Neuro Nuance Therapy and EMDR, PLLC

09/23/2025

Social support isn’t just nice to have, it’s a core predictor of PTSD recovery.

It’s also Pillar Five of the Six Pillars of Holistic Trauma Recovery series. In my latest article, How to Build Social Support for PTSD Recovery, I share practical ways to build a safer support network that can help reduce PTSD symptom severity and counter social isolation.

What’s inside:

✅ Why support matters: nervous-system co-regulation vs. isolation

✅ Types of support: emotional, practical, community/support group, and mental health professional care

✅ The REACH framework: Review, Evaluate, Activate, Connect, Hone

✅ How social support complements trauma therapy (EMDR, CBT, CPT, and Prolonged Exposure)

✅ Tips for family members and loved ones to respond safely and effectively

Delivering research backed education and resources is part of Neuro Nuance Therapy and EMDR’s commitment to those looking for healing.

Read the article in the comments👇

Alex Penrod, MS, LPC, LCDC
EMDR Therapist | Founder
Neuro Nuance Therapy and EMDR, PLLC
Austin, TX

09/15/2025

Complex Trauma Requires a Specialized Approach

Not all trauma looks the same, that’s why complex trauma therapy shouldn’t be a cookie cutter experience. While PTSD often develops after a single event, complex trauma (C-PTSD) emerges from repeated or long-term experiences: childhood abuse, neglect, toxic relationships, or ongoing severe stress. Its impact reaches beyond flashbacks or nightmares, shaping how people see themselves, relate to others, and navigate daily life.

At Neuro Nuance Therapy and EMDR, PLLC, I provide specialized treatment for C-PTSD using EMDR Therapy, Internal Family Systems, and ego state therapy in Austin and across Texas. My approach is designed to move beyond survival patterns and help clients rebuild safety, trust, and a stronger sense of self.

If you’ve ever wondered about the difference between PTSD and C-PTSD, or why healing from repeated trauma requires more than traditional talk therapy, my new service page explains the process and what to expect.

Healing is possible. You don’t have to carry complex trauma alone.

Alex Penrod, MS, LPC, LCDC
Complex Trauma Specialist | Founder
Neuro Nuance Therapy and EMDR, PLLC
Austin, TX

Specialized complex trauma therapy in Austin, TX. Evidence-based C-PTSD treatment with EMDR, Internal Family Systems, and trauma-focused care to heal from childhood abuse, relational wounds, and repeated traumatic experiences.

09/10/2025

PTSD isn’t just about feeling triggered by the past…

It also involves a nervous system carrying accumulated stress beyond its capacity, feeling driven to perform while also battling depletion and burnout, and finding it difficult to find enough space between stressors to ever fully recover.

At Neuro Nuance Therapy and EMDR, PLLC, reducing the stress burden and creating more space for healing begins with the first session.

My latest article, Stress Management for PTSD, covers Pillar Four of the Six Pillars of Holistic Trauma Recovery.

Including:

✅ How to reduce allostatic load (the body’s hidden stress burden).

✅ How the Window of Tolerance model offers a way of noticing, understanding, and responding to stress.

✅ Practical strategies for managing daily stressors: self-compassion, values-based action, boundary setting.

✅ How holistic daily practices support trauma focused therapies like EMDR, CBT, CPT, and PE.

✅ A free downloadable stress tracker to monitor and adjust to current needs.

Trauma therapy works best when the nervous system has the capacity to process the past. Working in the present to create that capacity is a crucial part of recovery.

To learn more follow the link in comments 👇

📍Located in Austin, TX for in person sessions

💻 Virtual sessions available across Texas

Alex Penrod, MS, LPC, LCDC
EMDR Therapist | Founder
Neuro Nuance Therapy and EMDR, PLLC
Austin, TX

09/04/2025

“People with SUDs are more likely than those without SUDs to have co-occurring mental disorders. Addiction counselors encounter clients with CODs as a rule, not an exception. Mental disorders likely to co-occur with addiction include depressive disorders, bipolar I disorder, posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD), personality disorders (PDs), anxiety disorders, schizophrenia and other psychotic disorders, ADHD, and eating and feeding disorders.

Serious gaps exist between the treatment and service needs of people with CODs and the actual care they receive. Many factors contribute to the gap, such as lack of awareness about and training in CODs by addiction counselors, as well as workforce factors like labor shortages and professional burnout.”

TIP 42, SAMHSA

At Neuro Nuance Therapy and EMDR, PLLC, offering competent trauma focused psychotherapy for people in recovery is a primary focus. It’s been an honor to be part of the aftercare plan for clients rebuilding their lives in the Austin recovery community.

Alex Penrod, MS, LPC, LCDC
EMDR Therapist | Founder
Neuro Nuance Therapy and EMDR, PLLC
Austin, TX

09/02/2025

It’s often said that recovery is possible…

That sounds too speculative and theoretical to me. I prefer to say that recovery is happening all around us every single day.

Because it is. There are millions across the globe living in recovery from addiction, each with a different story, different challenges, and different methods, but all sharing one thing in common…

Hope.

In my personal experience with recovery in Austin, TX, it was those who used their life today as their testimony who demonstrated what I could experience in reality, not as a theoretical proposition.

I couldn’t see my future in platitudes or cliches, but when I saw people living in recovery every single day and showing me what they were doing, well, we are creatures of imitation, the path is revealed a step at a time.

You become the tribe you run with by doing the things they do.

September is Recovery Month and Neuro Nuance Therapy and EMDR, PLLC is celebrating those who found their way home and honoring those we’ve lost.

Join me by dropping one thing you want someone struggling to know in the comments! 👇

Alex Penrod, MS, LPC, LCDC
EMDR Therapist | Founder, Neuro Nuance Therapy and EMDR, PLLC | Austin, TX

09/01/2025

Can the city you live in make trauma healing easier?

In Austin, TX, the answer might just be yes.

At Neuro Nuance Therapy and EMDR, PLLC, we know trauma-focused therapy is most effective when the whole person is supported: mind, body, and environment.

From paddleboarding on Lady Bird Lake to yoga in Zilker Park, farmers markets and mindful meals at Casa de Luz, our city naturally supports a lifestyle that helps the brain and body heal.

ATX Wellness culture offers the opportunity to join others in lifestyle medicine aligned activities while building a sense of community.

In my latest blog, I share how EMDR therapy in Austin works best when paired with what I call the Six Pillars of Holistic Trauma Recovery: nutrition, movement, sleep, stress management, social support, and toxin-free living.

Read the full article in the comments below 👇

Alex Penrod, MS, LPC, LCDC
EMDR Therapist | Founder
Neuro Nuance Therapy and EMDR, PLLC | Austin, TX

08/23/2025

You don’t have to keep surviving, you deserve to start living.

08/20/2025

AI is making headlines daily. For both its rapid and fascinating advances and its increasingly apparent dark side.

Researchers are working hard on something called “neuro-symbolic” AI, which links the relationship between neural networks of patterns in data with symbolic higher level reasoning. Sounds human right? That’s the point.

In the latest blog for Neuro Nuance Therapy and EMDR, PLLC, I cover the dark side of AI, but a more interesting twist is how I see parallels between the neuro-symbolic model and how the human brain both experiences and recovers from trauma and PTSD.

This may seem a little far fetched, or even strange. But it’s not as much of a stretch as you may think. I cite new research to keep it reality based in a world that’s becoming stranger than fiction. Learn more in my latest article:

Trauma Therapy as Neuro-Symbolic Healing: Redefining Meaning in the Brain

Link in comments 👇

Alex Penrod, MS, LPC, LCDC
EMDR Therapist | Founder, Neuro Nuance Therapy and EMDR, PLLC | Austin, TX

08/19/2025

Healing trauma is like removing a thorn that’s been stuck for years. EMDR clears the source of pain, but the wound still needs time, care, and support to fully heal.

At Neuro Nuance Therapy & EMDR, PLLC, I guide clients through EMDR and holistic trauma recovery so that healing extends beyond reprocessing memories, it transforms daily life.

Curious about EMDR or ready to start your own healing journey? Reach out today for a free consultation.

Alex Penrod, MS, LPC, LCDC
EMDR Therapist | Founder, Neuro Nuance Therapy and EMDR, PLLC | Austin, TX

08/13/2025

I’m excited to share that I was featured in Psychology.org, a trusted leader in psychology and mental health resources.

In their article “Therapists React to Study: AI Perceived as More Compassionate than Humans”, I discussed the potential mental health risks when AI reinforces inaccurate or harmful perspectives.

At Neuro Nuance Therapy and EMDR, PLLC, I work with clients facing complex trauma and PTSD, and I believe ethical awareness is critical as AI becomes more common in mental health spaces.

You can read the full feature below 👇

Alex Penrod, MS, LPC, LCDC
EMDR Therapist | Founder, Neuro Nuance Therapy and EMDR, PLLC | Austin, TX

08/11/2025

Is poor sleep a symptom or a cause of PTSD?

It’s tricky, and research suggests it’s both.

For people living with PTSD, sleep disruption isn’t just a symptom; it’s a core part of the condition that can keep recovery out of reach.

In my latest article, I explore the science of sleep and PTSD recovery, including:

✅ How trauma alters REM cycles and memory processing

✅ Why poor sleep can intensify hypervigilance and intrusive memories

✅ Evidence-based therapies from EMDR to CBT-I that help restore healthy sleep architecture

Sleep isn’t just a nice luxury. It’s one of the most overlooked foundations of PTSD treatment, and one that can change the entire trajectory of recovery.

At Neuro Nuance Therapy and EMDR, trauma is viewed through a holistic lens, helping you not only process your past in therapy, but reclaim the foundations of healing in your daily life.

Read the full article in the comments below or bio👇

Alex Penrod, MS, LPC, LCDC
EMDR Therapist | Founder, Neuro Nuance Therapy and EMDR, PLLC | Austin, TX