Chronic Illness Therapy
When Your Body Never Feels Fully Safe
Living with a complex or chronic illness can feel like your body is constantly on alert. Symptoms flare without warning. Your nervous system never fully settles. And too often, your experience has been minimized, misunderstood, or misdiagnosed.
Adults living with MCAS, POTS, dysautonomia, Ehlers-Danlos syndrome (EDS), or Long COVID often tell me they feel exhausted — not just physically, but emotionally and psychologically, too.
You may be:
Stuck in fight-or-flight mode, even when you’re depleted
Afraid of flare-ups or symptoms spiraling out of control
Carrying trauma from medical appointments, hospitalizations, or dismissal
Grieving the life you once had — or the one you hoped to have
Feeling deeply misunderstood by friends, family, or providers
If this resonates, you’re not broken.
Your nervous system has been doing its best to protect you in the face of ongoing stress and uncertainty.
Therapy for Chronic Illness Can Help — Even When the Condition Is Ongoing
Chronic illness therapy isn’t about curing your condition or convincing you to “think positive.” It’s about helping your nervous system feel safer, more regulated, and less overwhelmed by symptoms.
I provide online therapy for chronic illness to adults in Falls Church, Virginia; Silver Spring, Maryland; and Washington, DC, offering care that adapts to fatigue, flares, and limited energy.
Therapy can help you feel more grounded, peaceful, more supported, and less alone — even when illness remains part of your life.
What You’re Experiencing Is Common in Chronic and Invisible Illness
Conditions like MCAS, POTS, dysautonomia, EDS, and Long COVID affect far more than the body. They impact your sense of safety, identity, and trust — both in yourself and in medical systems.
Many people seeking therapy for chronic illness experience:
Chronic nervous system activation
Anxiety related to symptom unpredictability
Hypervigilance around bodily sensations
Emotional shutdown, overwhelm, or burnout
Loss of trust in their body
These responses are not signs of weakness. They are normal adaptations to prolonged stress, pain, and invalidation.
A More Compassionate, Body-Based Path Forward
You don’t need to push through or override your symptoms to heal emotionally. Therapy can meet you where you are — gently, respectfully, and without pressure.
My work as a holistic chronic illness therapist focuses on helping your nervous system gradually move out of survival mode and into greater regulation and resilience.
How Chronic Illness Therapy Can Support You
Process Medical Trauma
Repeated medical encounters — especially those involving dismissal or misdiagnosis — can leave lasting trauma. Using trauma-informed and body-based approaches, therapy helps you process fear, anger, grief, and helplessness so your body isn’t constantly reliving the past.
2. Regulate Your Nervous System
Living with POTS, MCAS, dysautonomia, EDS, or Long COVID often means your nervous system is stuck in overdrive. Therapy supports regulation through somatic and polyvagal-informed practices that work with your body, not against it.
3. Reduce Fear Around Symptoms and Flares
Chronic illness can make it hard to trust your body. Therapy helps you develop a relationship with your internal signals that’s grounded in curiosity and compassion rather than fear and vigilance.
4. Grieve Losses and Reconnect with Identity
Chronic illness often brings losses — of energy, roles, plans, or certainty about the future. Therapy creates space to honor grief while helping you reconnect with who you are beyond illness.
5. Feel Seen and Validated
You won’t need to explain or justify your experience here. Your symptoms, limits, and emotions are taken seriously — because they’re real.
How My Therapy Approach Addresses Chronic Illness
Many clients seek chronic illness counseling after years of talk therapy that didn’t address what their body was holding.
My approach is different.
I specialize in bottom-up, body-based therapy that works directly with the nervous system. Instead of focusing only on insight or coping strategies, we support your system in releasing stored stress and trauma at a deeper level.
Common Concerns About Chronic Illness Therapy
“What if therapy makes my symptoms worse?”
Sessions are paced carefully and collaboratively. We move gently, adjust as needed, and prioritize nervous system safety at all times.
“I’ve tried therapy before — what makes this different?”
Body-based and energy-based approaches often help where insight alone hasn’t, especially for trauma and chronic stress related to illness.
“I’m afraid of addressing trauma when my body already feels fragile.”
That fear makes sense. This work is not about reliving trauma — it’s about helping your system feel safe enough to let go, slowly and with choice.
Experience Supporting Complex, Invisible, and “Zebra” Illness
I have lived experience of chronic illness and I specialize in therapy for chronic illness, including:
MCAS therapy — sensory reactivity, flare fear, and anxiety
POTS and dysautonomia therapy — autonomic dysfunction, fatigue, and trauma
EDS therapy — chronic pain, mobility issues, and body misattunement
Long COVID therapy — brain fog, exhaustion, trauma, and nervous system dysregulation
My work integrates neuroscience, Eastern philosophy and principals, energy medicine, trauma research, and years of clinical experience supporting neurodivergent and chronically ill adults.
What Makes This Chronic Illness Therapy Different?
Specialized focus on chronic and invisible illness:
Advanced training in Brainspotting, EFT Tapping, and Energy Psychology
Therapy adapted for fatigue, flares, and sensory sensitivity
A collaborative, non-pathologizing approach
Care that honors autonomy, pacing, and lived experience
This is therapy designed around your body — not imposed on it.
Therapy That Works With Your Body — Not Against It
I integrate modalities such as:
Polyvagal-informed therapy
Parts Work
Energy Psychology using intention and visualization practices
Health and wellness coaching, when helpful
Together, these approaches support regulation, emotional processing, and reconnection — even when illness remains part of the picture.
Chronic Illness Therapy in Falls Church, VA, Silver Spring, MD & Washington, DC
I offer online chronic illness therapy for adults in Falls Church, Virginia; Silver Spring, Maryland; and Washington, DC. Virtual sessions allow you to access care from home — especially helpful during flares, fatigue, or periods of limited mobility.
A Gentle First Step Toward Support
If you’re looking for a chronic illness therapist in Falls Church, VA; Silver Spring, MD; or Washington, DC, I invite you to reach out. We can talk about what you’re dealing with, what hasn’t helped, and what you’re hoping for — without pressure or obligation.
You deserve therapy that respects your body, your limits, and your lived experience.