Less Perfection.
More Authenticity.
Integrative Psychotherapy for Challenging Times
Licensed in DC, Maryland, and Virginia
Find Balance and Healing Through Therapy in the DC Area
Find Balance and Healing Through Therapy in the DC Area
Life brings challenges, and right now, many people are feeling overwhelmed. If you're experiencing stress, anxiety, or uncertainty, you're not alone.
Living in the DC area means navigating constant change and complexity. While external circumstances may feel chaotic, your personal wellbeing deserves attention. Work stress, relationship difficulties, family conflicts, and anxiety don't pause during turbulent times—they often intensify.
Reconnect With Yourself Through Holistic Therapy
When life feels overwhelming, it's easy to lose touch with your authentic self. Therapy provides a safe space to slow down, reflect, and reconnect with what truly matters to you. Together, we'll explore the expectations placed on you by culture, family, and society, helping you discover what you genuinely want and need.
Evidence-Based, Body-Centered Approaches
My therapeutic approach is holistic, integrating multiple evidence-based modalities:
Psychodynamic psychotherapy to understand how early relationships influence your present experience
Trauma-informed, somatic practices that incorporate nervous system regulation and body-centered awareness for healing
Body-based techniques drawing from approaches like Somatic Experiencing and Sensorimotor Psychotherapy to help you reconnect with physical sensations and build safety in your body
Therapy for Stress, Anxiety, Trauma, and Self-Discovery
Whether you're dealing with anxiety, relationship issues, family challenges, or trauma, therapy can help you build resilience and self-trust. When the world feels uncertain, developing inner stability becomes your greatest resource.
Ready to Begin Your Healing Journey?
I'd be honored to partner with you as you discover greater balance, clarity, and connection to yourself. Contact me today to schedule a consultation for therapy in the DC area.
How I Can Help
You look successful on the outside, but inside you're struggling. Maybe you find yourself in the same painful relationship patterns over and over. Or you feel constantly on edge, never quite able to relax. Perhaps you're disconnected from your own feelings and needs, always accommodating others while your resentment builds.
These aren't character flaws—they're survival strategies. When we grow up in environments where it wasn't safe to be fully ourselves, our nervous systems adapt. We learn to scan for danger, to please others at our own expense, to shut down our feelings, or to stay in constant motion. These patterns helped us survive then, but they're limiting us now.
I specialize in helping adults heal from developmental and relational trauma—the wounds that come not from single dramatic events, but from the ways our early relationships shaped how we see ourselves and others. This includes:
Growing up with parents who were emotionally unavailable, critical, or unpredictable
Learning that your feelings, needs, or authentic self weren't welcome
Carrying anxiety, hypervigilance, or a persistent sense that something bad is about to happen
Struggling with perfectionism, people-pleasing, or codependency
Finding yourself repeatedly in relationships where you're not truly seen or valued
My approach integrates psychodynamic therapy with trauma-informed, body-aware practice. Together, we'll understand how your past shaped your present, while also working with your nervous system to create new patterns of safety and connection. You'll gain insight into why you do what you do—and practical tools to shift those patterns.
Together we can unravel the messages that keep you hustling for other people’s approval and uncover what you truly want for yourself.
In working with me, you can:
Overcome Anxiety
Recover from Codependency
Move Beyond Trauma
Lisa Zimmerman, LCSW-C
I'm not like the therapists you've seen on TV. I don't sit back and remain silent while you wonder what I'm thinking. I roll up my sleeves and engage actively. I bring warmth and energy to my work and build strong connections with my clients.
With over 25 years of experience as a psychotherapist, I've had the privilege of walking alongside hundreds of people as they've healed from trauma, transformed their relationships, and discovered who they truly are beneath their survival strategies. I spent many years working in agency settings before opening my private practice in 2022, which means I've worked with people across the full spectrum of human experience—and I've seen what truly creates lasting change.
My training reflects my commitment to depth and integration. I'm grounded in psychodynamic psychotherapy, which helps us understand how early relationships shape our current experience. I hold an advanced certificate in trauma-informed care and have completed extensive training in Somatic Experiencing and Sensorimotor Psychotherapy—body-centered approaches that work directly with the nervous system to heal trauma at its roots.
I specialize in developmental and relational trauma—the kind that doesn't always look like "trauma" from the outside. My clients are often high-functioning adults who appear successful but carry deep wounds from childhood experiences of emotional neglect, criticism, unpredictability, or having to be someone other than themselves to stay safe and connected.
I don't believe in cookie-cutter therapy. Even people with similar challenges may need different approaches, so I strive to be creative and flexible in my work. I aim to balance insight-oriented therapy with practicality—my clients gain self-awareness as well as concrete tools for nervous system regulation and boundary-setting. Both are essential for growth.
I'm licensed to practice in DC, Maryland, and Virginia, and I offer both in-person and telehealth sessions to fit your needs.
When you're ready to break the patterns that keep you stuck and discover what's possible when you finally put yourself in the picture, I'd love to connect. Click the button below to schedule a free 15-minute consultation. We'll talk about what changes you're seeking and, if it feels like a good fit, we'll schedule your first session.
Let’s Connect
If you’re ready to break the patterns that keep you stuck, give me a call. Click on the button below and set up a free 15-minute consultation. We’ll chat about what changes you’re seeking and, if it feels like a good fit, we’ll schedule your first session.