Gargi Patel
LMFT #101986
How I work.
An integrative practice: five modalities, used in the proportions a person actually needs.
No single therapy method fits everyone, and rigid adherence to one method often misses what's actually happening in front of you. I trained in depth-oriented, relational work, and added the body-based and trauma-focused modalities below as I came to understand how much of what people carry doesn't live in language.
The labels below describe what I bring but the work is always tailored to you, not to the modality.
EMDR Therapy
Evidence-based therapy for trauma and PTSD. Developed by Francine Shapiro in 1987. Uses bilateral stimulation, typically guided eye movements, while a client briefly brings to mind a distressing memory, supporting the brain in reprocessing the memory so it no longer carries the same intensity.
Brainspotting
A brain-body therapy. Developed by Dr. David Grand in 2003. The therapist helps the client locate an eye position, a "brainspot", that holds the emotional or somatic charge of what they're working on. Sustained focus on that spot allows the deeper, often non-verbal layers of the brain to process the experience.
Somatic practices
Body-based therapy. Uses sensation, breath, posture, and movement as a way into emotional material. Grounded in the understanding that trauma and stress are stored in the nervous system, not only in cognitive memory.
Psychodynamic therapy
Depth-oriented therapy. Takes seriously the influence of unconscious patterns, early relationships, and family-of-origin on current life. Doesn't go in to "fix" but goes in to understand. Often longer-term.
Relational therapy
The relationship itself is part of the work. What happens between us, moments of misattunement, repair, closeness, and friction, becomes material we can use. Pattern shows up in the room, which means it can be worked with in the room.
