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Donna A. Earle, MA., LPC, CCTP, MEMI and EMDRIA Certified Therapist™

CCTP -Certified Clinical Trauma Professional

Donna is a Licensed Professional Counselor with a Master’s in Counseling Psychology and a Certified Clinical Trauma Professional (CCTP) who specializes in trauma-focused treatment. She is a Certified MEMI (Multichannel Eye Movement Integration) clinician and an EMDRIA Certified Therapist with advanced EMDR training, including ASSYST protocols. Donna integrates evidence-based approaches with compassion and creativity, helping clients heal from complex trauma and reclaim a sense of safety, strength, and resilience.

Her work is grounded in compassion and evidence-based care, offering a safe, nonjudgmental space for healing and growth. Donna believes deeply in resilience—that like the lotus flower rising from muddy waters, every person has the strength to move toward light, transformation, and a life worth celebrating.

The Lotus Journey

  • Two pink water lilies floating on a pond with lily pads.

    Rooted in the Mud

    The lotus begins in murky water, just as we often feel mired in depression, anxiety, trauma, or grief. Planting the seed is choosing to begin the journey.

  • White water lilies with yellow centers blooming on a pond among green lily pads.

    Reaching for the Light

    Through struggle, the lotus stretches upward. Like us, it pushes through the darkness toward growth, resilience, and the hope of a new day.

  • Pink lotus flower with green leaves on water.

    Becoming Whole

    Emerging into the sunlight, the lotus blooms in purity and strength. Healing allows us not just to survive—but to thrive, becoming stronger and wiser.

  • Close-up of a blooming lotus seed pod among green leaves and pink lotus flowers in a pond.

    Renewal & Continuity

    Each lotus carries seeds for the next bloom. From our healing comes resilience, light, and the chance to help others grow through their own challenges.

What is Trauma? Big “T” and Little “T” trauma

At To Life! Counseling, we understand that trauma is not just what happened to you--it's how your mind, body, and spirit responded to it.

The word trauma comes from the Greek word "tpaύμα" (pronounced trauma), meaning wound. But not all wounds are visible. Trauma is an emotional, psychological, and physiological wound--often invisible to others--that can deeply affect your sense of safety, identity, and connection.

  • Trauma may arise from:

    • A single overwhelming event (e.g., an accident, assault, or loss)

    • Ongoing or repeated experiences (e.g., childhood abuse, domestic violence, neglect)

    • Systemic and cultural forces such as racism, generational oppression, poverty, religious trauma, and discrimination

    Trauma can be personal, relational, or collective. It lives in the body, mind, and nervous system--and it is experienced uniquely by each person.

  • Trauma is not remembered like a happy moment. That's because trauma alters how the brain encodes experience.

    When we experience trauma:

    • The prefrontal cortex, responsible for reasoning and verbal memory, often shuts down

    • The amygdala--the brain's alarm system, or "AMY"--takes over, sounding the alarm to survive

    AMY doesn't understand time. When triggered, AMY responds as if the trauma is happening right now. This is why trauma survivors often:

    • Struggle to remember the full event

    • Recall memories that are fragmented, disjointed, or blurry

    • Feel confused or unsure whether it "really happened"

    • Experience physical symptoms or emotional overwhelm without a clear explanation

    These are not signs of dysfunction. They are adaptive survival responses--your brain and body doing what was necessary to protect you.

  • As a Certified Clinical Trauma Professional (CCTP), I know that trauma does not look or feel the same for everyone. Trauma can occur individually and systemically, and is often shaped by:

    • Socio-cultural realities (e.g., racism, sexism, classism)

    • Religious and spiritual wounding

    • Ancestral, intergenerational, and historical oppression

    • Barriers to safety, connection, and resources

    Your experience is real and valid, even if others haven't seen or understood it.

    Healing means honoring the whole story--including the layers that live in your body and the systems around you.

  • No single approach can address the depth of trauma. That's why I work through an integrative lens, combining evidence-based modalities tailored to your needs.

    These may include:

    • EMDR

    • MEMI (Multichannel Eye Movement Integration)

    • Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT)

    • Dialectical Behavioral Therapy (DBT)

    • Person-Centered Therapy

    • Emotional Freedom Techniques (EFT / Tapping)

    • Strengths-Based and Relational Approaches

    Integration honors that what works for one person may not be appropriate for another.

    As a trauma-trained clinician, I use micro and meta skills to meet you where you are in your journey, adapting my interventions to respect your identity, history, culture, and capacity.

  • At To Life! Counseling, we begin with safety, trust, and connection--because those are the foundations for healing. Here, you are seen, heard, and accepted without judgment.

    Like the lotus flower that blooms through muddy water, you too can rise.

    You are not broken. You are not alone.

    Healing is possible--and it begins with choosing life.

    To Life!

Modalities and Interventions

An Integrative Approach to Trauma Healing

Trauma is complex, and healing is rarely one-size-fits-all. Research increasingly supports an integrative approach to trauma treatment because traumatic experiences affect multiple aspects of a person's functioning—including the nervous system, emotions, thoughts, relationships, beliefs, identity, and physical body. Effective trauma therapy recognizes that no single therapeutic modality can fully address the unique and layered impact of trauma for every individual.

Each person's life experiences are shaped by a combination of factors, including attachment relationships, developmental experiences, environmental influences, culture, family systems, unmet emotional needs, core beliefs, and social conditions. Trauma may arise from a single event or from ongoing experiences such as abuse, neglect, violence, loss, discrimination, poverty, resource deprivation, or other systemic and sociocultural stressors. These experiences often intersect and influence how trauma is stored, expressed, and healed.

An integrative trauma framework brings together the strengths of multiple evidence-based approaches, allowing treatment to be tailored to the unique needs of each individual. Rather than relying on a single modality, integrative therapy draws from scientifically supported interventions that address both top-down processes (thoughts, beliefs, emotions, and meaning-making) and bottom-up experiences (the body's physiological responses, nervous system regulation, and sensory experiences). This comprehensive approach supports healing across the mind, body, and relational systems.

As a Certified Clinical Trauma Professional (CCTP), I understand that trauma is experienced differently by every person. Building a foundation of safety, trust, and connection is essential before engaging in deeper trauma work. My role is to meet you where you are in your journey and adapt interventions to fit your needs, strengths, goals, and readiness for change.

Drawing from evidence-based modalities such as EMDR, MEMI, somatic interventions, attachment-focused approaches, cognitive and behavioral therapies, mindfulness, parts work, and other trauma-informed practices, I tailor treatment to support your unique healing process. Together, we identify what is most effective for you rather than forcing your experience into a predetermined therapeutic model.

By integrating the science of trauma recovery with a deep understanding of human development, attachment, culture, resilience, and the nervous system, therapy becomes a collaborative process that fosters healing, growth, and lasting change. The goal is not simply symptom reduction, but helping you develop greater self-awareness, emotional regulation, healthier relationships, increased resilience, and the capacity to move forward with renewed purpose, hope, and well-being.

Healing occurs when the mind, body, and nervous system are given the opportunity to experience safety, connection, and new corrective experiences. My approach honors your unique story while drawing from evidence-based practices that support lasting transformation—from surviving to thriving.

  • Close-up of a human eye with brown iris and detailed eyelashes.

    EMDR (Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing)

    An evidence-based therapy used to process and desensitize traumatic memories by using bilateral stimulation. EMDR helps the brain reprocess unresolved trauma, reducing its emotional charge and enabling adaptive resolution.

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  • Illustration of a human brain with neural connections, and a close-up of a neuron with synapses

    Multichannel Eye Movement Integration (MEMI)

    MEMI is a trauma therapy that uses a gentle, structured approach with guided eye movements to help clients process trauma and ease symptoms of PTSD, anxiety, and distress.

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  • A woman and a teenage boy smiling and embracing in a cozy home interior.

    TF-CBT (Trauma-Focused Cognitive Behavioral Therapy)

    An integrative therapy designed to help children, adolescents, and their parents overcome the impact of traumatic experiences. It combines trauma-sensitive interventions with cognitive behavioral techniques.

  • A young man and woman are smiling and talking on a bridge with the city skyline in the background. The woman has platinum blonde hair and is wearing a denim jacket with colorful patches, while the young man has brown hair and is wearing a yellow hoodie.

    TBRI® (Trust-Based Relational Intervention)

    A holistic, attachment-based, and trauma-informed intervention designed to meet the complex needs of vulnerable children.

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  • A woman with curly hair and a black shirt crying, holding a stuffed dog close to her face.

    Trauma Model Therapy (Dr. Colin Ross)

    A treatment model specifically designed for trauma-related disorders, emphasizing dissociation, attachment trauma, and identity fragmentation. This approach is often used in complex trauma and dissociative identity work.

  • Woman with short brown hair wearing a denim jacket speaking to a man with a shaved head in a counseling or therapy session, with another woman in the background taking notes.

    CBT (Cognitive Behavioral Therapy)

    A structured, goal-oriented therapy that focuses on identifying and challenging distorted thoughts and behaviors. CBT is useful for treating depression, anxiety, and trauma-related symptoms.

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    Strengths-Based Therapy

    An approach that emphasizes client strengths, resilience, and internal resources rather than focusing solely on pathology.

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    Mindfulness-Based Practices

    Grounding techniques, breathing practices, and awareness training to cultivate present-moment awareness and reduce emotional reactivity.

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    Somatic Interventions

    Body-based practices that support nervous system regulation and release trauma stored in the body. These include grounding, breath work, and movement.

  • Sequence of four images showing different individuals: a young boy with brown hair in a yellow shirt looking serious, a firefighter in uniform with a helmet, a woman with brown hair in a beige sweater smiling softly, and a woman with blonde hair, glasses, wearing a gray blazer pointing her finger with a stern expression.

    IFS (Internal Family Systems) / Parts Work

    IFS is a compassionate model that explores the internal system of 'parts' that protect and respond to trauma. Clients work to understand their protectors and access their core Self to bring healing and balance to the system.

  • A woman with curly hair, smiling and looking to the side, sitting on a bench outdoors with bushes and a building in the background.

    DBT (Dialectical Behavior Therapy)

    A skills-based therapy that blends mindfulness, emotion regulation, distress tolerance, and interpersonal effectiveness. DBT supports individuals with emotional dysregulation, self-harm urges, and relationship difficulties.

  • A woman demonstrating acupressure points on her face and neck with numbered labels.

    EFT (Emotional Freedom Technique - Tapping)

    A body-based technique involving tapping on acupressure points while focusing on emotional distress. EFT calms the nervous system and reduces the intensity of traumatic or triggering thoughts.

  • An artist drawing with pastel chalks on a large sheet of paper, creating a colorful abstract design. Art supplies and sketches are scattered on the floor around them.

    Other Interventions

    We offer experiential tools including bibliotherapy, art therapy, Gestalt chair work, and the Anger Wall process—a guided exploration of anger, sadness, and empowerment for deeper emotional insight.

Are You Ready?

If you are motivated for treatment and ready to do the work — I’m your therapist. Let’s begin your journey of self-discovery, healing, and growth.

SET AN APPOINTMENT