Everything you need to know
about therapy at Rise Healing Center

Rise Healing Center is a therapy practice based in Santa Barbara, California. We work with adults, couples, and teens dealing with trauma, anxiety, depression, relationship challenges, postpartum concerns, and major life transitions.

Sessions are available in person in Santa Barbara or online anywhere in California. A big part of our work focuses on trauma-informed therapy, including EMDR, Brainspotting, parts work, ACT, somatic mindfulness, attachment-based therapy, and other evidence-based approaches.

At Rise Healing Center, therapy is not limited to simply talking through problems. We work with the nervous system, attachment patterns, emotional responses, and the deeper experiences that often sit underneath anxiety, trauma, depression, or relationship struggles.

Our approach is collaborative and paced based on each client. Some sessions may focus on deeper trauma processing, while others focus on relationships, coping, current stress, or understanding long-standing patterns.

Rise Healing Center is a small team of therapists with different areas of specialty. Some therapists focus more on EMDR and trauma, while others specialize in anxiety, relationships, postpartum mental health, teens, couples work, or life transitions.

Therapists may use approaches such as EMDR, Brainspotting, parts work, ACT, Gottman Method, somatic mindfulness, attachment-based therapy, CBT, and trauma-informed therapy depending on what is appropriate for each client.

Yes. When you reach out, we will ask a few questions about what you are looking for and help you understand the next step. The process is meant to be simple and low-pressure. You do not need to have everything figured out before getting started.

5290 Overpass Rd., Suite 220, Santa Barbara, CA 93111

We work with clients in Santa Barbara, Goleta, Montecito, Carpinteria, the Santa Ynez Valley, and surrounding areas. For clients who cannot attend in person, we offer secure telehealth sessions available to anyone located anywhere in California.

Yes. We offer secure online therapy for clients anywhere in California. Online therapy can be helpful for people who cannot come into the office, have a busy schedule, live outside Santa Barbara, or simply prefer the privacy and convenience of telehealth.

Online therapy — including EMDR delivered via telehealth — is available for trauma, anxiety, depression, postpartum concerns, couples therapy, and all other services we offer.

Yes. As long as you are physically located in California during your session, you can receive online therapy through Rise Healing Center. You simply need a private space and a stable internet connection to get started.

Appointments are generally available Monday through Friday, with daytime and some early evening availability depending on the therapist. Because each therapist's schedule is different, the best way to check current openings is to reach out through the website or scheduling portal.

We currently accept the following insurance plans:

If you have a PPO plan that we are not in-network with, you may still be able to receive partial reimbursement using a superbill. We recommend contacting your insurance provider to ask about your out-of-network mental health benefits.

We also offer a limited number of reduced-fee spots for clients who need financial assistance. Ask about sliding scale availability when you first reach out.

Yes. We offer a limited number of reduced-fee spots based on financial need and therapist availability. Because sliding scale spaces are limited, it is best to ask about availability when you first reach out.

We accept all major credit cards, HSA cards, and FSA cards. Payment is processed through secure booking software at the time of your session.

Yes. Therapy is generally considered an eligible medical expense, so both HSA (Health Savings Account) and FSA (Flexible Spending Account) cards can typically be used to pay for sessions. This is a tax-advantaged way to reduce your out-of-pocket costs.

A superbill is a detailed receipt for therapy services that includes the diagnostic codes, service codes, therapist license information, and session dates that insurance companies need for out-of-network reimbursement claims.

If your insurance plan includes out-of-network mental health benefits — common with PPO plans — you can submit a superbill directly to your insurer and receive partial reimbursement. We provide a monthly superbill upon request. We recommend calling your insurance company before starting therapy to ask: "What are my out-of-network mental health benefits for individual therapy?"

In most cases, no. Insurance plans are designed to cover individual treatment and typically require a mental health diagnosis for one person. Couples therapy is generally not covered and is private pay.

In most cases, couples therapy is also not eligible for reimbursement through a superbill. If one partner is receiving individual therapy and there is a clinical reason to include the other partner, insurance may sometimes apply — but that is different from ongoing couples therapy.

EMDR stands for Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing. It is a therapy that helps people process trauma and distressing experiences. Rather than only talking about what happened, EMDR works more directly with how memories, beliefs, emotions, and body responses are stored in the brain and nervous system.

Over time, painful experiences may feel less overwhelming, less triggering, and less "stuck." Many people describe EMDR as creating a deeper shift than simply understanding something intellectually — a shift that is felt, not just thought.

EMDR is one of the most researched therapies for trauma and PTSD and is widely considered highly effective. At the same time, it is important to have realistic expectations.

EMDR can be more effective than talk therapy alone, but it is not necessarily fast — especially when working with complex attachment trauma or deeply rooted patterns. A more realistic expectation is at least a few months of weekly therapy. Some people continue far longer depending on their history, goals, and the complexity of what they are working through.

Traditional talk therapy often focuses on thoughts, insight, and behavior. EMDR works more directly with emotional memory and the nervous system. Because of this, people often describe EMDR as creating a deeper shift than simply understanding something intellectually.

In practice, EMDR is often most effective when combined with other approaches — especially for complex trauma or attachment-related work.

Yes. Rise Healing Center offers EMDR therapy both in person in Santa Barbara and online throughout California. Online EMDR can be effective when done thoughtfully and with proper preparation.

EMDR may be used for:

• PTSD and complex trauma
• Childhood trauma and attachment wounds
• Anxiety and panic
• Depression connected to unresolved experiences
• Phobias and specific fears
• Grief and loss
• Birth trauma and postpartum anxiety or depression
• Relationship trauma
• Low self-worth and performance anxiety

Rise Healing Center offers:

Brainspotting is a brain-body therapy that helps people access and process emotional material that may be stored below conscious awareness. It uses specific eye positions to help the brain and nervous system process unresolved trauma, stress, or emotional pain.

Like EMDR, Brainspotting works below the level of conscious thought and can create deep, embodied shifts. The key difference is the mechanism: EMDR uses bilateral stimulation (typically eye movements), while Brainspotting uses a fixed eye position. Some clients respond more readily to one method than the other — our therapists are trained in both.

Parts work helps people understand different "parts" of themselves — such as the part that feels anxious, the part that shuts down, the part that people-pleases, or the part that feels angry or protective. Rather than judging these responses, parts work helps clients understand where they came from and build a more compassionate relationship with themselves.

Somatic mindfulness brings attention to the body and nervous system. It helps clients notice physical sensations, stress responses, tension, shutdown, or activation patterns. This can be especially helpful for trauma, anxiety, and people who feel disconnected from their bodies.

Yes. We work with couples dealing with communication issues, conflict, trust concerns, emotional disconnection, and major life transitions. We may use the Gottman Method along with attachment-based approaches to help couples better understand their patterns and build a more secure connection.

Yes. We work with teens dealing with anxiety, depression, trauma, low self-esteem, social stress, school pressure, and family conflict. Therapy with teens is developmentally appropriate and focused on helping them build emotional awareness, coping skills, and resilience.

Yes. We work with clients during pregnancy and postpartum, including those experiencing postpartum anxiety, postpartum depression, birth trauma, pregnancy loss, or difficulty adjusting to parenthood.

Prior miscarriages, losses, traumatic births, NICU experiences, or medical complications can deeply affect pregnancy and postpartum mental health. Therapy can help process those experiences and support the transition into parenthood.

Yes. Rise Healing Center offers EMDR consultation for therapists who are working toward EMDRIA certification or who want to deepen their EMDR skills. Consultation is available online, making it accessible to therapists throughout California and beyond.

You can get started by reaching out through the website or scheduling portal. From there, we will help you understand availability, fees, insurance options, and next steps. The process is simple, low-pressure, and designed to make that first step as easy as possible.

The first session is a chance for your therapist to get to know you and understand what brings you to therapy. You may talk about current concerns, history, symptoms, goals, and what you are hoping will change.

You do not need to have everything figured out beforehand, and you will not be expected to share more than you are ready to share.

You can review therapist profiles on the Rise Healing Center website and reach out if someone feels like a good fit. You can also contact the practice and ask about availability, specialties, insurance, and which therapist may be most appropriate for what you are looking for.

Trauma can be any experience that overwhelms your ability to cope and leaves a lasting impact on how you feel, think, relate, or respond to the world. It can come from one major event, but it can also come from repeated relational experiences, childhood stress, loss, medical events, family conflict, or feeling unsafe over time.

Common signs that trauma may be affecting you:

• Feeling anxious, on edge, or hypervigilant
• Difficulty sleeping
• Intrusive thoughts or unwanted memories
• Emotional numbness or disconnection from others
• Avoiding reminders of painful experiences
• Negative beliefs about yourself
• Strong emotional reactions that feel hard to control
• Relationship patterns that keep repeating

Yes. Trauma can show up long after the original experience. Sometimes people function well for years and then notice symptoms later — during periods of stress, in relationships, pregnancy, parenting, loss, or another major life transition.

Yes. EMDR can be helpful for anxiety, especially when anxiety is connected to past experiences, trauma, attachment wounds, or deeply held beliefs about yourself or the world. At Rise Healing Center, anxiety therapy may include EMDR, ACT, somatic mindfulness, parts work, CBT, and other approaches depending on what fits.

For many people, anxiety is not just about current stress. It may be connected to unresolved experiences, nervous system patterns, attachment wounds, or beliefs that were formed earlier in life. That is why anxiety can keep returning even when you understand it logically — understanding it in your mind is not always enough to resolve it in your body and nervous system.

Some therapy focuses mainly on talking, insight, and coping skills. Those can be helpful, but they may not reach the deeper emotional or nervous system patterns underneath trauma, anxiety, or relationship struggles.

Approaches like EMDR, Brainspotting, somatic mindfulness, parts work, and attachment-based therapy can help work with those deeper layers — the patterns that talk therapy alone often cannot fully reach. Many clients who felt stuck in previous therapy find that this kind of work creates a qualitatively different experience.

Some therapy approaches help with insight and coping, which can be very useful, but they may not fully resolve the deeper emotional or nervous system response. When anxiety, trauma, or relationship patterns are connected to earlier experiences, trauma-focused approaches like EMDR, Brainspotting, parts work, somatic therapy, or attachment-based therapy may help access those deeper layers that other approaches haven't been able to reach.