Brave Counseling and Consulting

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Berkeley, CA
Brave Counseling and Consulting

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A trauma-informed virtual therapy practice founded by Alison Papion, LMFT.

Our practice is built on a single conviction: the wholeness you’re searching for has always been yours, waiting beneath the weight of what happened to you.

10/20/2026

https://www.bravecounselingandconsulting.com/post/anxiety-vs-intuition-how-to-tell-the-difference

For trauma survivors, the nervous system has often been in such a prolonged state of alert that the signal-to-noise ratio gets disrupted. Anxiety is so frequent and so loud that quieter signals, including intuition, become difficult to hear.

10/14/2026

Anxiety asks, “What if?”
Intuition says what IS. 🤍

Learning to tell the difference is one of the most powerful skills in healing (especially for trauma survivors whose nervous systems have been in overdrive for so long that anxiety can start to feel like a sixth sense). It isn’t. But intuition is real, and you can learn to hear it again.

Save this one. And drop a comment below-do you struggle to tell the difference between? 👇

📖 Link in bio for the workbook.

10/07/2026

https://www.bravecounselingandconsulting.com/post/discomfort-doesn-t-always-mean-harmful-learning-to-tell-the-difference

There is a belief that quietly keeps so many people stuck in their healing, and it sounds like this: if it feels uncomfortable, something must be wrong.

10/01/2026

Feeling worse after a trauma processing session doesn’t mean something went wrong. 🤍

It might mean something went very right.

This is one of the most important things I wish every client knew before they started — and it’s exactly why having support through this process matters so much.

📖 Link in bio for the workbook. DMs open if you have questions.

09/29/2026

https://www.bravecounselingandconsulting.com/post/what-to-expect-after-a-trauma-processing-session-and-why-feeling-worse-is-normal

You walked into your therapy session. You did the brave, hard work of going somewhere uncomfortable, of letting your nervous system approach something it has been carefully protecting you from for a long time. And then you walked out feeling worse than when you walked in.

09/23/2026

Trauma myth #6: You should be over it by now.

Of all the myths, this one might be the most damaging, because it doesn’t just dismiss your pain. It adds shame on top of it.

Trauma doesn’t follow a timeline. It doesn’t care how many years have passed, how much therapy you’ve done, or how “small” the thing felt to everyone else. It lives in the nervous system, not on a calendar.

And the pressure to be over it? That pressure makes healing harder, not easier. Shame and healing cannot occupy the same space.

You are not behind. You are not broken. You’re healing at the pace your nervous system needs, and that pace deserves respect, not a deadline. 🤍

Follow for weekly myth-busting and trauma-informed truth. Link in bio.

09/15/2026

Trauma myth #5: Setting boundaries is selfish. 🧠

Here’s what I’ve watched happen when people learn to set boundaries: they become more present, more generous, more genuinely available to the people they love.

Because a boundary isn’t a wall. It’s an honest answer to the question of what you can and cannot do. And when you stop saying yes out of fear or obligation, your yes actually means something.

You cannot pour from an empty cup. You cannot connect authentically when you’re running on resentment.

Boundaries aren’t selfish. They’re how you show up fully. 🤍

Follow for weekly myth-busting and trauma-informed truth. Link in bio 📖

09/09/2026

https://www.bravecounselingandconsulting.com/post/the-window-of-tolerance-why-you-shut-down-or-spiral

Have you ever been completely fine one moment, and then suddenly overwhelmed, shut down, or on edge the next, without fully understanding why? You're not overreacting, and you're not "too sensitive." What you're experiencing has a name: it's about your window of tolerance, and understanding it can c...

09/03/2026

Trauma myth #4: If you’re functioning, you’re fine. 🧠

Some of the most wounded people I’ve ever met were also the most capable, successful, and seemingly put together.

Functioning is a coping strategy. It is not the same as healed. And for so many people (especially high achievers), it becomes the very thing that keeps them from ever getting the support they actually need.

You can be holding it together on the outside and falling apart on the inside. Both can be true at the same time.

If you’ve been telling yourself you’re “fine” because you keep showing up, this one’s for you. 🤍

Follow for weekly myth-busting and trauma-informed truth. Link in bio.

08/26/2026

A piece of my own letter to my younger self. 🤍

This is one of the most powerful exercises in the workbook, and one of the hardest to start. If you’ve never written this letter, I hope this is your sign.

Follow for more of the real work behind healing — not just the theory. 📖 link in bio.

Address

1516 Summit Road
Berkeley, CA
94708

Website

http://www.bravecounselingandconsulting.com/, https://www.amazon.com/Brave-Enough-Heal-Companion-Workbook/dp/B0GZLRTP5T,

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