Therapy that meets what’s happening today while tending to what began long before it.
trauma therapy in houston, tx
AREAS OF FOCUS
You might be here because you’re starting to notice patterns – how stress, silence, caretaking, or survival shaped the generations before you and now live quietly, or loudly, in your own life. This work is an invitation to meet your history with curiosity, compassion, and choice so you can relate differently to yourself, your relationships, and your lineage.
You may recognize patterns in yourself or family that you never intend to repeat. Or maybe you feel caught between wanting something different and automatically falling back into what you know. Cycle-breaking is the intentional process of recognizing and changing patterns, some of which may have been influenced by experiences passed down through generations.
Being the first in your family to navigate certain experiences can come with a complicated mix of pride, pressure, responsibility, and uncertainty.
Maybe you’re the first to attend college, enter a professional career, build financial stability, or establish a life that looks different from what your family imagined. You may be proud of how far you’ve come while also feeling the weight of being the one who had to figure things out.
First-generation therapy creates space to explore what it means to carry those experiences without having to choose between honoring where you come from and becoming who you are.
The way we connect with ourselves and others is shaped by what we experience in our earliest relationships. Attachment patterns may also be influenced by what was modeled and passed down within our families, including how previous generations experienced safety, survival, connection, conflict, and emotional needs.
When relationships were unpredictable, emotionally unavailable, unsafe, or difficult to navigate, you may have learned ways of relating that once helped you feel protected. Sometimes, we reach a point in our lives where those same strategies that once kept us safe begin to prevent us from receiving the connection we desire. This work involves exploring past, current, and new ways of connecting with yourself and others.
Childhood experiences can shape how we understand ourselves, relationships, emotions, and what it means to feel safe. Sometimes, the impact of those experiences becomes more noticeable in adulthood through relationship patterns, difficulty trusting others, perfectionism, people-pleasing, anxiety, emotional disconnection, or feeling like you always have to hold everything together.
You don’t have to remember every detail of your childhood or talk about everything that happened to you. Therapy can focus on what feels relevant and manageable for you, including how your experiences may still be influencing the way you relate to yourself, others, and the world around you.
Additional Areas I’m Passionate About
Grief & Loss
Divorce
Identity Exploration
Posttraumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD)
Does this sound familiar?
– you find yourself over-giving, over-functioning, or putting yourself last –
– you’re tired of understanding why you feel this way and want to actually feel different –
– you have a hard time slowing down, even when you know you need to –
– you look cool, calm, and collected, but internally feel exhausted, tense, or anxious –
– you keep repeating relationship patterns you thought you had moved past –
– you struggle to know what you need –
Ivette Aldana MS, LPC, NCC
I’m Ivette – and I’m glad you’re here. I am a first-generation, Latina therapist who focuses on helping adults, especially first-gens and cycle breakers, work through trauma (generational, childhood, and single/complex) and understand the relational patterns that shape how they move through the world.
Many of my clients are high-achievers or caretakers who appear to have it all together, but inside feel the weight of family expectations, emotional neglect, or cycles of pain that repeat themselves. My cultural background deeply shapes and fuels my passion for supporting those navigating intergenerational and immigrant trauma. I find meaning in working with clients from diverse backgrounds, identities, and life experiences who are committed to their personal growth and therapeutic process.
Drawing from depth-oriented modalities, our work will help understand what’s beneath the surface and create space for meaningful, lasting change.
How it Works
01
Reach Out
Starting can feel like the hardest part. Schedule a free 15-minute consultation to briefly share what support you’re looking for, learn more about my approach, and ask any questions you may have. This conversation is simply a chance to see if we feel like a good fit working together.
02
Starting Therapy
Once you’re ready, we’ll begin building a space where you can show up honestly and at your own pace. Together, we’ll explore patterns and gently process experiences or topics that may have never been said out loud before. This is where insight, clarity, and self-trust start to grow.
03
Notice The Change
Change doesn’t happen overnight, but it does happen. Therapy unfolds over time, allowing you to feel more empowered, recognize old patterns with clarity, and connect with yourself more authentically. As the process continues, many find themselves navigating life with greater confidence and ease.
Depth Oriented + Trauma-Informed Therapy
Internal Family Systems (IFS)
Internal Family Systems (IFS) helps you understand the different parts of yourself that developed in response to past experiences, including the inner critic, perfectionist, people pleaser, or part that shuts down. By approaching these parts with curiosity and compassion, you can create greater self-understanding, reduce internal conflict, and move toward a more grounded sense of self.
Emotion focused Individual Therapy (EFIT)
Emotion-Focused Individual Therapy (EFIT) helps you slow down and understand what your emotions are communicating about your needs, relationships, and inner world. Rooted in attachment science, EFIT creates space to experience emotions differently, develop greater self-understanding, and build new patterns of safety, connection, and self-worth.
Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing Therapy (EMDR)
EMDR helps you process painful memories and overwhelming experiences so they no longer feel as intense or present in your everyday life. By working with the brain and body through bilateral stimulation, EMDR can help reduce the emotional charge of difficult experiences and create space for greater clarity, perspective, balance, and healing.
Trauma Therapy in Houston, TX
In-Person Sessions
Offered in a warm, private setting in City Centre, at the heart of Houston, designed to foster honest expression, growth, and deep exploration.
Virtual Sessions
Available to all Texas Residents – offering flexible, intentional therapy whether you’re outside of Houston, managing a full schedule, or simply prefer to connect from home.
There’s a reason you’ve learned to carry things the way you do.
Therapy can help you understand those patterns with compassion and create room for something different.
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