01
Individual · long arc
You functioned. On paper you may even have thrived — the degree, the job, the people who rely on you. But early experience is still setting the terms: who you can trust, what conflict means, how safe your own body feels when nothing is actually wrong.
This is the core of my practice. It is slow, careful work — we build stability first and go near the tender material only when your system is ready for it.
02
Individual · anxiety
The discipline, the over-preparation, the standards you would never hold anyone else to — they got you here, and now they are the problem.
We work on what the anxiety has been protecting rather than sanding down the symptoms and calling that progress.
03
Couples
When one partner's past is in the room, ordinary conflict stops being ordinary. A dish left in the sink becomes evidence in a much older case.
I work with both of you — the trauma and the relationship around it — rather than treating them as two separate cases that happen to share an address.
04
Attachment
Betrayal, abandonment, the injuries that make closeness itself feel like exposure.
The work is attachment-focused: not only understanding why connection feels dangerous, but making it feel possible again — and worth the risk.
You don't have to arrive knowing which of these you are. That is what the first conversation is for.
Not sure?
Trauma doesn't sort itself neatly into categories, and this page isn't a screening tool. If something here is close but not exact, that's a reason to call rather than a reason not to — fifteen minutes on the phone will tell us both more than any website can.
For referring clinicians
I welcome referrals for trauma-focused individual and couples work, including cases where EMDR may be indicated. I'm an EMDR-trained associate (AMFT #159580) practicing under the supervision of Dr. Jason N. Linder, PsyD, and I'm currently accepting new referrals — first appointments are usually available within a week.
Call (858) 367-3773 or email referrals@coltonwilliges.com to discuss fit before referring. Email isn't a secure channel, so please keep patient details for the phone.
No commitment and no intake forms — just a conversation about what's bringing you in.
Email is for scheduling only — it isn't a secure channel, so please leave out clinical or health details.
