Healing for the woman who holds everything together - except herself..

A mountain lake at sunrise. Mountain River Therapy offers trauma therapy for women in Sandpoint Idaho. Mountain River Therapy specializes in Brainspotting Therapy in Coeur d'Alene Idaho.

Trauma Therapy for Women in Sandpoint, Coeur d’Alene, Post Falls, and Thoughout Idaho

You know something needs to change

You've read the books. You've listened to the podcasts. You've made the lists, set the intentions, and promised yourself — again — that this time things will be different.

And yet here you are. Exhausted. Anxious. Running on empty, but somehow still showing up for everyone else.

You're not failing. You're not broken. And you don't need someone to hand you a five-step plan.

What you need is a space — a real, honest, unhurried space — to finally stop and ask: What's actually going on beneath all of this?

Does this sound like you?

You hold yourself to a standard no one else could meet, and you still feel like you're falling short.

You say yes when you mean no, keep the peace when you want to speak up, and put everyone else's needs before your own, then wonder why you feel so alone.

You've tried to figure this out on your own. You're smart, capable, and resourceful. But the anxiety keeps coming back. The patterns keep repeating. And the harder you try to fix yourself, the more stuck you feel.

Something happened. Maybe it was your childhood. Maybe it was a relationship that slowly chipped away at who you were. Maybe you can't point to one thing, you just know that the way you move through the world doesn't feel free.

You're not looking for someone to tell you what to do. Deep down, you know the answers aren't out there — they're in you. You just need a safe place to find them.

Woman sitting on a rock overlooking the mountains and water. The woman went to trauma therapy in Post Falls Idaho. The woman engaged in Brainspottting therapy in Sandpoint Idaho.

Hi, I’m Jarae

I'm a Licensed Clinical Professional Counselor and trauma therapist based in Sandpoint, Idaho.

I specialize in working with high-achieving women who are exhausted from holding everything together — and are finally ready to understand why.

I've been there too. I know what it feels like to tie your worth to your productivity, to silence your own needs, to search everywhere for answers that never seem to come. My own healing journey is part of what brought me to this work — and it's why I approach it the way I do.

I'm not here to be the expert on your life. I'm here to be a steady, curious, compassionate presence as you do the most important work you'll ever do: learning to come home to yourself.


Who I work with


You are high-achieving, deeply caring, and quietly exhausted. On the outside everything looks fine. On the inside you are running on empty and wondering how much longer you can keep going at this pace.

You Look Like You Have It Together


Perfectionism, overachieving, emotional eating, numbing out — these are not character flaws. They are the strategies you built to survive. Somewhere along the way they kept you safe. Now they are keeping you stuck.

You Cope The Best Way You Know How

A woman looking downward in contemplation. She went to EMDR therapy in Post Falls Idaho. She healed her perfectionism with trauma therapy in Sandpoint Idaho.

You grew up learning that your worth was tied to what you did for others or how well you performed. You are still living by those rules today. You say yes when you mean no, keep the peace when you want to speak up, and put everyone else first without even thinking twice.

You Have Always Done It For Others


Not ready for someone to save you. Not looking for someone to hand you the answers. Ready to finally do the deeper inner work — to understand where these patterns came from and find your way back to who you actually are.

You Are Ready To Come Home To Yourself

Two women in a therapy session. Mountain River Therapy specializes in Brainspotting therapy in Sandpoint Idaho. Jarae Swanstrom, LCPC specializes in trauma therapy for women in Coeur d'Alene Idaho.

I'm not going to hand you a list of things to do or tell you how your life should look. That's not therapy. That's just more pressure.

What I will do is walk alongside you.

This is a space for you to do your own healing. I'll walk alongside you. You do the work. You get the credit.

Together, we'll slow down and get curious. We'll explore what's underneath the perfectionism, the people-pleasing, the anxiety. We'll work with your nervous system — not just your thoughts — because trauma lives in the body, and that's where real healing begins.

Some sessions will feel like breakthroughs. Some will feel messy and uncomfortable. Both mean the work is happening.

This is a collaborative space. You bring your truth. I bring my training, my curiosity, and my presence. And together, we find your way — not mine.

You already have more wisdom inside you than you know. My job is to help you trust it.

This is what therapy with me is like:

How I help

Using somatic, body-based approaches including EMDR therapy and Brainspotting, we'll work together to:

  • Understand where your patterns actually came from — the perfectionism, the people-pleasing, the need to control — and why they made complete sense given what you've been through

  • Process the trauma stored in your nervous system — not just talk about it, but actually move through it at the level where it lives

  • Build nervous system regulation tools that work in real life, not just in the therapy room

  • Develop a different relationship with yourself — one built on curiosity and self-compassion rather than criticism and shame

  • Create space to hear your own voice, trust your own instincts, and find your own way forward

This is slow, intentional, deeply personal work. And it's worth it.


A Note on What to Expect.

Therapy with me isn't about arriving at a destination. It's about learning to trust the journey.

I don't have all the answers. And I won't pretend to.

What I do have is a deep belief in your capacity to heal, a trauma-informed framework to guide our work, and a genuine commitment to showing up for you — without judgment, without agenda, and without telling you who you should be or what your life should look like.

The clients who thrive in this work are the ones willing to get a little uncomfortable. To sit with what's hard. To be honest even when it's messy. To keep showing up for themselves.

If you're ready for that kind of work, I'd be honored to walk alongside you.

What Women Say

"Jarae understands me and my struggles. She has made it easy for me to feel comfortable enough to work through my trauma."

"After doing brainspotting with Jarae, I now feel more in control of my emotions, and I don't get activated by things like I used to."

"I have learned so much about myself and how my trauma has affected me today. I'm so much more aware of my body and its triggers."

 FAQs for Trauma Therapy

My blog

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How We Begin

You have spent long enough holding yourself to impossible standards and putting everyone else first. Something underneath all of that is worth understanding.

Mountain River Therapy offers trauma therapy for women in Sandpoint, Coeur d'Alene, Post Falls, and throughout Idaho — specializing in Brainspotting and EMDR therapy for high-achieving women, perfectionists, and people-pleasers who are ready to find their way back to themselves.

Schedule a Free Consultation


Fifteen minutes. We talk about what is bringing you to therapy and whether working together feels like the right fit. Schedule here.

Schedule Your First Session


Flexible, expert advice when you need it. Book hourly support across a range of topics—from planning to problem-solving.

Begin The Work


We start where you are, not where you think you should be. At your pace, following your lead, with no agenda except to understand what you are carrying and begin to explore it together.