Anna Sumerlin (sher/her)

In my professional life I have sought out specific gender affirming trainings to ensure that I am competent to provide gender affirming care to my clients. This is an area where the personal and professional often collide as therapy in itself is political (not getting a blank slate here)! Advocacy for trans rights and the right for everyone to have a space to explore and build their own identity both in and outside of my "job" is something I take very seriously.

Lets talk about the elephant in the room, I am a white cis woman! I am very aware of this and I always make sure to address this with my clients of different identities. I am used to working with a diverse group of clients and I am lucky enough to have my counseling career been in a place where I was the only white therapist, so whether it was "professional" cultural trainings or conversations with colleagues I have been able to foster a way of counseling that is highly aware of identity.

Though I work from a holistic perspective attachment theory is always one of the lenses I look through. I believe our early attachments teach us how to be and this continues to affect us well into adulthood. I enjoy examining the history and present day functioning through an attachment lens with clients.

I have extensive training in treating complex PTSD. I enjoy assisting those who have often received multiple diagnoses throughout their lives depending on which psychiatrist they visited last. I take a holistic approach to this, always navigating the level of safety a client currently has and often using somatic approaches. I can often be found telling my trainees that to treat complex trauma you need a lot more than changing your thoughts.

I have extensive training in treating complex PTSD. I enjoy assisting those who have often received multiple diagnoses throughout their lives depending on which psychiatrist they visited last. I take a holistic approach to this, always navigating the level of safety a client currently has and often using somatic approaches. I can often be found telling my trainees that to treat complex trauma you need a lot more than changing your thoughts.