Edwige Theokas, M.Ed, LPC
EMDR Therapy For Moms Navigating Middle-Age & Perimenopause
Specializing in EMDR and EMDR Intensives for Trauma, Stress & Anxiety
Online and In-Person in Bordentown, NJ
About Me: Edwige "Eddie" Theokas, LPC |
EMDR Therapist for Moms Navigating Mid-Life
"You’re Not Alone. You’re Not Crazy."
The anxiety, the rage, the insomnia, the feeling that you don't recognize yourself anymore, you’re not falling apart.
You’re carrying trauma through one of the most hormonally turbulent seasons of your life. And there’s a way through.
Something Is Happening That Nobody Warned You About
If you’re in your late 30s or 40s and suddenly your nervous system feels like it’s been lit on fire - the mood swings, the diminished tolerance to life's happenings, the reactivity, the out-of-nowhere anxiety - there’s often more going on than just hormones.
Perimenopause has a way of surfacing unresolved trauma that’s been sitting quietly for years. It’s not random. It’s biology cracking the door open on old wounds. And it’s exactly the work I specialize in.
As a Jungian-trained therapist and EMDRIA Certified EMDR specialist, I understand that the unconscious, the body, the nervous system, and the hormonal landscape are not separate systems - they are in constant conversation with each other.
When perimenopause shifts the foundation you have built, and the coping mechanisms you have established, old wounds can rise to the surface in ways that feel completely out of proportion to what’s happening around you.
The reactivity you can’t explain. The grief that comes from nowhere. The resentment towards your partner and parents. The panic that has no obvious trigger. The feeling that you're questioning everything you once so firmly believed. This isn’t you falling apart. This is nervous system dysregulation, hormones, and unresolved trauma trying to find a doorway - and it is absolutely something that can be healed.
How I Work: Evidence-Based. Trauma-Informed. Deeply Personal.
As a therapist certified in EMDR and trained in EMDR Intensives, I specialize in helping women heal at the root - not just manage symptoms. EMDR (Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing) works directly with the nervous system to process and release trauma that talk therapy alone often cannot reach. It is the gold standard in PTSD/trauma treatment, and for women navigating perimenopause, it can be genuinely life-changing.
Here’s the truth about talk therapy: sometimes talking about your life experiences and anxiety isn’t enough. When trauma lives in the body and the nervous system, it needs to be processed there too. That’s exactly what EMDR does. By targeting the stuck points (the thoughts, feelings, and body sensations that keep you locked in a loop of suffering), EMDR can produce profound healing in a fraction of the time of traditional therapy.
EMDR Intensives: For Women Who Are Ready to Dig Deeper
For women who are ready to go deep and don’t want to wait months for results, I offer EMDR Intensives - extended, focused sessions that compress what might take a year of weekly therapy into days. If you’ve been white-knuckling through anxiety, emotional dysregulation, or patterns you can’t seem to shake, an Intensive may be the most efficient path to the relief you’ve been looking for. Intensive sessions can last anywhere from 2-6 hours.
EMDR Intensives are ideal for women who are high-functioning, have supports, are motivated, and ready to commit to real change in a condensed timeframe. EMDR Intensives are available in-person in Bordentown, NJ and via telehealth across New Jersey.
The Full Approach
Within our sessions, I draw from a range of modalities that I weave together to meet you exactly where you are: Jungian depth psychology, somatic and body-based awareness, parts work (IFS-informed), mindfulness, and a spiritual component because healing is not just clinical. It is also deeply human.
If you find yourself reacting to things that “shouldn’t” cause the response they did - that is often unresolved trauma. If you consistently engage in patterns you know you want to change but can’t seem to stop - same answer. These aren’t character flaws. This is survival. They are nervous system responses that were formed years ago to keep you safe, and they haven’t been updated yet. That is the work we do together.
Ready to stop managing and start healing?
Schedule your free 15-minute consultation
Who I Work Best With
I work with a small number of women at a time - which means I bring full attention and care to every client I see. My work tends to be the best fit for mothers who:
• Have done “some therapy” before but feel like they’ve talked in circles without real movement or resolution.
• Are currently working with a therapist and want to experience an Intensive for deeper work with their therapist
• Are in perimenopause, midlife, or the years approaching it - and have healthy coping skills (exercise, hobbies, journaling, etc.)
• Suspect there is a deeper root to their anxiety, emotional reactivity, or dysregulation - and are ready to address it
• Have supports in their lives (partner, family, friends, organizations, community)
• Are high-functioning on the outside but running completely on empty inside
I provide in-person therapy in Bordentown, NJ serving Burlington County and Mercer County (including Chesterfield, Hamilton, Robbinsville, Princeton, and Lawrenceville). I provide online therapy to women across all of New Jersey.
I’m Also the Therapist Who Will Talk to You About the Universe
I am a Jungian-trained, EMDRIA Certified therapist who also believes in the intelligence of the nervous system, the wisdom of the body - and yes, the power of the Universe. I discuss quantum leaping. I believe in the healing that happens when you finally clean out your closet. I am known, proudly, as the “Woo Woo Therapist.”
Bring your Human Design chart. Bring your astrology. Bring your Bible, your crystals, your spirituality, your beliefs about energy and intention (whatever shape they take). This is a space where your whole self is welcome, not just the parts that fit into a DSM code.
I have found that integrating spirituality into the therapeutic process can be one of the most powerful accelerants to healing that exists.
I also incorporate what I think of as lifestyle medicine: nourishing your body, decluttering your environment, time in nature, baking, gardening, movement. Healing doesn’t only happen in a therapy room. It happens in the full texture of your daily life (and I will absolutely talk to you about all of it).
I will also lovingly challenge you on your BS. Not because I am harsh, but because I believe in your capacity for change more fiercely than you might right now. You can expect warmth, directness, humor, and zero judgment in this space.
A Little About Me: I’m In This Chapter Too
I am Edwige — Eddie — a 48-year-old therapist, mother of two young children, wife, business owner, and a woman actively navigating perimenopause.
Which means I am not speaking about this work from a clinical distance. I am living it alongside you.
I know what it means to run a practice, raise small children, support a marriage, and feel like your hormones are staging a quiet revolt. I know the particular exhaustion of being needed by everyone while losing yourself somewhere in the middle. I know what it feels like to be a woman in midlife who genuinely loves her life (and also sometimes doesn’t recognize the person looking back from the mirror).
That is not a liability in my work. It is the reason I can sit with you and say: I understand. Not as a therapeutic technique. As a human being who is in the same season you are, doing the same work.
I have been in this profession since 2002 — over 20 years of walking alongside people through their hardest chapters. I love books, learning, music (especially anything that makes you want to move), being out in nature, baking, and gardening (or enthusiastically trying to). I am deeply invested in living well, and I bring that same investment to this work every single day.
What Change Actually Looks Like
Change is not a straight line. It is a series of stops and starts, two steps forward, three steps back. The journey to wellness is not about seeing the whole staircase and wondering how - or whether - you’ll ever reach the top. It is about taking one step at a time, with someone steady by your side, until you get there.
In my experience, with the right approach, healing can happen in months - releasing suffering that has often existed for years. You do not have to be in therapy forever. You just have to be willing to start.
You have been doing the hard thing alone for long enough. Let’s do this part together.
▶ If any of this resonated, let’s talk. Book your free 15-minute consultation call
Education, Credentials & Licensure
Education
Bachelor of Arts in Psychology — New York University
Master’s Degree in Clinical Mental Health Counseling — The College of New Jersey (TCNJ)
Master’s Degree in Education — Rutgers University
Licensure
Licensed Professional Counselor (LPC), State of New Jersey — License #37PC00631700 — the highest level of independent counseling licensure in NJ
Certifications
EMDRIA Certified Therapist — The gold standard for EMDR practice — earned through advanced training, supervised hours, and ongoing consultation beyond basic EMDR training
NBCC Certified (National Board for Certified Counselors) — National credential recognizing advanced education and ethical practice
Sandplay Therapy, Level 3 — Advanced certification in Jungian sandplay — a powerful tool for accessing the unconscious and processing pre-verbal and body-held trauma
RYT 200-Hour Yoga Certified (Registered Yoga Alliance) — Informs somatic and body-based work with clients
Professional Associations
American Counseling Association (ACA)
EMDRIA (EMDR International Association)
Registered Yoga Alliance (RYA)
Speaking & Presentations
Presentations at TCNJ, Princeton University, Rider University, and community agencies throughout Mercer County and Ocean County, NJ.
NJ LPC License #37PC00631700
Edwige Theokas, LPC, M.Ed, M.A, NCC
Premium Level EMDR & EMDR Intensives
For Moms Dealing With Stress,
Anxiety
and Overwhelm
“You’re the one who holds everything together.
But who’s holding you?”
Online & In-person Therapy for Women Navigating Trauma, Anxiety & Stress
Serving New Jersey Residents Statewide Online for Therapy
Serving the Burlington and Mercer County NJ area
(Bordentown, Hamilton, Princeton, NJ areas) for In-person Therapy
You’re the one everybody goes to when they need help. They assume you have it all together. But no one sees your struggle. Those traumas have had a hold on you for a while. You’ve tried to push it away, but it’s getting worse. It’s affecting you and how you function. You’ve thought about going to therapy, but you get scared because of what might show up.
Planting Seeds Counseling is the name I chose for my practice because I know that change happens in small, but powerful moments. Nurturing the right things leads a fulfilling and fruitful life. And I am all about planting the seeds of well-being. I believe that within all of us exists the capacity to be our best selves but we often cannot see it on our own. Often that best self is hidden by trauma, and negative stories that we have created and lived with.
We seek change but we have experiences and voices in our brains telling us no. You feel stuck. Change comes from doing the inner work of allowing yourself to question and challenge beliefs that do not serve us. Change comes from sharing those hurts and heal those past traumas in a safe and nurturing environment. It comes from and changing the way we view the messages that reside within us. Change comes from getting the support you need to believing in yourself and your self-worth. Change often occurs in increments and we need the support and validation to keep going.
For many years, I worked in a job that was slowly but surely killing me. I loved helping people, but I struggled with negative self-talk, feelings of worthlessness, the expectations of others and fear of leaving a "good job with benefits". Anxiety and Depression were ever present in my life as I took on the stress, anxiety and trauma of my clients.
As a female, Black child of immigrants, I held the responsibility of having to prove myself and get it "right". And as a mom, that responsibility around getting it "right" became even greater.
It wasn't until I went inside and focused on myself did I begin to make real lasting change. I got help, experiencing the benefits of Mindfulness, EMDR and Sandplay. My growth as a human being is a daily task and one I know first hand does not come without bumps and bruises. But you can get better.
EMDR Therapy and EMDR Intensives Offered In-Person and Online Throughout New Jersey
Click below for a free 15 minute consultation, so we can discuss where to start.
Who I Help
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I work with adults who have experienced trauma.
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I work with Moms who are experiencing stress, managing their everyday.
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I work with adults who are struggling with day to day functioning.
How I Do It
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I utilize active listening to hone in on what you want, what you are doing to support your desires and what you are doing to sabotage your goals. Listening and asking lots of questions helps me understand patterns and behaviors that are keeping you stuck.
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I utilize values charts, empty chair techniques, parts work, somatic exercises, and limiting belief work to help you identify the subconscious messages which may be sabotaging you.
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I explore with you your beliefs and self-talk and challenge the beliefs and self-talk that do not serve you
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EMDR is utilized to help you address and heal underlying trauma that is dictating your behavior. EMDR is also used to reframe longstanding toxic beliefs and messages.
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Utilization of the spirit. Whether through the use of oracle cards, visualization, or access of your soul self, we can seek guidance from your intuition and inner knowing to help you figure out what you need.
EMDR Therapy and EMDR Intensives Offered In-Person and Online Throughout New Jersey
Book now to schedule a 15 minute consultation
What's in It for You
Transformation
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In our work together, you will find that your thoughts change and your actions change.
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You begin to see yourself differently.
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You begin to transform yourself because you learn to talk to yourself differently.
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You transform because you learn to start trusting yourself and learn to ask for what you want.
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You transform because you realize that you are not alone or "weird". You realize that it is ok to think your thoughts and feel your feelings and to be scared by it all.
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Your life transforms because you begin to shine a light on your flaws and your strengths, and address patterns that no longer serve you.
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Your life transforms because you become vulnerable and to take risks.
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Your life transforms because you can look at something that you thought held power over you for years and it no longer hurts or has power over you.
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Your life transforms because you are able to regulate yourself more quickly after an anxiety attack (if they even show up anymore).
