Today we’d like to introduce you to Wendy Llamas.
Hi Wendy, we’re thrilled to have a chance to learn your story today. So, before we get into specifics, maybe you can briefly walk us through how you got to where you are today?
The story of how my private practice came to be is a product of childhood trauma, heartbreak, growth, destiny and the desire for connection. After undergrad, I started exploring Master’s programs that would support my interest in “helping others” (a phrase commonly used in the helping field). So many therapists, including myself, often get into the mental health field to subconsciously heal our own traumatized and wounded parts. I am the middle child of two Latinx parents who had to parent themselves at very young ages because of many factors caused by intergenerational trauma. My parents did the best could raising us with the information and resources they had and despite this, neglect and trauma occurred. Many of my emotional needs were unmet and I often felt alone as a child. As I grew up, I unknowingly took many jobs working with kids as an attempt to be the grownup/helper I wish I had as a child.
After a series of what now feels like destined moments, I started my Masters in Social Work (MSW) program in 2010 and worked in Child Protective Services (CPS) for three years right after graduating. Burnt out and traumatized by the CPS work, I was able to transition to behavioral health. After I was hired, my supervisor told me that I would be working as a therapist to middle schoolers—I did not expect this. I had no experience as a therapist aside from my first year internship in grad school where I was basically frozen by fear most of the time.
I hoped that simply doing my best and genuinely caring for the kids would be enough as I continued developing my clinical skill set. About a year into the position, I got trained in the therapeutic approach, EMDR (Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing). I fell in love with it within the first couple of hours of the training. It felt like magic and I was in awe by the concept that if our bodies have natural healing capacities, then of course, our brains and nervous systems do too. We are wired to not only survive but to heal, and this often happens in connection to others.
In 2018, my partner at the time and I were each receiving our own individual EMDR therapy to process past traumas, in addition to attending couples’ therapy. Our couples’ therapist was practicing from a modality based on attachment theory—a concept new to me. She explained to us the ways our childhood wounds were impeding our ability to connect with each other. Our highest selves could not see, hear, or understand one another. Our younger, wounded parts would become triggered and often take over our words and behaviors. After some months of couples’ therapy, my partner decided to leave the relationship. I was devastated.
The heartbreak from the split (which I believe ultimately came from our inability to understand and work through the childhood wounds) ignited a passion in me to help others heal childhood and attachment trauma in an effort to decrease others’ likelihood in experiencing similar pain. Today I provide EMDR attachment focused therapy to children, youth, and adults. I find purpose in helping children and their caregivers develop a healthy connection to one another, in addition to supporting adults as they process the hurt from their formative years, both with one goal in mind: help individuals connect to the highest versions of themselves.
We all face challenges, but looking back would you describe it as a relatively smooth road?
While training to become a therapist, there is a common saying that you can only take a client as far as you have taken yourself. Being at this place in my private practice (or even having the thought of launching my practice for that matter) would have not been possible if I did not take the time and energy to unlearn some of the ways I had been negatively conditioned as a child and begin healing my own attachment trauma. As a child, I learned how to stay small and quiet. Staying unseen in a chaotic environment is a survival response many of us learn to stay afloat. As my career has progressed, I continue to work on giving myself permission to shine, assert myself, take up space, and be my most authentic self. The personal work is ongoing and painful at times, but I am certain my younger self is proud of where we are today and where we are heading.
We’ve been impressed with Growing Glimmers Child, Family Trauma Therapy, but for folks who might not be as familiar, what can you share with them about what you do and what sets you apart from others?
Growing Glimmers is based on the idea that many of our present day difficulties are created when we have unmet needs (i.e., be seen, heard, understood, loved, etc.). When this happens, the most effective solution can be meeting the need(s) in a safe, supportive relationship. That could mean the therapeutic relationship, the relationship between a parent and child, or the relationship we, as adults, have with our younger parts (also known as inner child healing). These relationships become the catalysts and containers for healing and growth. The vision of my practice is to help individuals recognize and break the cycles that keep them stuck from being the most authentic, loving versions of themselves. I help my clients discover and reconnect to the glimmers of light within them and together we are creating generations of individual and collective healing.
I particularly love working with first generation, people of color. In my opinion, they are champions for taking the courageous risk in addressing and releasing harmful cycles of behaviors. The services I offer are culturally affirming, trauma-informed, attachment theory and neurobiology based.
Is there a quality that you most attribute to your success?
My professional success could not have happened without my commitment to my own personal healing which really became a priority after my breakup. The particular traits that have come from this journey and contributed to my expansion are self-awareness, courage, vulnerability, trust, and trying to stay aligned to my own values of compassion, connection, community, and love. The ongoing internal work I do allows me to truly see, hear, empathize, and hold space for my clients in a more profound way.
The other major factor that has been important to my process is the support from loved ones. Healing happens in community and so does growth. My success would have been limited if I had not received encouragement from my people. I have loving relationships where people remind me of who I am, hold me when I am fearful and falling apart, and cheer me on when I am trying to hide. I am so thankful to have found the connection I craved as a child and to now offer it to my clients.
Pricing:
- $150/50 minute therapy session
- $140/60 minute EMDR Consultation
Contact Info:
- Email: [email protected]
- Website: www.growingglimmers.com
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/growing.glimmers.therapy/
Image Credits:
Diana Barrera
