EMDR Therapy
With Maria Reiter, LCSW
I’m a therapist who uses EMDR because I’ve experienced firsthand how meaningful it can be in my own healing journey.
I know what it’s like to understand your patterns, recognize where they came from, and still find yourself responding in the same ways. Through my own experience with EMDR, I learned how much changes when you process the experiences underlying your patterns.
Do you feel like you’re constantly trying to be good enough?
Do you understand why you feel this way, but still struggle to change it?
Some of my clients have spent most of their lives feeling like they had to get everything right or replay conversations wondering if they said something wrong, feel responsible when someone else is upset, and struggle to say no because disappointing people feels unbearable.
EMDR helps if you’re constantly anticipating what could go wrong, holding yourself to impossible standards, and questioning whether you’re doing enough. Even when things are going well, it’s hard to shake the feeling that something is about to go wrong.
EMDR therapy helps us explore and process the experiences underlying those reactions, creating opportunities to develop healthier beliefs about yourself and feel more grounded in the present.
Clients Come To Me For:
Past experiences that are affecting their adult lives
Not feeling safe in relationships, friendships, and/or work
Overthinking, second-guessing themselves
Always feeling on edge
Know they overreact
Perfectionism or fearing mistakes
Trouble with boundaries
Understanding patterns but can’t change them
Difficulty trusting others
Feeling disconnected from their body
How EMDR Therapy With Me Works
We'll start by getting to know you, your experiences, and the patterns you're hoping to change. Together, we'll explore how your past experiences may be connected to the beliefs you hold about yourself, your relationships, and the way your nervous system responds to stress.
Before we begin processing painful experiences, we'll focus on helping you feel safe, supported, and prepared. Through mindfulness and somatic techniques, we'll work on recognizing what's happening in your mind and body, developing emotional regulation skills, and building tools to help you navigate difficult emotions both inside and outside of our sessions.
We always move at a pace that feels manageable for you - I regularly check in, adjust our approach if needed, and return to regulation. You never have to explain in detail what happened or relive an experience.
EMDR helps reduce the emotional distress connected to past experiences so it has less influence over how you feel and respond to situations today.
Modalities I Use
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Uses a structured approach to help you process distressing memories, emotions, and negative beliefs connected to past experiences. EMDR can help reduce the emotional intensity of certain memories and change how they influence your present-day reactions.
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Helps you recognize how stress and trauma affect your body and nervous system. We’ll focus on identifying physical signs of distress, understanding your responses to stress, and developing ways to feel more grounded and regulated.
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Helps you respond with more self-compassion. ACT supports people who feel trapped in overthinking, shame, or perfectionism.
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Helps you better understand the parts of yourself that developed to protect you, including the perfectionist, the people-pleaser, or the part that feels responsible for everyone else. We'll approach these patterns with curiosity and compassion as we explore the experiences that shaped them.
Some sessions may focus on EMDR processing, while others will focus on navigating what's happening in your life right now. We'll continue working on boundaries, self-compassion, emotional regulation, and the everyday challenges that come up along the way.
My clients describe me as relatable, direct, and compassionate. I'm an active participant in our sessions. I'll ask questions, offer honest feedback, and help you connect the dots between your past experiences and present-day patterns. And yes, we'll make room for humor along the way.
Understanding Your Past Is One Thing.
Feeling Differently Is Another.
Imagine how different life could feel if every mistake, difficult conversation, or unexpected change didn't start overthinking or survival mode.
EMDR helps you process the experiences behind reactions, freeing up your energy for the relationships, experiences, and life you want.
After EMDR Therapy With Me, Clients Report:
Negative patterns have stopped
Being more connected in relationships and to friends
Way less triggered
Emotional regulation instead of anxiety
They don’t overthink
Make decisions with confidence
Less pressure to get things right
A compassionate inner voice
Easier to rest and have meaningful relationships
Looking forward to the future
About Maria Reiter, LCSW
I’m a Licensed Clinical Social Worker licensed in Wisconsin and Florida.
I work with people who on the outside seem to have everything together, but behind the scenes, they struggle with anxiety, overwhelm, or exhaustion from years of living in survival mode.
My therapy focuses on helping you understand and heal from the survival responses you developed through past experiences, so you can begin creating healthier patterns and building a life that feels more aligned with who you are and what you actually want.
Before opening my private practice, I worked in corporate healthcare and private practice settings, where I saw firsthand how trauma, burnout, and nervous system overload affect people’s lives.
My own experience with EMDR therapy changed the way I understood myself and my past.
Through EMDR, I began making connections between my childhood experiences and the anxiety, perfectionism, and pressure I'd carried throughout my life. I was able to process experiences that had shaped how I viewed myself, my relationships, and my sense of responsibility for others.
Outside of therapy, I love trying new coffee shops, practicing yoga, playing pickleball, traveling, and spending time with my two dogs, Reggie and Zoomba. I recently traveled to London and am already looking forward to my next beach trip.
Availability: I work with individuals via telehealth in Florida and Wisconsin.
Education, Credentials, and Trainings
Master’s Degree In Social Work, University of Wisconsin-Madison (https://socwork.wisc.edu/)
Bachelor’s of Arts, Lawrence University (https://www.lawrence.edu/)
Licensed Clinical Social Worker, Wisconsin–11586-123
Licensed Clinical Social Worker, Florida– SW25748
Trained in EMDR Therapy (2023)
Acceptance and Commitment Therapy (ACT) for Perfectionism and People Pleasing https://psychwire.com/harris/act-for-perfectionism-and-people-pleasing
Dialectical Behavior Therapy Training (2022), Lesley Chapin
3 Steps To Get Started
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Fill out the contact form and tell me a little about what’s been feeling hard lately. You don’t need to have it perfectly figured out.
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We’ll schedule a brief consultation to talk through what’s bringing you to therapy and see if we’re a good fit.
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In our first sessions, we’ll begin building safety, understanding your patterns, and creating a plan for moving forward together.
Ready To Begin?
Schedule a consultation to talk about what you’re struggling with and explore whether working together feels aligned for you.