PTSD and Trauma Therapist in Boston and Brookline, MA
Compassionate care that helps you feel safe in your body and in charge of your story again.
Brookline and Boston Trauma Therapy
Living with trauma can feel like hauling an overstuffed suitcase with a failing zipper. One sudden jolt, and everything threatens to spill out.
Trauma is a normal response to an abnormal event.
Whether you’re coping with childhood trauma, sexual assault, a frightening birth, or another experience that overwhelmed you, trauma therapy helps you open your suitcase on your own terms and close it again without everything falling out.
PTSD and Trauma Therapist in Boston and Brookline, MA
Trauma takes many forms, and it can make your life feel unpredictable, terrifying, and totally out of your control.
In my practice, I treat:
PTSD
Treatment for flashbacks, nightmares, and a constant sense of being on guard that keeps an experience from feeling like it's in the past.
Childhood Trauma
Support for understanding how early experiences still shape your relationships, self-worth, and reactions as an adult.
Sexual Assault
Survivor-centered care, informed by specialized rape crisis counseling training, that puts you in charge of what we discuss and when.
Birth Trauma
Care for the fear, anger, or numbness that can linger after a delivery that didn't go as planned.
Traumatic Pregnancy Loss
Support for the trauma that often accompanies pregnancy loss, stillbirth, or termination for medical reasons, alongside the grief.
Other Overwhelming Experiences
Help after accidents, medical emergencies, sudden losses, or any event that left you feeling indelibly marred, shattered, or unsafe.
Trauma can stem from a single frightening event or from emotional harm that accumulated over time, which is often the case for childhood trauma.
Your experience doesn't need to meet certain criteria to be “serious enough” for therapy. If it affects how you feel and act, it deserves treatment.
What to Expect in Trauma Therapy
I often describe trauma as an overstuffed suitcase with a zipper that could give way at any moment. Many people with trauma have experienced moments when the zipper splits open unexpectedly, leaving them feeling exposed, powerless, and ashamed. Therapy helps you get it under control, one step at a time.
Before we open the suitcase, we work to establish a sense of safety. It is imperative that you feel in control. Our first sessions focus on grounding and coping skills, so you have ways to steady yourself when distress rises.
Next, we look at the suitcase together. We'll explore how the trauma affects your daily life in ways both obvious and subtle, and I'll help you see your reactions as understandable responses to what you lived through.
Understanding may be enough to bring you relief, or you can choose to go further, unpacking the contents piece by piece and repacking them with more care and control.
Throughout, you stay in charge. Using CBT, ACT, prolonged exposure (PE), and other evidence-based approaches, we'll work toward empowering you to feel more effective at managing stressors when they arise.
Sadly, we can’t make the suitcase disappear, but it can become lighter, easier to set down, and possible to open without everything spilling out.
Trauma and PTSD Therapist in Boston and Brookline, MA
Session Details
Consultation:
We start with a 20-minute phone call to see whether we're a good fit.
First appointment:
Your initial session is $300 for 60 minutes.
Ongoing sessions:
Regular sessions are $275 for 50 to 55 minutes.
In person:
I see clients in a calm, window-filled office at 1577 Beacon Street, Suite D, in Brookline.
Telehealth:
Virtual sessions are available anywhere in Massachusetts and Virginia.
Payment:
I accept cash, check, and all major credit cards, including HSA cards.
Insurance:
I'm an out-of-network provider and will give you the paperwork to submit for reimbursement. If you’re unsure how this works, I’m here to help!
If you'd like to know what your plan may cover, I partner with Mentaya to check your out-of-network benefits before your first session.
When you're ready, reach out to schedule a consultation, and we'll talk through what support could look like for you.
PTSD and Trauma Therapist in Brookline and Boston, MA
Meet Elizabeth Apkin, Psy.D.
I'm a licensed psychologist with a doctorate in clinical psychology and a Certificate in Rape Crisis Counseling from the Boston Area Rape Crisis Center.
My Perinatal Mental Health Certification (PMH-C) also informs my work with birth and pregnancy-related trauma.
In our sessions, you can speak freely without worrying about shocking or offending me. I handle what you share with great care and bring warmth when it helps.
My goal is to help you feel present in your life again and confident that you're the one in charge of your story.
Here’s what my colleagues say:
“She has a unique ability to support her clients through challenging times.”
"Liz is an incredibly knowledgeable professional. She is someone I turn to in moments when I need consultation that requires strong skills in risk assessment and she has a unique ability to support her clients through challenging times. I always feel confident when I refer a client to Liz."
— Caitlin Vinter, LICSW, Era Psychotherapy
Signs Trauma May Be Affecting Your Life
Many people living with trauma, especially high achievers, keep functioning at a high level, which makes it easy to dismiss how much it's affecting them.
PTSD and trauma therapy may help if:
Certain sounds, places, or dates send your body into alarm.
You replay what happened or push it away, but it keeps coming back.
You avoid people, places, or conversations that remind you of the experience.
You struggle with falling asleep, staying asleep, or nightmares.
You feel on edge and unable to relax, even when there’s no threat to your safety.
Closeness feels hard, or the same conflicts keep repeating in your relationships. It’s really scary to trust others.
You feel numb or detached, as if you're watching your life from the outside.
Shame or self-blame colors how you see yourself.
You look fine to everyone else, but it takes a lot of effort to hold it together.
If you’ve experienced trauma, your mind and body have been working hard to protect you, but you don't have to keep doing that alone.
Trauma Therapist in Brookline, MA and Boston
Why I might be the right trauma therapist for you
In trauma therapy, feeling safe with your therapist is essential for healing, and that safety grows from both clinical expertise and a trusting relationship.
As a therapist, I:
- Bring doctoral-level training to complex trauma and the anxiety, depression, or intrusive thoughts that often come with it.
- Draw on specialized rape crisis counseling training when working with survivors of sexual assault.
- Always establish coping skills and grounding techniques to prevent dissociation and retraumatization.
- Never push you to share details before you're ready; you might not ever be, and that’s okay.
- Welcome survivors of all genders, including LGBTQ+, trans, and nonbinary folks.
You may have felt alone in your darkest moments, but you don't have to be alone anymore, and together we'll work toward finding the light.
PTSD Therapist in Boston and Brookline, MA
FAQs
What is trauma therapy?
Trauma therapy is mental healthcare treatment to help you process overwhelming or life-threatening experiences and ease the symptoms they leave behind, such as anxiety, avoidance, or feeling constantly on guard. It starts with building safety and coping skills and then gradually addresses how the trauma affects your life today, at a pace you set.
What's the difference between trauma and PTSD?
Trauma refers to a deeply distressing experience and your body’s response to it. Post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) is a constellation of symptoms that last more than one month following a traumatic event. Symptoms can include heightened startle response, negative shifts in mood or thinking, and in some cases detachment from your body or present moment (dissociation). You can benefit from trauma therapy whether or not you meet the criteria for PTSD.
Do I have to talk about what happened?
No. You decide what we discuss and when, and some people make meaningful progress without ever describing their trauma in detail.
What if my trauma happened a long time ago?
It’s never too late to see a therapist. Trauma from childhood or years past can still fundamentally shape your relationships, reactions, and sense of self, and therapy can help at any point in your life.
Where is your office?
My office is at 1577 Beacon Street, Suite D, in Brookline, just outside Boston. I also offer telehealth sessions anywhere in Massachusetts and Virginia.
How much does trauma therapy cost?
The first session is $300 for 60 minutes, and ongoing sessions are $275 for 50 to 55 minutes. I accept cash, check, and all major credit cards, including HSA cards.
Do you take insurance?
I'm an out-of-network provider for most major carriers, with one exception. I'm in-network with UnitedHealthcare Student Resources for Boston College and Tufts University students.
Many plans reimburse part of out-of-network care, and I'll give you the paperwork to submit. Paying privately also keeps your diagnosis and treatment details off your insurance record.
You can learn more on my Fees and Insurance page.
More Areas of Clinical Focus
Infertility and Loss →
Grief-focused support through fertility treatment, pregnancy loss, termination, and stillbirth, at a pace that feels right for you.
Pregnancy and Postpartum →
Perinatal care for the anxiety, depression, and identity shifts that can come with pregnancy and a new baby.
OCD →
Exposure and Response Prevention (ERP) to loosen the hold of intrusive thoughts and compulsions, including those that can develop during pregnancy and parenthood.
Anxiety and Depression →
Support for persistent worry, low mood, and perfectionism that make it hard to enjoy what you've worked for.
Life Transitions →
Help finding steadier footing through career changes, burnout, relationship shifts, and new roles.