AMANDA EFFERTZ
I’m Amanda and I am a Registered Marriage and Family Therapist Intern with a passion for
helping individuals, couples, and families strengthen their relationships and heal from life’s
challenges. I earned my Bachelor’s degree in Psychology from the University of Central Florida
in 2021 and my Master’s degree in Marriage and Family Therapy from Capella University in
2024. For the past two and a half years, I have enjoyed supporting clients as they process
trauma, build resilience, and create healthier connections.
Outside of the counseling room, I’ve been married to my wonderful husband for 23 years, and
together we’ve raised two amazing kiddos who are now in college. In my free time, I enjoy
beading, spending time with my family, getting out in nature, and getting lost in a good book.
I use a warm and accepting approach and work collaboratively with my
clients to help them reach their goals in therapy. Two of the approaches that I find to be helpful, especially with trauma, are Internal Family Systems or IFS, and Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing or EMDR. Both use a bottom-up approach that is much different than regular talk therapy.
We all belong to systems – families, our workplace, places of worship,
groups, and gatherings. IFS uses parts work to reconnect your “system” within. During trauma or overwhelming events, different parts of us break off from ourselves to create safety or survive. By working internally with these parts, we support a healthier family system within that reduces PTSD, anxiety, and depressive symptoms. With EMDR, bilateral stimulation is used to help clients move beyond “stuck” points in their life or healing journey. We learn coping skills first and then identify issues to target. From those target issues, an image and negative cognition are paired, then the bilateral stimulation begins and you let your brain do the rest! It is an amazing tool that works well for trauma, PTSD, anxiety, and depression! Kids can do it too.
