Menopause isn’t just about hot flashes — for many women, the first signs are burnout, anxiety, or brain fog. In this post, LMFT Julie Cardoza shares how trauma-informed therapy, EMDR, and a mind-body approach can support emotional health during midlife.

If you’ve ever asked, “Why can’t I handle stress like I used to?” or “Why do I feel foggy, off-balance, or like someone else entirely?”—you’re not alone. And you’re not broken.

I’m a trauma-informed therapist—and I’m unmasking midlife.You may not know it, but last Friday marked a transformative moment in women’s health—and I don’t just mean hormones. I’m talking about whole-body health: mind, body, and spirit. For decades, women have been handed prescriptions, shame, or silence when it comes to midlife change. But on Friday, July 18, 2025, the FDA made a move that shifts the conversation.

Anxiety can emerge at any stage of life—but during midlife and perimenopause, it often arrives in unexpected waves. For many women, this chapter brings profound shifts—physiological, emotional, hormonal, and relational. If you're noticing increased anxiety, irritability, or overwhelm, you’re not alone—and you’re not broken.

EMDR therapy is a treatment approach based in the neurobiological understanding health and healing. It is an integrative, mind-body...

Rooted in Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT), these styles are essentially mental habits—ways our minds try to make sense of the world, especially under stress. But left unchecked, they can cloud our perspective, increase anxiety, and limit our ability to respond with clarity and compassion.

A woman in her middle years, wearing a green shirt, gets ready for a peaceful sleep by putting on a green sleep mask that matches her...

Safety is not the absence of danger, it is the presence of connection. Dr. Gabor Mate Self-Regulation is an ongoing daily practice Some...

As there is may often a relationship of Trauma and OCD, EMDR can be utilized as a possible treatment option in a two-prong approach with OCD and Trauma. In my practice I offer ICBT for treatment of the OCD and then additionally work within the eight phases of EMDR working with a neurobiological approach in treatment of the trauma factors that may underlay or co-incide within the nervous system. Typically EMDR helps resolve traumatic material, can aid in desensitizing vulner