Bridget Kuzma, LCPAT, LCAT, ATR-BC

Often, words are not enough. Did you know that during trauma the part of our brains that manages speech, Broca's area, goes offline? This can lead to confusion and misunderstood symptoms. Creative and somatic therapies respond to the human need for connection, expression, and elemental engagement to restore wholeness. These modalities support the resolution of healthy, yet incomplete, survival responses (examples of how these may appear: panic attacks, freezing, behavior problems, collapse/ depression, restlessness, tension). Varied art mediums provide a range of control, containment, structure, fluidity, resistance, and receptivity. Because trauma symptoms are experienced in the present (not the past) we will work with past experiences in the here and now by way of new creative experiences. Bridget provides therapy services for clients in Maryland and New York. Sessions provide compassionate space to be seen and heard as well as verbal and non-verbal opportunities to learn about how you experience your world. When of interest to the client, Bridget integrates psychoeducation about symptoms and trauma to de-pathologize experiences that may have been misdiagnosed. This learning provides neuro-biological understanding of healthy automatic defense mechanisms that, when misunderstood, can result in feelings like shame and worthlessness. Therapist and client work together as co-researchers to understand adaptations and appreciate the brilliant ways you survived (or bore the unbearable) to then explore new ways of being based on how you want to live now. These explorations can include art-making and interactive experiences to uncover procedural tendencies in day to day life that may be perpetuating barriers to growth. Each session is a collaboration - you have choices and are encouraged to say no when you would rather not engage in something. Stability and respecting your own rhthym and needs supports gradual longer lasting progress. This collaboration helps restore nervous system regulation and expand your capacity for fulfilling life experiences. The process is led by your innate capacity for healing, on-going self discovery, and personal goals. Sessions range in structure and can include a balance of creative, somatic, and talk therapy to meet you where you are at. When you are not sure where to begin, Bridget provides a menu of starting places and recommendations for you to discern what is right for you that day. The pace and amount of structure in each sessions is personalized to client needs. Some of art's therapeutic uses include to metabolize emotions and somatic (implicit and sometimes unconscious) memories, offer non-verbal paths to insight, access the wisdom of your felt sense, promote kinesthetic integration, and create a tangible record of your process over time. to learn more about Art Therapy visit: https://arttherapy.org/about-art-therapy/ Clinician's Background Schedule a free consultation today. Bridget is a Maryland and New York licensed nationally board certified Creative Arts Psychotherapist, and Trauma Therapist. She began her career as a therapist after a decade of work with children at the National Institutes of Health in supportive family program roles. There she came to appreciate the deep need for holistic therapeutic approaches that treat the mind and body together. Bridget completed her graduate studies at the Pratt Institute and clinical training at Mount Sinai Hospital in New York. Her experience includes work with children and adults at every stage of life ages 2- 97. She has worked with many adults and children on medical inpatient units, in palliative care, and has provided individual and family crisis counseling on intensive care units. In her private practice she works with many individuals experiencing PTSD, C-PTSD, and dissociation. Bridget continuously pursues training to stay up-to-date with the latest interventions for trauma and dissociation and is certified in Sensorimotor Psychotherapy Level I to treat dysregulation, survival defenses and traumatic memory. "Sensorimotor Psychotherapy is a body-oriented, talking therapy that recognizes the importance of the therapist-client relationship, and incorporates the body into clinical practice as an avenue for discovery and healing. Sensorimotor Psychotherapy is an approach that builds on traditional psychotherapeutic understanding but includes the body as central." https://sensorimotorpsychotherapy.org/resources/#client-education Bridget is a Stella Center certified Mental Health provider for those receiving a stellate ganglion block as part of their trauma recovery. The Stella Center's "dual sympathetic reset" stellate ganglion block treatment is a short, safe, low risk outpatient biological intervention that supports resetting the autonomic nervous system that can significantly decrease symptoms and increase an individual's capacity to engage in effective therapy work. Please see Stella Center's website for more information. https://stellacenter.com/treatments/sgb-dual-sympathetic-reset For more information about the new location in Maryland Kensington Art Therapy please visit www.kensingtonarttherapy.com