Trauma and PTSD therapists & psychiatrists in Reading, PA

I am curious and validating, providing a nurturing environment to talk openly and honestly about your struggles, strengths, weaknesses, needs, likes, and dislikes. I love helping people explore their unique and particular powers as well as how these powers impact their world and their relationships. As a passionate supporter of those who have been through unjust or otherwise traumatic experiences--including those experiencing discrimination based upon race or gender identity or sexual orientation--I am particularly interested in helping people gain skills for dealing with, and making sense of, the remnants of their pasts.

Having completed Bessel Van der Kolk's Trauma Research Foundation's Certificate in Traumatic Stress Studies in early 2025, I have a strong foundational understanding of the most cutting edge approaches to treating trauma. I am also comfortable using a combination of approaches, including Psychodynamic, Gestalt, and Acceptance and Commitment Therapy. I received an MSW from the University of Pennsylvania, a psychodynamically focused program, after which I completed Bryn Mawr's certificate program in psychodynamic psychotherapy. I have also completed 1 year of Gestalt Therapy training and the Acceptance and Commitment Therapy Immersion Program.

As an LCSW, my training emphasized the role of social environment--from the family to society at large--in how we construct our narratives, enabling me to help you make sense of what in your life is yours to own and what is a product of your environment.

Uncomfortable as they may be, emotional struggles often develop for understandable reasons. They reflect what we’ve experienced, how we’ve learned to cope, protect ourselves, and navigate important relationships over time. And while these patterns may have once served an important purpose and still carry valuable information, they can also keep us tied to past experiences in ways that make it difficult to feel fully present, connected, and grounded in ourselves. Therapy can help us better understand these experiences so that we can move forward with greater flexibility, self-understanding, and connection in our lives and relationships.

I work with clients navigating anxiety, interpersonal or family conflict, life transitions, trauma, depression, OCD, and questions related to identity, relationships, and emotional meaning. I also work with individuals who are simply looking for a thoughtful space to reflect, grow, and better understand themselves.

My clinical work has been shaped by training at the University of Pennsylvania, the Institute for Relational Psychoanalysis of Philadelphia, and experience working across multiple levels of care, including residential and intensive treatment settings.

My name is Chami and I do my best to create a warm space for my clients. I got my M.Ed at Temple University, and their emphasis on diversity, inclusion, and affirming treatment is deeply rooted in my own practice. I have spent my therapy experience in both inpatient and outpatient settings, working with people who struggle with things like addiction, abusive relationships, mood disorders, and trauma.

I hold a Master’s in Clinical Counseling and have spent 20+ years in social services supporting people with autism, IDD, trauma, and mood challenges. My work is grounded, affirming, and shaped by real-world experience with diverse, often underserved communities.

I am a Pennsylvania-licensed psychologist with 23 years of counseling experience with adults of all ages, from late-adolescence and across the lifespan.

My practice focuses on helping individuals develop personally meaningful ways of navigating anxiety and depression, grief and loss, trauma and PTSD, time-of-life transitions, and identity development. These therapeutic partnerships often involve identity-affirming explorations of racial, ethnic, LGBTQIA, and neuro-diversity matters within clients’ lives.

Helping clients feels safe, regarded, and at ease... I work hard to understand what each individual needs from me to feel these things at the forefront of our relationship.

I feel really confident in my empathic attunement toward clients as I authentically connect with each individual. I prioritize creating a shared space of sincerity as clients begin telling me their stories.

And what an honor it is, helping clients share their narratives in a manner that highlights their courage and resilience, as well as their yearning and needs.

As we begin to explore and understand all of these things, we hone in on each client’s inner resources and external supports — identifying these things and figuring out how each individual client can feel most empowered in themselves.