internal parts that develop adaptive roles in response to life experiences. Treatment focuses on increasing awareness of these parts while supporting greater internal regulation, flexibility, and self-led functioning.

Trauma-Informed Somatic Work

Trauma-informed somatic therapy focuses on nervous system regulation while emphasizing autonomy, consent, and collaborative pacing. It recognizes that emotional experiences are often held both cognitively and physically, and supports increased awareness and regulation without overwhelming the system.

Insight-Oriented Therapy

Insight-oriented therapy focuses on developing greater awareness and understanding of unconscious processes, emotional experiences, and longstanding ways of thinking, feeling, and relating that may contribute to psychological distress or interfere with emotional wellbeing and relationships.

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What Begins to Change

Over time, clients may begin to notice:

  • Less rumination and emotional reactivity

  • Greater emotional steadiness and self-trust

  • Increased comfort with boundaries and emotional honesty

  • More clarity within relationships and decision-making

  • Reduced pull toward emotionally inconsistent dynamics

  • Increased flexibility within interpersonal relationships

  • A stronger sense of connection, stability, and internal grounding

A Different Way Forward

If you are interested in developing a deeper understanding of yourself and building more secure, grounded relationships, I would be honored to work with you.

Schedule an appointment