About Terri Dichiser

Trauma Therapy That Goes Beyond Coping

Terri specializes in helping high-functioning adults heal from complex trauma, childhood emotional neglect, relationship trauma, betrayal, narcissistic or emotionally abusive relationships, chronic people-pleasing, and the lasting effects of living in survival mode. She also works with individuals experiencing anxiety, depression, shame, difficulty trusting themselves, and patterns that interfere with healthy relationships.

Many of Terri's clients have spent years taking care of others, minimizing their own needs, or trying to think their way out of emotional pain. They may be successful professionally while struggling internally with self-doubt, perfectionism, over-responsibility, emotional shutdown, or fear of conflict.

Trauma therapy with Terri can help you:

• Understand how past experiences continue to affect your emotions, body, relationships, and sense of self
• Recognize protective patterns such as fawning, people-pleasing, avoidance, perfectionism, or emotional disconnection
• Reduce the intensity of trauma triggers and chronic nervous-system activation
• Develop greater internal safety and emotional regulation
• Rebuild self-trust and confidence in your perceptions
• Establish healthier boundaries without overwhelming guilt
• Create relationships that feel safer, more balanced, and more authentic

Terri doesn't use a one-size-fits-all approach. Therapy is tailored to your history, goals, strengths, readiness, and nervous system.

Learn more about our approach to trauma therapy.

An Integrative, Trauma-Informed Approach

Terri draws from advanced training in trauma, attachment, relationships, neuroscience, and mind-body approaches. Depending on your needs, therapy may incorporate:

• EMDR therapy
• Internal Family Systems-informed therapy
• Somatic and nervous-system regulation approaches
• Attachment-focused therapy
• Emotionally Focused Therapy
• Polyvagal-informed interventions
• Compassion-focused and mindfulness-based practices
• Ketamine-assisted psychotherapy preparation and integration, when clinically appropriate

These approaches address both the experiences you consciously remember and the protective emotional and physiological responses that may continue long after a difficult experience has ended.

Terri's work is collaborative. Rather than treating your reactions as defects, she helps you understand how they developed as intelligent attempts to remain safe, connected, or accepted, then helps you build more flexible, effective ways of responding.

Couples Counseling and Relationship Therapy

Terri also provides couples counseling for partners who feel caught in painful, repetitive relationship patterns.

Couples may seek help because of:

• Communication breakdowns
• Emotional distance or disconnection
• Recurring conflict
• Betrayal or loss of trust
• Pursuer–withdrawer dynamics
• Difficulty recovering after arguments
• Family-of-origin wounds affecting the relationship
• Major life transitions
• Questions about whether or how to remain together

Terri helps couples slow down their conflict cycle, understand what's happening beneath their reactions, and communicate in ways that support greater safety, accountability, and connection. Her couples work may draw from Emotionally Focused Therapy, attachment theory, Gottman-informed interventions, Relational Life Therapy, trauma-informed care, and Internal Family Systems concepts.

The goal isn't simply to stop disagreements; it's to help each partner understand what's maintaining the conflict and build the skills for a healthier, more emotionally secure relationship.

Learn more about couples counseling.

Ready to talk to someone who understands? Schedule a Consultation.

A Therapist With Legal and Mediation Experience

Before becoming a counselor, Terri practiced law. She served as a judicial law clerk in the Jackson County Circuit Court and as a prosecutor for the Kansas City Prosecutor's Office, where her responsibilities included courtroom trials and plea negotiations. She also served as an associate professor, developing and teaching courses in criminal justice and legal studies.

Her legal background gives her a distinctive understanding of conflict, power dynamics, decision-making, domestic and relational concerns, and the pressures high-functioning professionals face. Her experience across counseling, law, mediation, and education allows her to understand complex situations from multiple perspectives while keeping the therapeutic relationship centered on the client.

Collaborative Divorce and Mediation Services

In addition to psychotherapy, Terri has extensive experience in mediation and Collaborative Divorce. She serves as a mental health neutral and divorce coach, helping individuals and families navigate separation and divorce with greater clarity, structure, and emotional stability.

Her experience includes:

• Collaborative Divorce coaching
• Mental health neutral services
• Co-parenting consultation
• Mediation
• Parenting communication and decision-making
• Support during high-conflict family transitions

Note: These services are distinct from psychotherapy and are structured according to the needs and professional roles involved in each matter.