Ilyse Kennedy, LPC-S, LMFT-S, SEP

I specialize in helping clients heal from complex PTSD (C-PTSD) and dissociative disorders, including Dissociative Identity Disorder (DID), Other Specified Dissociative Disorder (OSDD), and depersonalizationderealization. Complex PTSD often develops after ongoing or repeated trauma, especially in childhood or close relationships. It can show up as chronic shame, emotional flashbacks, difficulty trusting others, harsh self-criticism, people-pleasing, or a sense that something is fundamentally wrong with you. Many clients have been misdiagnosed or told they're "too much" before finding words for what they're experiencing. Dissociation can look like losing time, feeling unreal or outside your body, memory gaps, hearing internal voices, or noticing parts of you that think, feel, and act differently. These experiences are adaptive responses to overwhelming circumstances, not signs that you're broken. My work follows a phase-oriented approach. We'll start with stabilization, grounding, and building internal communication and cooperation between parts. When your system is ready, we can gently process traumatic memories using IFS, Somatic Experiencing, EMDR, and Brainspotting, adapted to keep you within your window of tolerance. The goal isn't to get rid of any part of you, but to help your whole system feel safer, more connected, and more at home in the present. Listing symptoms like emotional flashbacks, losing time, and internal voices helps clients who don't have a diagnosis yet recognize themselves. Mentioning that EMDR is adapted for dissociation signals experience to readers who've had it go badly elsewhere. If you're a member of ISSTD or have specific dissociation training, adding that would strengthen this section.