You've Carried This Long Enough
Hi, I'm Andrew Alder — a trauma therapist in Salt Lake City helping adults heal from complex trauma and the hardships that have shaped them.
Maybe you've been in therapy before — and it helped, a little. But something still feels stuck. The patterns keep showing up. The reactions still catch you off guard. The past still finds its way into the present.
That's not a sign you're beyond help. It's often a sign the work hasn't gone deep enough yet.
I specialize in the kind of trauma that isn't always easy to name — not necessarily one defining moment, but the accumulation of difficult experiences that shaped how you see yourself, how you relate to others, and how safe you feel in your own skin.
Maybe you've been in therapy before — and it helped, a little. But something still feels stuck. The patterns keep showing up. The reactions still catch you off guard. The past still finds its way into the present.
That's not a sign you're beyond help. It's often a sign the work hasn't gone deep enough yet.
I specialize in the kind of trauma that isn't always easy to name — not necessarily one defining moment, but the accumulation of difficult experiences that shaped how you see yourself, how you relate to others, and how safe you feel in your own skin.
This Is Different from Traditional Talk Therapy
For people with complex trauma, understanding the root of the problem rarely makes it go away. That's because trauma isn't just stored in your thoughts — it's stored in your nervous system, your body, your automatic reactions.
I work with evidence-based, trauma-focused approaches designed to reach what talk therapy alone often can't:
These aren't applied rigidly. I adapt them carefully to each person, with close attention to dissociation, nervous system capacity, and pace.
I work with evidence-based, trauma-focused approaches designed to reach what talk therapy alone often can't:
- EMDR Therapy and the Flash Technique to help the brain and body reprocess traumatic memories
- Internal Family Systems (IFS) to work compassionately with the parts of you that have been protecting you — sometimes at great cost
- Acceptance and Commitment Therapy (ACT) to help you build a life guided by your values rather than driven by fear or avoidance
These aren't applied rigidly. I adapt them carefully to each person, with close attention to dissociation, nervous system capacity, and pace.
Areas of Focus
Complex trauma and CPTSD, prolonged stress and hardship, dissociation and feeling disconnected from yourself, anxiety and emotional dysregulation, grief and loss, religious trauma, challenges with self-worth, and relationship patterns rooted in early wounds.
How I Work
I'm warm, direct, and genuinely invested in the people I work with. I'll bring real skills and tools into the room — not just a listening ear. At the same time, I believe you are the expert on your own experience. My role is to be a skilled, reliable companion in your healing — not to push you somewhere you're not ready to go.
We build the foundation before we dig. We move at a pace your nervous system can handle. And we take seriously every part of you that has worked hard to keep you safe.
We build the foundation before we dig. We move at a pace your nervous system can handle. And we take seriously every part of you that has worked hard to keep you safe.
Serving adults in Salt Lake City, Murray, and throughout Utah via in-person and telehealth.
