Chelsea Spagnola, MS, LMFT

Chelsea Spagnola, MS, LMFT If talk therapy hasn’t worked, Brainspotting may be the breakthrough you need. No need to overanalyze or relive everything. Now is the time to focus on you!

If you’re ready for real, lasting change, I’m here to help! You deserve to feel seen, heard and understood. As a strength-based therapist I offer a gentle, compassionate approach, while at the same time remaining solution-focused and outcome oriented. My goal is to provide a safe space for you to explore the challenges that have interrupted your life and relationships and utilize my training and e

xperience to introduce alternate ways of coping and relating to others. While I enjoy working with a variety of clients, I have extensive experience working with trauma, specifically child and adult survivors of sexual assault and domestic violence.

They loved you. But you still learned to shrink.To stay quiet.To take care of them.To handle hard things alone because a...
07/27/2025

They loved you. But you still learned to shrink.
To stay quiet.
To take care of them.
To handle hard things alone because asking for help felt like too much.

This is what emotional neglect can look like:
✅ You weren’t hit.
✅ You had food on the table.
✅ You knew they loved you.

But…
❌ They didn’t ask how you felt.
❌ You didn’t feel safe showing pain.
❌ You learned that being loved meant not being a burden.

That belief doesn’t go away on its own.
It follows you into adulthood, into friendships, into romantic relationships…
Until love starts to feel like silence.
Until connection starts to feel like self-abandonment.

But here’s the thing:
Your needs aren’t a burden.
Your feelings aren’t too much.
Your healing doesn’t require anyone else to go back and do it differently.

This is the kind of work I do with Brainspotting therapy.
We go beneath the logic—into the body—where those beliefs still live.
Not to blame the past, but to help you finally feel safe being seen, felt, and heard.

📍California-based LMFT
🧠 Specializing in Brainspotting for emotional wounds, childhood trauma & nervous system healing
📥 DM me to learn more or schedule a free consult through the link in bio.

When we talk about healing trauma or regulating your nervous system, it’s not just about “thinking differently.”You have...
07/25/2025

When we talk about healing trauma or regulating your nervous system, it’s not just about “thinking differently.”

You have a rational brain.
You also have an emotional brain.
And underneath that—you have an animal brain just trying to survive.

🧠 Your rational brain knows what’s reasonable. It tells you things like,
“This isn’t a big deal.”
“I’m safe now.”

But that’s not the part that’s freaking out.

💔 Your emotional brain—the part wired by your earliest relationships—still carries the fear of not being loved, chosen, or safe. It doesn’t speak in words. It speaks in images, memories, and emotion.

🐅 And your survival brain? It’s primal. It’s scanning for danger nonstop. And when it senses a threat (even just a tone, a pause, or a look)… it hits the panic button. Fight. Flight. Freeze. Fawn.

This is why you can’t just think your way out of a trigger.
Because the part of your brain that’s activated doesn’t speak logic.
It speaks sensation. Movement. Impulse.

That’s where Brainspotting comes in.

Brainspotting helps you access the parts of your brain that are stuck in survival mode.
It works with the body. With the emotional brain. With the implicit, preverbal stuff you can’t always talk your way through.

You don’t need to perform your pain to heal it.
You just need a space where all parts of you—adult, child, and animal—can feel seen, safe, and supported.

You’re not too sensitive. Too needy. Too much.You’re carrying attachment wounds that taught you love was something you h...
07/23/2025

You’re not too sensitive. Too needy. Too much.

You’re carrying attachment wounds that taught you love was something you had to earn—by shrinking, pleasing, or staying silent.

Now your body is asking to unlearn all of it.

✨ The anxiety when someone pulls away
✨ The shutdown when conflict shows up
✨ The fear of being a burden just for having needs

This isn’t drama. It’s decades of being dismissed.
This isn’t falling apart. It’s finally being honest.
This isn’t weakness. It’s healing from what hurt you.

Let the unraveling happen.

You’re not losing yourself.
You’re finally meeting the version of you that gets to feel safe in connection.

Therapy doesn’t give you the answers. It helps your body feel safe enough to find them.”If you’ve ever sat in therapy th...
07/21/2025

Therapy doesn’t give you the answers. It helps your body feel safe enough to find them.”

If you’ve ever sat in therapy thinking:
💭 “What’s wrong with me? I know all the things. I’ve read the books. I understand my trauma… but I still feel stuck.”

You’re not broken.
You’re just stuck in your nervous system — not your mind.

The truth is, you can have all the insight in the world…
You can analyze your trauma.
You can explain your anxiety.
You can list every coping skill by the book.

But if your body doesn’t feel safe… none of that matters.

This is why traditional talk therapy sometimes feels like it only scratches the surface — especially for trauma, CPTSD, or nervous system dysregulation.

Real healing isn’t about finding all the right answers.
It’s about helping your brain and body finally feel safe enough to access those answers…
To process what’s stuck…
To regulate…
To trust yourself again.

That’s the work we do with Brainspotting.
It’s not about rehashing every detail or perfectly articulating your story.
It’s about accessing the stuck, unprocessed places in your nervous system — gently, safely, and at your own pace — so your body can finally do what it’s wired to do: heal.

✨ You’re not lost.
✨ You’re not failing.
✨ You might just need a different way in.

When your body feels safe, the answers follow.

I’m not raising kids to obey without question.I’m raising kids who listen to their gut—and know how to speak up when som...
07/16/2025

I’m not raising kids to obey without question.
I’m raising kids who listen to their gut—and know how to speak up when something feels off.

As a trauma therapist and a mom, I’ve heard way too many stories from adults who didn’t know they were allowed to say no…
Who were taught to be polite instead of safe.
Who froze when they should’ve spoken up—because no one ever gave them the words.

So these are 8 phrases I intentionally taught my kids to say.
To help them stay safe.
To help them stay connected to their body.
To remind them that their voice matters.

This isn’t just a parenting tool.
👉🏼 It’s something worth sharing with your partner, your childcare provider, your parents (aka the grandparents), their teacher, school counselor, coach, babysitter—anyone who interacts with your child.
Because kids need a village that knows how to honor their boundaries, not just a mom who gets it.

This isn’t about fear. It’s about preparedness.
It’s about giving our kids the kind of safety we didn’t always grow up with.

💬 Save this. Share it. Talk through these with your kids in everyday moments—car rides, bedtime, even over snacks.
The more we normalize this language, the more likely they are to use it when it counts.

Their body belongs to them.
Their “no” matters.
And they never have to keep secrets to protect someone else’s feelings.

Let’s be real… most of us don’t land in therapy because life is going perfectly.We show up carrying stress, survival mod...
07/08/2025

Let’s be real… most of us don’t land in therapy because life is going perfectly.
We show up carrying stress, survival mode, trauma, old patterns — and sometimes, we’re not even sure how to actually work through it.

Here’s the thing: healing doesn’t happen all at once. It’s a process — and most people move through 4 levels of processing before they really start to feel free:

1️⃣ Avoidant
You’re surviving. You don’t talk about it. Maybe you minimize it, distract yourself, stay “busy,” or shut down altogether. It feels safer not to go there — but the emotions? Still living rent-free in your body.

2️⃣ Cognitive
You can finally talk about it. You can explain the trauma, name the patterns, maybe even diagnose yourself thanks to Google. But here’s the trap: understanding it intellectually isn’t the same as healing it. You still feel stuck.

3️⃣ Emotional
This is where things get real. You start to feel the grief, anger, sadness, or fear that’s been buried. It’s uncomfortable — but necessary. Emotions are the language of the nervous system. You can’t bypass this part if you want real change.

4️⃣ Integrated
The gold standard. You’re no longer ruled by survival mode. Your mind, emotions, body, and relationships start working together. You can hold space for your pain and your progress. You don’t live in the past anymore — you carry your story with strength, not shame.

Therapy isn’t about perfection — it’s about integration.
It’s about getting unstuck. It’s about feeling safe in your body again. It’s about no longer letting old pain run the show.

👉 Wondering what level you’re in? You’re not alone — I help clients move from avoidant to integrated using Brainspotting, nervous system work, and real, no-BS conversations.

Your past doesn’t have to control your present. Let’s talk when you’re ready.

What you see: Put together. Productive. Always on top of things.What it’s like inside: Overthinking every detail. Runnin...
04/12/2025

What you see: Put together. Productive. Always on top of things.

What it’s like inside: Overthinking every detail. Running on stress and “what ifs.” Never feeling like it’s enough.

High-functioning anxiety is tricky—it looks like success, but feels like survival mode. Just because someone seems fine doesn’t mean they’re not fighting an internal battle every day.

If this sounds familiar, you’re not alone. Slowing down doesn’t mean you’re failing. You deserve rest, too.

💬 Can you relate? Drop a “🙋‍♀️” if this hits home.

Change is hard. The unknown? That’s terrifying. Our brains crave certainty, even when it keeps us stuck in patterns that...
04/09/2025

Change is hard. The unknown? That’s terrifying. Our brains crave certainty, even when it keeps us stuck in patterns that don’t serve us.

Therapy forces you to sit with that discomfort—to face what you’ve avoided, to challenge old beliefs, to step into the unknown. It’s not easy, but staying stuck isn’t either.

The question is: which discomfort will you choose?

Your past doesn’t define you—but your nervous system might still think it does. Brainspotting helps your body finally fe...
04/06/2025

Your past doesn’t define you—but your nervous system might still think it does. Brainspotting helps your body finally feel what your mind already knows: it’s over, and you’re safe. Ready to heal? Let’s talk.

If you’ve ever wondered what therapy with me sounds like… here ya go!💁🏻‍♀️A little brain science, tough love & an occasi...
04/03/2025

If you’ve ever wondered what therapy with me sounds like… here ya go!💁🏻‍♀️

A little brain science, tough love & an occasional F-Bomb 🙃

Which one hits home for you? Tell me in the comments!👇🏻

Healing is an inside job—but the right therapist makes all the difference. 🧠✨You don’t have to keep pushing through stre...
04/01/2025

Healing is an inside job—but the right therapist makes all the difference. 🧠✨

You don’t have to keep pushing through stress, trauma, or feeling stuck on your own. Brainspotting goes beyond talking—it helps your brain process what’s been holding you back so you can move forward. No fluff, no BS—just real results.

🔥 Ready to see what’s possible? Drop a “🧠” in the comments or DM me to learn more.

Your brain knows what it can handle. In Brainspotting, we assess your window of tolerance—the zone where healing happens...
03/29/2025

Your brain knows what it can handle. In Brainspotting, we assess your window of tolerance—the zone where healing happens without overwhelm. By tracking your body’s cues, we keep you grounded, safe, and in control during processing. Your brain leads the way, and we follow.

Address

Valencia, CA

Opening Hours

Tuesday 10am - 8pm
Wednesday 10am - 8pm
Friday 9am - 6pm
Saturday 8am - 4pm

Telephone

+16617665011

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Our Story

Through therapy, clients gain a deeper understanding of themselves, their triggers, and how to develop practical coping methods to deal with stress, depression, and trauma. Chelsea Sp****la, MS, LMFT in Valencia is ready to help clients of all ages so you do not have to handle these struggles on your own. Chelsea’s practice works on a collaborative, strength-based approach to introduce alternative coping mechanisms to deal with stress and trauma. She assists individuals, couples, and families in working through hardships and finding the skill and strength to move forward in a healthy and productive way. When you contact Chelsea Sp****la, MS, LMFT for an appointment, you will find a caring and compassionate therapist dedicated to helping you establish a healthier way of feeling, thinking, and being in a supportive and safe environment.