Hi, I’m Hailey Hughes, M.A., LPC, SEP.
I’m passionate about providing quality mental health care from a trauma-informed lens and with an approachable style.
I hate the idea of asking you to sit in a cold, impersonal office and stare at a stranger who’s expecting you to tell them your life story. I will never ask you to do that. Hell, I would never do that. I see my own therapist from home while I’m bundled in a fuzzy blanket and flanked by my 2 guardian chihuahuas. I encourage you to find the most comfortable, cozy place for our telehealth sessions, too.
If you prefer to walk and talk, yay! Let’s meet in the park and allow the environment (and squirrels, ducks, birds, lizards, and occasional bunny) to help us regulate as we work through what’s showing up for you. I love nature, and I’ve seen magic happen during walk and talk sessions. With a little intentional movement, the body feels empowered to speak in new ways.
I invite you to approach therapy with agency, at your own pace. Don’t want to tell me everything at our first session? Cool! That’s a wise impulse from your system. You barely know me. Allow yourself to feel safe with me first before we talk about the really hard stuff.
I’m a very collaborative therapist. I love incorporating humor, play, art and music in session. Just like our environment can act as a conduit for feeling and expression, so can our creative practices. Be weird in session. Our bodies are weird. Trauma is weird. Free expression is always allowed!
What will sessions look like?
In our work together, I will help you find balance. You will learn to set boundaries, without indulging avoidance. You will discover ways to care for yourself, without abandoning your responsibilities. You will unlearn people-pleasing, without sacrificing your values or kindness.
As we understand the unique language of your nervous system, we can adjust your life accordingly, in order to promote safety, healing and greater life satisfaction.
Somatic therapy interventions
We will utilize somatic modalities like SE in order to approach the body with safety, curiosity and openness. As we track bodily sensations, emotion, behavioral impulses and imaginal experiences, we will decode the language of your nervous system, allowing you to make sense of your past, feel more complete and maintain a sense of presence.
Trauma-informed approach
We will bring in stabilization techniques such as grounding, orienting and mindfulness in order to establish a felt sense of safety before we dive into any amount of trauma work. This is essential in order to prevent any re-traumatization. I also supplement somatic work with other trauma-informed approaches to therapy, such as IFS (Internal Family Systems) and NARM (NeuroAffective Relational Model).