Christy Austin, LCSW
Therapy for Complex Childhood and Relational Trauma
I help thoughtful, self-aware adults navigate the lasting impact of complex trauma, insecure attachment, and early relational experiences. Many of my clients come to therapy seeking deeper self-understanding, stronger self-trust, clearer boundaries, and a more grounded way of relating to themselves and others. Therapy can support meaningful emotional change by helping you understand what you’ve carried, how it has shaped you, and what may be ready to shift.
“You do not have to be good. You do not have to walk on your knees for a hundred miles through the desert, repenting. You only have to let the soft animal of your body love what it loves.” - Mary Oliver
Virtual in Virginia | Based in Richmond
You May Recognize Yourself in These Patterns
Complex childhood and relational trauma can shape how you relate to yourself, others, and your own needs. You may notice:
Replaying or analyzing conversations long after they’ve ended
Feeling responsible for other people’s emotions, needs, or reactions
Overfunctioning, caretaking, or becoming “the capable one” in relationships
Difficulty setting boundaries without fear or guilt
Feeling drawn into relationships that feel inconsistent or imbalanced
Needing time to feel settled again after emotional activation
Understanding something intellectually, but finding it harder to respond differently in the moment
Many of these responses develop as ways of adapting to earlier relational environments. Therapy can help you understand these adaptations with compassion while creating more choice, steadiness, and self-trust over time.
Areas of Focus
Complex developmental and relational trauma
Attachment disruption and relational insecurity
Emotional regulation and nervous system awareness
People-pleasing, overfunctioning, and caretaking roles
Boundary difficulties, self-trust, and interpersonal differentiation
Relationship repair with self and others
Treatment supports greater emotional steadiness, resilience, and the capacity for more secure, reciprocal relationships.
Methods
How I Understand Your Experience:
My work integrates several psychological frameworks that help conceptualize the relationship between early relational experiences, emotional regulation, nervous system functioning, and interpersonal patterns.
Depth Psychology
Depth psychology explores unconscious processes, symbolic meaning, dreams, and aspects of the self outside of conscious awareness. It emphasizes insight, reflection, and deeper understanding as part of psychological healing and growth.
Systems Theory
Systems theory views individuals within the context of larger relational, social, and environmental systems, recognizing that emotional experiences and behaviors are often shaped by ongoing interactions between people, roles, and environments.
Feminist Psychology
Feminist psychology considers how social expectations, identity, culture, and power dynamics can shape emotional experience, self-worth, and mental health. It emphasizes autonomy, and understanding people within their lived experience.
How I Work:
In practice, I draw from a combination of approaches depending on what’s most relevant in the moment.
Internal Family Systems (IFS)
Internal Family Systems (IFS) conceptualizes the mind as consisting of distinct internal parts that develop adaptive roles in response to life experiences. Treatment focuses on increasing awareness of these parts while supporting greater internal regulation, flexibility, and self-led functioning.
Trauma-Informed Somatic Work
Trauma-informed somatic therapy focuses on nervous system regulation while emphasizing autonomy, consent, and collaborative pacing. It recognizes that emotional experiences are often held both cognitively and physically, and supports increased awareness and regulation without overwhelming the system.
Insight-Oriented Therapy
Insight-oriented therapy helps clients develop greater awareness of the thoughts, emotions, beliefs, and relational habits that shape their current experience. The goal is to make these influences more conscious so there is more room for choice, change, and self-understanding.
What Begins to Change
Over time, clients may begin to notice:
Less rumination and emotional reactivity
Greater steadiness, self-trust, and internal clarity
More ease with boundaries, needs, and emotional honesty
Clearer decision-making in relationships and daily life
Less pull toward inconsistent or imbalanced dynamics
More flexibility in how they respond to stress or conflict
A stronger sense of connection, stability, and groundedness
A Different Way Forward
If you are interested in understanding yourself more deeply, healing what you have carried, and developing a more secure, grounded way of relating to yourself and others, I would be honored to work with you.