Ioana Marcus (She/ Her)

In my experience, many of my clients has suffered from either a significant traumatic event or multiple cumulative attachment ruptures that currently impact their life, including through anxiety, depression, disordered eating or relational issues. As a result, I am highly trained in treating PTSD and C-PTSD, including through EMDR, equine-assisted EMDR, structural dissociation, Deep Brain Reorienting (DBR levels 1, 2, and 3 and consultation), and pursuing additional training.

I have a keen interest and intuitive approach when it comes to working with clients with eating disorders. I have worked with three different residential treatment centers and trained intensively in CBT, DBT and EMDR to provide the best evidence-based treatments to clients struggling with an eating disorder or disordered eating. I am here to listen and to find the best approach for you. I am informed in Health at Every Size (HAES).

I was deeply skeptical of EMDR until I experienced great success with it in my own journey. It is a highly effective approach for working not only with trauma/ PTSD, but also with anxiety, depression, eating disorders and any thought and emotional patterns we feel stuck with. It involves a decievingly simple technique integrating dual attention stimuli and recalling events.

Over the years I noticed that simply taking a cognitive-behavioral approach to treating my clients was not enough. The somatic symptoms persisted depending on their life experiences. I decided to listen to my own calming experiences with the horses, and integrated horses in my work ever since. They are intuitive, embodied, honest and present sentient beings that can be incredibly powerful in our healing. I am trained in Gestalt Equine Psychotherapy, equine-assisted EMDR and have three horses.

DBT can be an incredibly helpful set of skills including mindfulness, emotion regulation, distress tolerance and interpersonal effectiveness skills to help clients regain a sense of structure and skills for their lives amidst chaos. Whether integrating a few of the skills or taking a structured approach, DBT has been shown to be highly effective in treating eating disorders and emotion disregulation.

Anxiety can really impact your quality of life and your ability to engage in your work, hobbies and oftentimes relationships. I have a deep understanding and empathy due to my own experiences with debilitating internalized anxiety and would love to take a collaborative approach to find a better way for you through relational work, skills and if needed, medication management.