Abby Derr-Moore, LPC, LMFT

My path towards becoming a clinical counselor started with an interest in Biology. Biology? Yeah, I know, nerdy. Please bear with me. I always had a fascination for how nature seemed to always find a way to maintain balance (or what is called "homeostasis" in the scientific world). It was fascinating to see that when nature became imbalanced, it could self-correct on it's own with the right support--that the destruction of wildfires could led to the growth of new life, that a broken bone could repair itself, and so on. Then a personal mentor showed me the world of psychology and I fell in love with the matters of the mind. In college, I struggled to know what path to take. Pursue a hard science or soft science career?

 

Fortunately, in my last semester of college, I took a Marriage and Family Psychology course where I learned about systems theory and how biological concepts of homeostasis were applied to human relationships. From there, I pursued my Master's degree in Marriage and Family Therapy. I learned how to help individuals, couples, and families tap into their ability to renew balance just by making subtle shifts in how each member interacted with each other.

 

But once I started working in a community with a high number of families experiencing chronic trauma and attachment difficulties, I was struggling to tap into these natural healing processes. I noticed that it was common for many facing these complex issues to express feeling lost or defeated--even with the best of efforts. Clients started to believe “it was all in their heads” and that they should “just get over it.” But I knew their pain and experience was valid and I still strongly believed that with the right support, every person and family has the innate ability to heal. So I knew I was missing something. In turn, my strong belief in the human spirit led me to spend the next several years learning how complex trauma survivors can access their natural ability to find balance within and to heal throughout.

 

In that, I discovered that by nature, trauma presents a paradox which contradicted some of the traditional ways I was taught to renew balance in a system. I found science that proved that "it's not all in your head" and that one can't "just get over it." In fact, it is actually the body that carries the trauma and humans heal attachment injuries through safe relationships. I also realized that despite these issues being quite common, very few clinicians were trained in complex issues around trauma, dissociation, and attachment. In turn, this fueled my desire to specialize in complex trauma so every client could have the opportunity to heal, renew balance, and find strength in their story.