Welcome to the Erica Barton Counseling Blog

A space for reflection, healing, and growth. Here you’ll find insights on trauma recovery, nervous system regulation, attachment healing, and somatic therapy written to support sensitive, intuitive people on their path toward wholeness. Explore topics like Anxiety, Relationships, Trauma, Brainspotting, IFS therapy, and embodied mindfulness practices that help you reconnect with your true, whole, authentic self.

Whether you’re seeking trauma therapy in Bend, Oregon, virtual therapy in Oregon state, or online Yoga Therapy anywhere you are, these articles offer guidance, education, and gentle encouragement for your healing journey.

A letter to cycle breaking women during the holidays
Relationships, Holidays, Self Esteem, Sacred Self, Self Care, Self Compassion, Therapy for Women, Women's Health, Boundaries, Authenticity, Anxiety, Depression Erica Barton Relationships, Holidays, Self Esteem, Sacred Self, Self Care, Self Compassion, Therapy for Women, Women's Health, Boundaries, Authenticity, Anxiety, Depression Erica Barton

A letter to cycle breaking women during the holidays

If you are reading this and have been feeling the holiday pressure looming, you are in good company. Perhaps even, you are not just noticing the pressure, but already pushing back against it, finding quiet ways to unhook form patterns that have been running your life for years.

This season has a way of amplifying every role you fill for others. Caregiver, planner, emotional buffer, provider, magic maker, peacekeeper. You may feel that you become so defined by the roles you perform that your own identity feels more like an idea or a part in a play, than something embodied from the inside out.

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how to set boundaries for self care and healthy relationships
Mindfulness, Relationships, Women's Health, Boundaries, Confidence, Self Esteem, Self Care, Self Compassion, Shame Resilience, Nervous System Erica Barton Mindfulness, Relationships, Women's Health, Boundaries, Confidence, Self Esteem, Self Care, Self Compassion, Shame Resilience, Nervous System Erica Barton

how to set boundaries for self care and healthy relationships

When you set a boundary, you are not closing a door to connection. You are opening a door to deeper, more authentic relationships—with others and with yourself. You are saying, “My needs matter too,” and that is an act of self-love.

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What is functional freeze, and how does it relate to anxiety and stress?
Nervous System, Depression, Anxiety, Mental Health, Trauma, Somatics, Self Esteem, Mind Body, Women's Health, Resilience, Stress reduction Erica Barton Nervous System, Depression, Anxiety, Mental Health, Trauma, Somatics, Self Esteem, Mind Body, Women's Health, Resilience, Stress reduction Erica Barton

What is functional freeze, and how does it relate to anxiety and stress?

Functional freeze is a protective response from your nervous system. When you face stress or danger, your body has a few options: fight, flight, or freeze. Freeze happens when neither fighting nor fleeing feels possible. You have high peaks (anxiety, panic, overwhelm), and low valleys (freeze). Your system "freezes" to keep you safe by conserving energy and avoiding harm.

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