Step Into Healing That Honors Your Strength
A space to slow down, reflect, and work through what’s underneath the surface with warmth, depth, and real connection.
EMDR and IFS Therapy
In person sessions in Orange County, California
Telehealth across California and Nevada
Children, Young Adults, and Adults
Meet Barbara Hall, LCSW: Founder of Open Chapters Therapy and Consulting
I’m so glad you’re here. Clients often tell me they love my vibe: warm, real, and deeply attentive. I provide a space where you can slow down, feel seen, and explore what’s really going on beneath the surface.
Together, we reflect on patterns, emotions, and experiences in a deeply attuned, reflective way, offering gentle challenges and guidance to help you reconnect with your emotions, body, and sense of self while also noticing and embracing new or rediscovered parts of yourself.
In our work together, you’ll find more than strategies. You’ll find someone who listens deeply, asks thoughtful questions, and helps you dig into the parts of your story that matter most. Together, we go beyond the surface to explore what’s underneath using approaches like IFS and EMDR to uncover insights and support meaningful, lasting change. Our work focuses on helping you reconnect with your emotions, understanding your patterns, and creating a life that feels authentic, grounded, and aligned with who you truly are.
I’m here with an open heart and steady presence ready to accept all parts of you, the confident, capable side, and the vulnerable parts that feel tired, confused, or guarded. Together, we’ll gently explore how your past and present connect, creating space for the healing and growth you’re ready to welcome.
A space to slow down, check in, and (begin to) trust yourself.
You’ve been carrying a lot for a long time. On the outside, you might appear successful, capable, and composed, but inside, you’re managing more than anyone knows. Maybe you’re a driven professional, always on the move, chasing approval, striving for perfection, people-pleasing, or managing endless responsibilities and expectations. Or, maybe you’re living with anxiety, trauma, or past experiences that have quietly (or loudly!) shaped how you think, feel, show up in relationships, and relate to others. Even if you’re running on empty, you’ve kept showing up.
You may feel emotionally disconnected from your feelings or even from your sense of self. You might avoid conflict, hesitate to ask for help, second-guess yourself, over-explain, or shrink parts of who you are to keep the peace.
What you may need is a chance to focus on yourself, make sense of what you’re feeling, and begin reconnecting with yourself beneath the roles you’ve had to play. Here, you’ll be met with care, insight, and real support as you begin creating the lasting change you’ve been wanting.
Therapy can be a space where you’re not performing or fixing. Just being. A place where you are truly seen, supported, and prioritized. Change doesn’t necessarily come from pushing harder. It unfolds when you’re met with care, attunement, and understanding. Here, you can slow down, reconnect with your authentic self, and begin to rewrite your story on your own terms.
Self-aware but stuck individuals: You understand what’s wrong and have insight into your patterns but feel unsure how to move forward. You’re ready to break old cycles of overfunctioning, people-pleasing, or seeking love through service and productivity. You want to reconnect with your emotions, body, and true self.
Identity seekers: You are ready to explore who you are after years of adapting to others’ expectations or people-pleasing patterns. You want to explore your sense of self, needs, and values.
Driven professionals: You are managing anxiety, perfectionism, disconnection, or burnout behind the scenes. You often feel your worth is tied to how much you do or how well you perform.
Therapists, student therapists, and associates: You are managing compassion fatigue, imposter feelings, or vicarious trauma. You are wanting support to work on your own stuff and personal growth while continuing to help others.
Men in therapy: You’ve carried a lot on your own, and you don’t have to keep holding it all in. Your mental health matters, too. Therapy offers a space to show up honestly, connect with your emotions, and express them in grounded, authentic ways without losing your sense of strength or self.
Adult children of emotionally immature caregivers: You are navigating the impact of narcissistic, critical, or unavailable parents.
Those who have endured trauma: You’re working through the lasting effects of complex trauma, emotional neglect, or painful experiences that shaped how you see yourself and relate to others. You’re ready to process your story, release old patterns, and move toward healing and reconnection with your true self.
Adults and College students: You’re juggling so much—different schedules, many responsibilities, work, relationships, and figuring out who you are in the middle of it all. You deserve support as you navigate all the change, pressure, and growing that comes with this stage of life.
Young children building emotional resilience, healing from trauma, and learning to manage big feelings.
Specialized Client Focus
Areas of Specialty
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Trauma can affect anyone: children, teens, and adults. It often shows up in ways that are hard to explain but deeply felt. Whether the trauma was recent or happened long ago, it may be shaping how you think, feel, or show up in relationships. You (or your child) might feel overwhelmed, easily triggered, disconnected, or constantly on edge.
I work with individuals of all ages navigating:
Family of origin issues
Emotionally unavailable, neglectful, or narcisstic parents
Childhood trauma and neglect
Emotional, physical, and sexual abuse
Sudden or severe trauma
Complex or long-term trauma
Relational trauma
Domestic violence, war, accidents, human trafficking, murder, and other interpersonal violence
Using EMDR, IFS, nervous system regulation, and expressive arts, I help clients face what’s been buried or too painful to touch, so they can move toward safety, relief, and a deeper connection to themselves and others.
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From the outside, your life may look successful. You’re dependable, capable, and always getting things done. People rely on you, and you rarely let them down. But inside, you may feel exhausted, disconnected, or like you’re constantly striving and never really arriving.
The pressure to perform, stay in control, and keep everything running can make it hard to pause, feel, or ask: What do I actually need? Over time, this kind of over-functioning takes a toll, even if no one else sees it.
Therapy offers a space to step out of the pressure and reconnect with yourself, not just your roles or responsibilities, but your emotions, values, and deeper sense of self.
I work with professionals and driven adults who are:
Burnt out, anxious, or emotionally flat even when things “seem fine”
Caught in patterns of perfectionism, people-pleasing, or over-functioning
Struggling with imposter feelings or a relentless inner critic
Feeling disconnected from themselves or their relationships
Carrying early experiences that tied self-worth to achievement
Longing for more meaning, authenticity, and inner calm
Together, we’ll slow down enough to hear what’s underneath the pressure to create space for real clarity, fulfillment, and a life that feels more aligned from the inside out.
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You may feel like you’re too much and not enough all at once. Constantly questioning yourself, managing others’ emotions, and holding everything together. Therapy is a space to finally exhale, explore who you are beneath the roles, and let go of the pressure to be perfect.
I help children, young adults, and adults work through:
Chronic anxiety, self-doubt, and overthinking
Questions about identity, direction, and purpose
A harsh inner critic and painful self-talk
People-pleasing, codependency, or fear of abandonment
Feeling emotionally overwhelmed but unable to slow down
Feeling responsible for others
I also work closely with men exploring identity and emotional expression, helping them connect with who they are beyond their performance or productivity.
Using trauma-informed practices like EMDR, IFS, and nervous system work, we’ll gently explore what’s beneath the surface, so you can move forward with greater confidence, clarity, and self-trust.
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Children express their emotions through behavior, not always through words. Meltdowns, shutdowns, or big feelings often reflect deeper stress, grief, or trauma. Therapy offers a safe, developmentally appropriate space for children to feel seen, soothed, and supported.
I specialize in working with children who are:
Coping with trauma, loss, or big life changes
Living apart from biological parents
In foster care, adopted, or in kinship placements
Struggling with emotional regulation or behavior
Navigating anxiety, attachment wounds, or identity questions
I also support parents and caregivers who feel overwhelmed, triggered, or unsure how to help. Through play therapy, Sandtray, expressive arts, and nervous system-based support, I help children and families heal from the inside out.
Read more about our therapy approaches and specialities for children and for young adults and adults.
Read more about EMDR therapy and IFS therapy.
What I offer goes beyond surface-level support. I don’t just hear what you say. I remember it. I see the patterns, the pain beneath the perfectionism, and the parts of you that are ready to feel something real again. Together, we’ll slow down enough for you to reconnect with yourself and make sense of your experience.
Let’s begin today.
Take a moment for yourself. Reach out by call, text, email, or this form to request your complimentary consultation. You don’t have to navigate this journey alone.
We’ll schedule an initial conversation to explore where you are, what you hope for, and what matters most to you. Together, we’ll create a path that feels authentic and supportive.
01 Reach out.
Step into your first session and begin nurturing a space to reflect, release, and grow. Small steps here can lead to meaningful shifts in your life.
02 Connect.
Slowly, with support, you’ll process life’s challenges, uncover insight, and rediscover your inner spark. Creating new possibilities for your present and future self.