Therapy Services

Feeling unsure about therapy? You’re not alone.

At A Way Forward, you’ll find a space where your experiences, feelings, and questions are taken seriously—and where it’s okay to be exactly as you are.

Click here to schedule a consultation or individual therapy appointment

(Only available to residents of Arkansas, USA at this time)

Insurance Accepted: Aetna, Ambetter, Blue Cross-Blue Shield, Cigna, United Healthcare, Private Pay

Therapy isn’t neutral and neither is healing.

Hi, I’m Ember Dreemur, M.S., LPC. I’m a therapist, educator, and lifelong learner of how the brain and body respond to pain, story, and connection. I specialize in grief and trauma and I bring a love of geek culture, games, anime, and stories into my work. Why? Because the things you love and the world you experience matter - they shape your thoughts, feelings, and relationships. But! More about me below, as my main focus is on you and seeing if I could be a good fit as your therapist.

In this space:

  • You are encouraged to be you! No mask needed, no filter required! 

  • We talk about everything affecting your mental health including identity, beliefs, politics, LGBTQ+ experiences, and more.

  • I meet you where you are, helping you process life through both neuroscience and story, so you understand why you feel what you feel and how to move forward.

  • Your experiences, interests, and values are part of your healing; they’re not separate from it.

  • Suicidal thoughts are safe to talk about here

Therapy is about connection and understanding, not neutrality. You deserve support for your whole life, and I’m here to walk that path with you.

Populations I Work With

  • Ages 14+

  • Neurodivergent-friendly

  • Survivors of trauma, grief, loss, or prolonged emotional pain

  • Those navigating mood and personality disorders (including bipolar and borderline personality disorder), anxiety, depression, or dissociation

  • People who connect through creativity, stories, or games as part of their healing journey

Therapeutic Approaches

(Detailed descriptions further below)

  • Interpersonal Neurobiology & Somatic Integration

  • EMDR

  • Geek Therapy

  • Virtual Sand Tray Therapy

  • Attachment and Trauma-Informed Therapy

  • DBT & CBT

The Specifics

You deserve to know who you’re working with upfront. Here’s a detailed ‘About Me’ to make that easier:

I’m a trauma-informed and trauma-trained therapist with over a decade of experience supporting individuals navigating trauma and serious mental illness. I’ve completed extensive specialized training in trauma treatment, so you can feel confident in my approach and expertise. I’ve been in the mental health field since 2011, working across a variety of settings before finding my niche in trauma-informed, neuroscience-informed therapy. I earned my Bachelor of Science in Psychology in 2015 and my Master’s in Professional Counseling in 2020. I’m currently pursuing a PhD in Cognitive Neuroscience. I became a Licensed Associate Counselor (LAC) in 2020 and achieved full LPC licensure in 2023.

Over the years, I’ve worked in and supervised SMI facilities, inpatient units, homeless shelters, school-based programs, group practices, and private practice, bringing a breadth of experience and insight to my work.

My approach is person-centered and grounded in interpersonal neurobiology, emphasizing how our relationships, experiences, and nervous system shape the way we feel, cope, and heal. Compassion and connection are essential to creating lasting change. As a certified “Geek Therapist”, I love referencing stories, games, and creative tools to help process experiences, build empathy, and explore solutions in a safe and engaging way.

I do not believe in one-size-fits-all therapy. Healing is not linear and neither are you. Depending on your needs, I combine evidence-based methods like EMDR, CBT, and DBT with nervous system awareness and creative interventions, so you can build emotional safety from the inside out.

Whether you’re questioning your worth, your choices, or your ability to keep going, you are not broken. You are responding to your experiences, and together we can find new ways to cope, heal, and move forward.

Feel like I may be a good fit?

If you're a resident of Arkansas, click here to schedule a consultation or therapy appointment (This link will take you to my secure client portal.)

Therapeutic Approaches Descriptions

  • Interpersonal Neurobiology & Somatic Integration: Honors how your brain, body, and relationships work together in healing and change. This approach is especially supportive when your nervous system feels stuck in survival mode, helping your body relearn safety through connection and awareness.

  • EMDR (Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing): A structured, research-backed approach that helps the brain reprocess painful memories so they no longer feel as distressing, allowing you to move forward with greater calm and clarity.

  • Geek Therapy: Explores how your favorite stories and worlds can become tools for healing and self-understanding. Through metaphor and character connection, stories offer a safe way to make sense of emotions, identity, and resilience, turning imagination into insight.

  • Virtual Sand Tray Therapy: Uses an interactive, visual space online to express what words can’t always capture. This creative process allows exploration of memories, emotions, and relationships in a way that feels safe, symbolic, and contained.

  • Attachment and Trauma-Informed Therapy: Grounded in the understanding that healing happens through safe relationships, this approach helps you recognize how early attachment patterns influence current emotions and connections, then gently reshape them toward trust and security.

  • DBT (Dialectical Behavior Therapy): Focuses on building mindfulness, distress tolerance, emotional regulation, and interpersonal effectiveness skills to help you feel more balanced in moments of overwhelm. This approach works best once you’re in a place where using self-regulation skills feels within reach.

  • CBT (Cognitive Behavioral Therapy): Explores how your thoughts, emotions, and behaviors interact, identifying patterns that keep you stuck and developing practical tools to shift them toward growth and self-compassion. CBT is most helpful when you feel steady enough to explore your thoughts and emotions with curiosity.

Individual Therapy

Life presents challenges at every age and stage. Whether due to stress, grief, trauma, or simply navigating change, psychotherapy offers a supportive, structured environment for healing and personal growth.

Research in neuroscience shows that talk therapy can enhance activity in the prefrontal cortex - the part of the brain responsible for decision-making, emotional regulation, and reflection while reducing activity in the amygdala, the brain’s threat detection system. Over time, this rewiring (known as neuroplasticity) helps individuals gain insight into their emotional patterns, develop effective coping strategies, and build healthier responses to stress.

Telehealth therapy has been proven to be just as effective as traditional in-person office therapy. While in the comfort of your own space, work on difficult topics so you can bring a sense of safety back to the place where you need it the most.

Sand Tray Therapy

Sand Tray Therapy is a beautiful technique for all ages to work gently with trauma, grief, and infinite other issues and stressors. We all carry around both conscious and unconscious memories, some of which are quite painful. When we have painful unconscious memories, or perhaps conscious memories that are too painful to discuss, typical types of talk therapy aren’t as helpful. This is where sand tray therapy can help.

Virtual sand tray therapy works similar to physical sand tray therapy, and allows the client to choose images of characters and objects they resonate with or that make them feel safe and place them in a digital sandbox, allowing the mind to navigate deep and personal memories on a subconscious level. 

Sand Tray Therapy is particularly helpful for individuals who may have a hard time verbalizing their memories and wounds.  

EMDR Therapy

EMDR is a powerful, evidence-based therapy for treating trauma, PTSD, anxiety, and more. 

When we experience trauma, the brain’s natural ability to process information can become overwhelmed. The amygdala (which detects danger) remains overactive, while the hippocampus (which gives context to memory) and prefrontal cortex (which helps us understand and integrate experience) may become disconnected. As a result, traumatic memories remain "stuck" in the nervous system, often showing up as flashbacks, nightmares, or overwhelming emotions.

EMDR helps re-engage the brain’s adaptive information processing system. Through bilateral stimulation (such as eye movements or taps), EMDR activates both hemispheres of the brain, facilitating the integration of previously unprocessed trauma memories. Clients often find that distressing memories lose their emotional charge and become part of their broader life narrative; no longer controlling their reactions or choices.

If you'd like more information, I found a neat video that helps go into a little more detail about this awesome approach: 

https://youtu.be/C5Yl6cy7m4Y