Therapeutic Approach
Carey's trauma-informed approach begins with the belief that people are more than a diagnosis or a list of symptoms. Many patterns that feel confusing or painful today once developed as ways to adapt, protect, cope, or stay connected.
Carey helps clients understand anxiety, shutdown, reactivity, avoidance, conflict, and compulsive coping in context. Therapy looks at the whole picture: body, mind, relationships, history, environment, and what may be needed now.
Your responses make sense in context. Therapy helps us understand what has been protecting you, loosen what no longer serves you, and create room for new ways of living and relating.
Carey takes an integrative, person-in-environment approach, understanding each client within the context of their relationships, daily life, and surroundings. She draws from cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT), acceptance and commitment therapy (ACT), trauma treatment, mindfulness, and creative or play-based approaches. Her work also incorporates nervous-system-informed practices, including polyvagal-informed care, co-regulation, and the Safe and Sound Protocol (SSP). Parent support may include Supportive Parenting for Anxious Childhood Emotions (SPACE), and school collaboration may be included when helpful. Together, Carey and each client choose approaches that fit their needs, preferences, and goals, adjusting along the way.
Children, teens, and adults are shaped by their nervous systems, experiences, relationships, and environments, but no one is permanently defined by their patterns. With enough support and practice, new ways of feeling, relating, and growing can become possible.
What informs Carey’s work
These principles help therapy stay compassionate, practical, and connected to the real lives of children, teens, adults, parents, and caregivers.
Therapy slows down the rush to judge, fix, or force change so there is room to notice what is happening and what may be needed.
Therapy pays attention to what helps the body and mind settle enough to notice, reflect, communicate, and try something new.
People are more able to take responsibility and try something different when they feel understood, not shamed or criticized.
ADHD, autism, sensory differences, masking, burnout, and executive functioning challenges are understood as part of the whole person, not as character flaws.
Carey values translating research and clinical ideas into language, tools, and supports that clients can use at home, school, work, and in relationships.
Getting started
Carey offers a complimentary consultation call to help you explore whether therapy feels like the right fit.
Carey Hitchcock, LCSW Rooted in Care Therapy 9912A Georgetown Pike Great Falls, VA 22066 (571) 766-8293 carey@rootedincaretherapy.comIf this is an emergency or you may harm yourself or someone else, call 911 or 988 now.
