For people who have already tried therapy and are still stuck

You understand your trauma.
Your nervous system hasn't caught up yet.

Understanding what happened and processing how your body is still responding to it are two different things. Most therapy does the first. This practice is built for both.

Book a free 20-minute consultSee which path fits

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Registered Psychotherapist · EMDR Certified · Stamford University

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15 years focused exclusively on trauma, anxiety, and relational distress

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In person in Manhattan, NY, and virtual

Two Paths To Nervous System Recovery

Some problems need a place to talk them through. Others need a clinical process built specifically for how they're stored. The free consult will tell you which.

For trauma that hasn't moved

Six-Month nervous system recovery Protocol

A structured, time-bound clinical protocol for nervous system recovery. Your threat response is running on outdated information — EMDR is the clinical mechanism built to update it. Four defined phases. A clear endpoint.

See the full protocol
For ongoing nervous system support

Individual Therapy

For anxiety, relational patterns, life transitions, and nervous system dysregulation that benefits from an ongoing therapeutic relationship. The right tool for work that needs continuity and time — not a protocol.

Book a free 20-minute consult

Not sure which is right? Book a free 20-minute consult — you leave knowing which direction makes clinical sense for what you're carrying. No commitment beyond showing up.

"Poppy brings a level of clinical precision to trauma work that is rare at any experience level. She is my first referral for clients who have not responded to standard approaches — the kind of cases where the wrong clinical sequence sets someone back."

— [Name], [Title], [Affiliation]
What we work with

Nervous system recovery for complex trauma and lasting presence.

Trauma and C-PTSD

For experiences that have reorganized how your nervous system responds — even when you know you're safe now.

Single-incident trauma · Complex trauma · Childhood emotional neglect · Medical trauma

Trauma care →

Anxiety and Hypervigilance

Always waiting for something to go wrong, even when everything is fine. Scanning, bracing, overplanning that never stops.

Chronic anxiety · Panic attacks · Hypervigilance · Intrusive thoughts · Rumination

Anxiety care →

Relational Trauma

The same argument with every partner. Different person, same ending. Patterns that started before you had words for them.

Attachment wounds · People-pleasing · Boundary collapse · Relational patterns

Relational care →

Emotional Dysregulation

Emotions that arrive without warning and take days to recover from. A nervous system that never fully settles.

Emotional flashbacks · Shame · Self-worth disruption · Dissociation

Regulation care →

Grief and Loss

Grief that doesn't follow a timeline or make sense to anyone around you. Losses that can't always be named.

Bereavement · Ambiguous loss · Anticipatory grief · Identity loss

Grief care →

Life Transitions

Transitions that have knocked loose something deeper. Knowing exactly why you do what you do — and doing it anyway.

Identity shifts · Career transitions · Relationship changes · Burnout

Transition care →

Why nervous system recovery care matters

70%

of adults experience at least one traumatic event in their lifetime — most never receive trauma-specific treatment

PTSD Alliance

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The body, not the narrative. Trauma is encoded in somatic memory and expressed as changes in the biological stress response. Verbal processing alone cannot directly access it.

Van der Kolk - PubMed / Journal of Traumatic Stress

30+

Randomized controlled trials support EMDR as a first-line trauma treatment — endorsed by the World Health Organization, and the American Psychiatric Association.  

EMDRIA · WHO ·

How Koast Delivers Nervous System Recovery

Built for how trauma is stored. Not just what happened.

Body-first approach

Your nervous system didn't get here from one event. Your first session maps what happened, when, and how your body learned to respond. Care is built from that.

Processing, not just talking

EMDR activates the brain's natural information processing system to process what talking about trauma cannot reach.

Clarity with Tracked progress

A standardized trauma assessment at intake, midpoint, and close tracks whether the nervous system is actually shifting.

Professional endorsements

What referring clinicians say

Dr. James Nguyen, Clinical Psychologist · Boston Health Institute

"My first referral for complex trauma presentations where standard approaches haven't worked."

Dr. Sarah Patel, Pediatrician · Chicago Children's Hospital

"Clinical precision that is genuinely rare. I trust her with my most difficult cases."

Dr. Michael Rivera, Cardiologist · New York Heart Institute

"The most methodical EMDR sequencing I've encountered at any experience level."

Dr. Emily Chen, Neurologist · San Francisco Brain Center

"I refer when I know the case needs someone who won't take shortcuts with the sequencing."

Need Help Deciding Where to Start?

The consult exists for exactly this moment.

Twenty minutes. You tell us what's not working. We tell you which clinical direction makes sense for what your nervous system is carrying — and if this practice isn't the right fit, we'll point you somewhere that is.

Book a free 20-minute consult

A More Complete Understanding of what's driving your nervous system

Symptoms that seem unrelated are often part of the same pattern. Understanding the connection changes what treatment needs to do.

01

Reacting in ways that don't match the situation

What's behind it

The nervous system learned these responses when they were necessary. Insight alone doesn't retrain it — processing does.

What we address

EMDR targets the specific memories keeping the nervous system on alert — at the level where they're stored, not just discussed.

EMDR Protocol
02

The same pattern across every relationship

What's behind it

Relational patterns are encoded through early experience — not just in memory. Understanding them doesn't change the encoding.

What we address

Individual therapy provides the relational container. The EMDR protocol addresses the experiences that created the pattern. Often both are needed.

Individual Therapy + EMDR
03

Exhaustion that sleep doesn't fix. A body that won't settle.

What's behind it

A nervous system in chronic activation stays on guard even when nothing is wrong. This is a trauma response — not ordinary anxiety.

What we address

The EMDR protocol begins with stabilization, then systematically processes what's keeping the nervous system activated. Structured, phased, not open-ended.

EMDR Protocol
Book a free 20-minute consult
Referring clinician

Dr. Sarah Patel

Pediatrician · Chicago Children's Hospital

"Poppy brings a level of rigor to trauma work that most clinicians don't develop until much later in their careers, if at all. She understands both the clinical sequencing and the relational attunement required to do this work safely. She is my first referral without reservation."

why choose koast therapy
A different model of care — built for nervous system recovery.

See how this practice compares to standard therapy across approach, structure, and support.

KOAST THERAPY

STANDARD THERAPY

Clinical approach

KOAST THERAPY

Nervous system recovery through structured EMDR or ongoing individual therapy — matched to your presentation

STANDARD THERAPY

Generalist talk therapy, rarely matched to clinical need

Specialized trauma training

KOAST THERAPY

EMDR certified · EMDERIA

STANDARD THERAPY

Varies by clinician

Two distinct offer types

KOAST THERAPY

Structured six-month protocol or ongoing individual therapy — the consult tells you which

STANDARD THERAPY

One format regardless of presenting problem

Structured support options

KOAST THERAPY

Six-month protocol · four defined phases

STANDARD THERAPY

Rarely offered

Between-session support

KOAST THERAPY

Included in EMDR protocol

STANDARD THERAPY

Not standard

Progress tracking

KOAST THERAPY

Standardized assessment at intake, midpoint, and close

STANDARD THERAPY

Rarely

Session structure

KOAST THERAPY

Every session has a defined clinical purpose. You leave each session having moved something — not just talked about it.

STANDARD THERAPY

Open-ended conversation. No defined session structure or clinical sequence.

Extended health benefits

KOAST THERAPY

Clinical sessions billable through your benefits

STANDARD THERAPY

Depends on plan

when the standard approach isn't enough

Where clinicians refer when nothing else has worked.

15
yrs

Focused exclusively on trauma, anxiety, and nervous system dysregulation. Not a generalist who added EMDR. A specialist who built a practice around it.

1500+ clients

Seen across individual therapy and the EMDR protocol. Every one arrived with a clinical assessment. Every one left with a documented record of where the work moved.

2
paths

Individual therapy and the six-month EMDR protocol — because different nervous system presentations require different clinical approaches. The consult identifies which fits.

EMDR recognized and endorsed by
World Health Organization
American Psychological Association
EMDR Canada
EMDRIA
Common questions

Your questions answered.

How do I know whether I need individual therapy or the EMDR protocol?
I've tried therapy before and it didn't work. Why would this be different?
What actually happens on the free consult?
Will my extended health benefits cover this?
Do you only work with trauma?

nervous system recovery starts here

You already know what happened. Now your body can stop responding like it's still happening.

Book a free 20-minute consultSend us a question