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PTSD and Trauma Therapy in Washington DC and Bethesda
We treat post-traumatic stress at our Dupont Circle and Bethesda offices using EMDR, Internal Family Systems and, where talking therapy has not been enough, ketamine-assisted psychotherapy. Sessions are 50 minutes, $250 to $450, seven days a week including evenings until 9pm, in person or online.
What PTSD actually is
PTSD is your brain and body doing exactly what they were built to do, in response to something they were never built for. The alarm system that should switch off once danger passes stays switched on. Nothing about you is broken or weak; a system that saved you is still running long after it needed to.
That distinction matters more than it sounds. People who believe they are defective tend to hide symptoms and delay treatment for years. People who understand the mechanism tend to start sooner and do better.
What it looks like
Trauma symptoms are physical as often as they are psychological:
- Flashbacks, intrusive memories, or nightmares that wake you
- Hyper-alertness — scanning rooms, sitting facing doors, startling badly
- Sweating, nausea, a racing heart with no obvious trigger
- Avoiding places, people or conversations that might bring it back
- Numbness, or a sense of watching your own life from outside it
- Irritability and anger that arrive faster than they used to
- Sleep that never quite restores you
Symptoms do not have to be constant to be worth treating, and they do not have to follow a single catastrophic event.
Complex PTSD
Not all trauma is one incident. Complex PTSD develops from something sustained — childhood neglect, a long controlling relationship, years in an environment where you were not safe to relax.
It looks different from single-incident PTSD. Instead of flashbacks to one moment, people describe a persistent sense of being unsafe, difficulty trusting, shame that seems to predate any specific memory, and relationships that repeat a pattern they can see but cannot stop.
It also responds to different pacing. Rushing into the memories can make things worse, which is why we spend time building stability first. Internal Family Systems suits this work particularly well, because it treats the protective responses as reasonable rather than symptoms to eliminate.
How we treat trauma
EMDR
Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing works on how the memory is stored rather than requiring you to narrate it repeatedly. It is one of the best-evidenced treatments for PTSD and suits people who can describe exactly what happened and find that describing it has never helped.
Kerri Bicskei uses EMDR alongside IFS and mindfulness-based work.
Internal Family Systems
IFS treats hypervigilance, numbing and avoidance as parts of you still doing a protective job. The work is understanding what each is guarding before asking it to stand down. Keith Miller is a Certified Level III IFS therapist and teaches the model nationally. Read more about IFS.
Ketamine-assisted psychotherapy
For trauma that has not shifted with talking therapy, Keith founded Calliope Health, a ketamine-assisted therapy clinic in the same Bethesda building. It pairs a medical protocol with prepared, supported therapy sessions rather than treating the medicine as the treatment.
Working with the body
Trauma lives in the nervous system, so part of the work is learning to influence it directly — reaching the brake on your stress response on purpose rather than waiting for it to release on its own. This is usually where we start when symptoms are severe.
Who you would see
Keith Miller, LICSW, LCSW-C works with trauma, mood regulation and anxiety using IFS, and founded the practice in 2007. Full profile.
Kerri Bicskei, LPC blends EMDR, IFS and mindfulness-based work, and often sees people whose trauma sits behind anxiety and overthinking rather than announcing itself. Full profile.
Call the referral coordinator on extension 0 and describe what happened, or as much of it as you want to on a first call, and we will match you. You can also see the full team.
While you are waiting for a first appointment
Four things worth knowing, from clients who have been through it:
- PTSD is treatable. Asking for help is the part most people find hardest, and it is not a measure of how badly you are coping.
- Learn what is happening to you. Understanding that your body is doing something designed rather than something faulty takes a surprising weight off.
- Do not isolate. Loneliness tightens the knot. Being around people who want to be near you helps, even when talking about it does not.
- Treat symptoms like a physical injury. Expect flare-ups, take care operating a vehicle when you are shaken, and let yourself do less without adding self-criticism on top.
Where we are
We see clients at 1320 19th Street NW in Dupont Circle, opposite the Metro, and at 4300 Montgomery Avenue in Bethesda, with evening appointments until 9pm and weekend slots. Video sessions are available with the same counselors, which some people prefer for trauma work in the early stages.
Fees and insurance
Sessions are $250 to $450 for 50 minutes depending on the counselor, and there is a free phone consultation first. We do not bill insurance directly, though clients who submit their own out-of-network claims commonly recover 40–60% of the cost. See our full policies and fees.
Frequently asked questions
Do I have to talk about what happened?
Not in detail, and not at first. EMDR in particular does not require you to narrate the event repeatedly. We will not push you into the memory before you have somewhere stable to stand.
How long does trauma therapy take?
Single-incident trauma often responds within a few months. Complex PTSD from something sustained takes longer, because the work includes building stability first. We will give you a realistic estimate rather than leaving it open.
Does EMDR really work?
It has a substantial evidence base for PTSD and is recommended in major clinical guidelines. It does not suit everyone, and we will say so if we think another approach fits you better.
What if therapy has not worked before?
That is common and worth bringing up early. Often the method did not match the problem. Where talking therapy has genuinely been exhausted, ketamine-assisted psychotherapy is an option we can discuss.
Can I be seen online?
Yes, with the same counselors. Some people find early trauma work easier from their own home.
Getting started
Call or text
Reach us on 202-629-1949 and ask for the referral coordinator on extension 0, or use the enquiry form.
Free phone consultation
Say as much or as little as you want to. No cost, no commitment.
Matched to a counselor
We match you to someone trained in the approach that fits, then book your first session.