Dorothy Husen

My name is Dorothy Husen, and I am a Marriage and Family Therapist working and licensed in California, MFT #85611. I specialize in helping adults who have suffered from childhood trauma, abuse, and neglect, both physical and emotional. I teach my clients mindfulness breathing skills, self-regulation, and body resourcing skills in sessions so clients can learn how to lower their anxiety. Also, I use mind/body psychotherapy and teach Re-parenting skills.

My approach

My therapeutic approach is to provide each client with unconditional acceptance of the person they are today, and then we work together from there toward their healing. I use somatic mind/body therapies such as Mindfulness-Based Stress Reduction, Attachment-Based Relationship Building, and Breathwork to help clients connect to their bodies and remain present in the session.

My focus

I have found that my style and approach are good for adults who have tried talk therapy with limited success and for adults who have difficulty talking about their past. My style of therapy works well for adults who suffer from Childhood Post Traumatic Stress Disorder and who suffer in adulthood from shame, dissociation, and isolation to avoid painful memories and feelings. Many of my clients have experienced childhood sexual abuse that they do not know how to talk about.

My communication style

My communication style is welcoming, warm, nurturing, and without judgment. I have healed my own childhood trauma and can relate to the difficulties and the process of healing childhood wounds.

My journey to mental healthcare

My journey to becoming a therapist began later in life. I was 48 years old when I went back to school to become a therapist. I was unaware that I suffered from PTSD, Post Traumatic Stress Disorder until my first therapy session when I discovered that I could not speak about my past. Once diagnosed, I began my own healing journey, which I continue today. Talk therapy did not work for me, so I learned mind/body psychotherapies developed specifically for trauma. I studied the effects of trauma on the developing child's brain, and I studied how to raise a secure child, Circle of Security parenting. Today I use my own healing experience and all I've learned about healing childhood trauma to help my clients heal themselves.

My goals for you

I ask my clients why they are in therapy and why now. I share with my clients what they will get in therapy working with me and how I will help them achieve their goals.

My first session with you

Before clients come to our first session, I have them fill out a general questionnaire, anxiety assessment, depression assessment, and ACE (Adverse Childhood Experiences) questionnaire. In our first session, we will go over all of their answers and ask them questions so I can better understand their issues. I will teach them the basics of breathwork, How to Breathe to calm down their nervous system. They will go home with instructions and homework to practice their breathing every day for at least one minute a day.