DR. NATALIE STEMATI
A Holistic Approach
to Mental Health
A Holistic Approach
to Mental Health
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Dr. Natalie Stemati, Psy.D.
My personal and professional background has helped develop my approach to therapy to encompass both the mind and body. My style as a therapist is to provide much warmth, curiosity, compassion, and humor to help each client engage in a productive way of understanding themselves and their mental functioning. My approach focuses on depth work where we not only work on your symptoms but also get to the root of your concerns. We work together to identify the obstacles that keep you stuck, manage the symptoms the obstacles create, and work towards a greater understanding of yourself and your world.
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Services
Whether you’re an individual or a couple, you prefer a private setting or a group environment, I’m proud to offer my clients a variety of services and formats options to help treat a range of aspects of their life that they might be dealing with or would like to improve upon. Click below to learn more about each.
Free Consultations
I offer first-time visitors a complimentary 15-minute individual or couples therapy phone consultation. I like to make sure that we’re right for each other so you can get the most out of your sessions with me. Contact me below to set up your free consultation.
MY SPECIALTIES
Trauma: PTSD, Attachment, & Complex
Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) often results from experiencing or observing an acute, terrifying event such as a natural disaster, a serious accident, a terrorist act, war/combat, or rape, or who have been threatened with death, sexual violence or serious injury. A lot of people experience trauma within their family of origin and/or early years of development.
Complex Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (C-PTSD) often results from experiencing or observing chronic terrifying/traumatic events, often from relationships. I work with complex trauma (also known as developmental) and Attachment trauma (ways of learning how to emotionally bond), which includes growing up in alcoholism, abuse, conflict, parent death and/or any traumatic experience endured during childhood. As a result, a lot of people develop a type of insecure attachment that impacts their current relationships (i.e. dependency, fear, conflict, avoidance, anxiety).
Self-esteem, Self-worth, & Sense of Self:
Do you experience a lack of confidence in yourself and your abilities? There can be many reasons for experiencing this. A helpful place to begin is by learning how you relate with yourself. Are you hard on yourself? Self-critical - use a lot of “should's,” “need to's,” or “if only I was perfect...then.”
This kind of dialogue is self-critical and can contribute to feeling low self-esteem/self-worth. When you feel low about yourself, it’s incredibly difficult to thrive in your relationships, work, school, and overall life. We work on exploring and confronting your critical voice so that you can shift your inner dialogue.
Relationship Issues & Patterns
I offer couples counseling for married and non-married couples alike to help repair, restore, and/or build a more adaptive relationship. I also work with individual relationship concerns as we work to understand some of the patterns that create distress when relating with others.
For example, do you find yourself enduring the same pattern of conflict, fear of rejection, and consistent breakups in your relationships with partners? We can work to understand this pattern.
Anxiety
Anxiety often attacks a person’s thoughts and body, creating symptoms that include a doomed future, racing thoughts, spiraling, racing heart, shaking, GI distress, headaches, body tension, shortness of breath, and sometimes feelings of panic. Therapy is often helpful for managing anxiety, especially through taking a mind-body approach to help cope with symptoms as well as understand the root causes. I take a holistic approach. We take a look at functional nutrition resources, work on incorporating daily body movement, and increase effective coping skills focused on getting you grounded.
We also explore the emotional piece of your anxiety. This is where I often see how clients relate with themselves in a very self-critical, perfectionistic way and we explore and practice the antithesis, which is self-compassion. Anxiety and depression are often connected and it is common for a person to experience both at the same time or go in and out of each one.
Gender, Sexuality, LGBTQ+ 🏳️🌈
For anyone who is experiencing a transition in their gender and/or sexual identity. Our culture still operates under a binary view of female or male gender and a limited understanding of sexual identities. The reality is that both gender and sexuality are fluid for most people.
My research and training background focused on gender identity, gender expression, sexuality, and gender transition. We can work together to help understand your identities and how they interrelate. I also work with sexual concerns.
Identity Development
Identity Development is the complex process by which a person comes to develop a sense and understanding of themselves within the context of both culture and social norms. A person can often experience distress around their identity and sense of self, and this can impact their approach to their education, work, and relationships.
Therapy can be helpful in developing and understanding a person’s identity so that they can feel a better sense of intactness within themselves.
Family of Origin Concerns
A lot of people experience trauma and/or conflict within their family of origin relationships. I work with complex trauma (also known as developmental) and attachment trauma (ways of learning how to emotionally bond), which includes growing up in alcoholism, abuse, conflict, parent death and/or any traumatic experience endured during childhood. As a result, a lot of people develop a type of insecure attachment that impacts their current relationships (i.e. dependency, fear, conflict, avoidance, anxiety). You may not have necessarily experienced trauma, but for example, may be cut off from certain family members or feel as though it is difficult to set boundaries.
Our family is a main source of learning how to relate with others and how we develop our sense of self so my approach can be helpful in understanding how these early relationships and experiences connect with concerns in your present day life.
Depression
Depression can weigh a person down and makes all aspects of life seem impossible. Therapy is often helpful for managing depression, especially through taking a mind-body approach to help cope with symptoms as well as understand the root causes. I take a holistic approach. We take a look at functional nutrition resources, work on incorporating daily body movement, and increase effective coping skills.
We also explore the emotional piece of your depression. This is where I often see how clients relate with themselves in a very self-critical way and we explore and practice the antithesis, which is self-compassion. Anxiety and depression are often connected and it is common for a person to experience both at the same time or go in and out of each one.
