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 cycle breaking women and therapists through their healing experiences. 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.
Beyond rest: Why Burnout is complex
Every time I have been expanding into a fuller version of my life that I have been working towards, that I have been envisioning, wanting, dreaming, that is more authentically aligned, that I am genuinely ready for, my nervous system capacity starts to shrink and tense around the expansion, and my functioning takes a dip.
Aside from the obvious reasons which is that we are asking more of our brains, bodies, and hearts when we expand into new territory, my experience is that it goes beyond that, especially when one is living with developmental trauma, attachment wounds, etc., which is why the advice to rest more can be more of a temporary band-aid than a long term solution.
Self Authorship and the Lives we Inherit
This is why expansion starts with curiosity, then deconstruction. And in deconstruction work, rather than dismantling Self, we are excavating; remembering parts that have been buried in favor of survival or connection in an environment that couldn’t make space for all of you.
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.
Why Confidence Isn’t About Being Loud: The Subtle Strength of Sensitive Women
When we think of confidence, we often picture someone who is bold, outspoken, and ready to take center stage. But what if confidence isn’t always loud? What if it can be quiet, steady, and deeply rooted? For highly sensitive women, confidence often looks and feels different—and that’s not just okay, it’s powerful.