Dr. Sara B Dupuis, Ph.D, LP, LMFT

12/26/2025

As the year comes to a close, we want to pause and say thank you.

Thank you for trusting us with your care.
Thank you for showing up, even when it was hard.
Thank you for allowing us to walk alongside you at your own pace.

Healing is not linear, and it looks different for everyone. We’re honored to be part of your journey and to continue this work together in the year ahead.

With gratitude,
The Stepping Stones Therapy Team 💛

12/26/2025

The new year often comes with a lot of noise about who we should become and how fast we should change.

For many nervous systems, that pressure can feel overwhelming rather than motivating.

Trauma informed growth starts by listening to what the nervous system actually needs. Safety. Predictability. Choice. Time. Regulation.

There is nothing wrong with you if pushing harder has never worked. Your body may be asking for a different approach.

This year, we will focus less on forcing change and more on creating the conditions where change can happen.

Healing looks different here.

12/26/2025

As the year comes to a close, reflection offers a gentle way to notice our relationships without judgment.

Some connections grew.
Some stayed the same.
Some asked for clearer boundaries.
Some were outgrown.

None of these outcomes mean something went wrong. They offer information about what felt safe, supportive, or no longer aligned.

Healthy relationships are rooted in self-awareness, compassion, and choice. Taking time to reflect helps us understand our patterns without needing to fix or force anything.

If reflecting on this feels tender, pause, breathe, and return when you feel ready. Healing happens at your pace.

12/22/2025

12/17/2025

The holidays can be meaningful and overwhelming at the same time. If your nervous system feels tired or on edge, nothing is wrong with you. This season asks a lot of us emotionally.

Consider this your reminder that self compassion matters, boundaries are allowed, rest is necessary, and support is something you deserve. Healing does not pause during the holidays. Sometimes it begins by slowing down and listening to what your body needs most.

If this season is bringing up more than you expected, trauma focused therapy can offer a steady place to land. You do not have to carry it all alone.

12/11/2025

There comes a point in healing when you realize the weight you are carrying is not a personal failing. It is your nervous system doing its best to protect you. Trauma lives in the body as much as the mind, and it quietly shapes your reactions, your relationships, and the way you move through the world.

Sara specializes in helping clients understand and transform these deeper patterns with powerful, evidence based trauma modalities. She is trained in Internal Family Systems, EMDR, Accelerated Resolution Therapy, and Brainspotting. These approaches reach the core layers of the nervous system where emotional memories, survival responses, and old protective strategies are stored. As the body begins to release what has been held for years, you feel more grounded, more connected, and more yourself.

If you are ready to explore trauma focused therapy, or want to know which modality may best support your healing journey, Sara welcomes you to reach out and start a conversation. Your next chapter can begin with a single step.

12/05/2025

It’s what happens when your early experiences taught you that connection was fragile, unpredictable, or unsafe. Maybe you were ignored, criticized, dismissed, shamed, or expected to perform perfectly to be accepted. You may feel some of these:

1. Emotional Intensity: Small misunderstandings feel huge. Your nervous system reacts as if you’re being abandoned, even when you’re not.

2. Avoidance Behavior: You pull back first so no one gets close enough to hurt you.
Distance feels safer than risk.

3. People-Pleasing: You over-give, over-explain, or over-accommodate to avoid disappointing anyone.

4. Sensitivity to Tone or Body Language: A change in someone’s mood can send you into spirals, even when it's not about you.

5. Overthinking Relationships: You replay conversations, search for hidden meaning, or assume you did something wrong.

6. Fear of Asking for What You Need: You silence yourself to avoid being seen as "too much" or difficult.

7. Staying in Unhealthy Relationships: You tolerate more than you should because rejection feels more threatening than dysfunction.

8. Hesitation to Try New Things: Opportunities feel risky because failure or criticism feels personal and not situational.

9. Hyper-independence: You rely only on yourself to avoid depending on someone who could let you down.

10. Self-Rejection Before Others Can Reject You. You talk down to yourself, shrink your personality, or dismiss your own needs to “beat them to it.”

Why This Matters

Rejection trauma affects far more than your relationships. it affects how you live, love, communicate, and trust yourself.