Ashleigh Virginie Johnston-Barton LMFT SEP EMDR

Ashleigh Virginie Johnston-Barton LMFT SEP EMDR

It’s not all in your head. When an experience overwhelms your nervous system, your mind remembers too little and your body too much. We are capable of extraordinary things in times of stress. People have survived, defying what is possible, lifting cars to save a child, escape or fight danger. These responses are intended to be temporary as they utilize a tremendous number of resources or create states that do not serve us in daily life. We do not need or want to constantly fight or escape. Stress responses can become stuck, frozen in our body; often outside of our awareness and show up as relational, physical or emotional symptoms.

When sustained and suppressed in our nervous system we can feel numb, fragmented, broken or unfulfilled, i.e. trauma. It can be uncomfortable to integrate or complete our nervous system response to intense experiences causing many to feel unable to relax or safe, relational or health issues, anxiety, depression, CPTSD, gastrointestinal, chronic pain etc.

I'm a licensed therapist for over 20 years & sought to become a somatic healer, before I even knew what to call it. As a child fairy circles & potions, Bach flower remedies, Nutrition, I Ching, Kinesiology, Chinese medicine, Polyvagal, Clinical Psychology, EMDR & Somatic Experiencing (SEP) to gain a sense of peace within my own nervous system & share with others.

Specialties

• Active Duty Military
• Addiction
• Adolescents
• Adults
• Adults abused as children
• Anger Management
• Anxiety Disorders
• Behavioral Issues
• BIPOC Populations
• Chronic Illness
• Chronic Pain/Fibromyalgia
• Complex PTSD
• Couples Counseling
• Criminal Justice System
• Depression
• Developmental Trauma
• Dissociative Disorders
• Early Childhood Attachment Disturbances
• Eating Disorders
• First Responders
• Grief and Loss
• Hospice
• Learning Disabilities
• LGBTQIA+
• Medical Procedure Trauma
• Motor Vehicle Collisions
• Native Populations
• OCD/Compulsive Tendencies
• Perpetrators of Domestic Violence
• Pregnancy/Prenatal/Postpartum
• Birth Trauma
• Refugees
• Relational/Relationship Issues
• Self-Esteem
• Sleep/Insomnia
• Spirituality
• Intergeneration Trauma
• Racial Trauma
• Systemic Trauma
• Traumatic Brain Injury
• Veterans
• Domestic Violence
• Mass Disaster
• Sexual Abuse
• Womens’ Issues