Trauma-Focused Care at TheMountainVue
Philosophy
Healing Through Connection
Throughout our lives, we are shaped not only by the instinct to survive, but also by the deep biological need for connection, co-regulation, purpose, joy, and love. Our body, brain, and soul are designed to move in harmony—woven together with both ourselves and the world around us.
At TheMountainVue, we create a unique relational space where healing unfolds. Here, you are invited to reconnect, rediscover, and redefine what health and wholeness mean for you. In this collaborative process, transparency, trust, and genuine connection are nurtured. Strengths are reawakened, resilience grows, symptoms ease, and hope for a purposeful life begins to thrive.
The therapeutic alliance is the heartbeat of this healing journey. Together, we listen to the wisdom of the body, uncovering answers and solutions that the mind alone cannot provide.
TheMountainVue Process
At MountainVue, we recognize the multifaceted nature of every person—the vital connection between brain, body, and mind. By honoring each individual’s unique life story, we open a pathway for true healing. Healthy, reciprocal relationships allow us to feel seen, heard, understood, and deeply connected. Within therapy, the bond between client and therapist becomes the foundation of healing—fostering empathy, safety, co-regulation, and calm. Only when the nervous system feels regulated and grounded in safety can the healing process fully unfold.
This journey is both restorative and empowering. Through psychoeducation, expanding the window of tolerance, mindfulness, movement, and self-discovery, clients learn to engage with life in new ways. In and out of session, you are invited to explore relationships, deepen self-awareness, process and integrate life experiences, and develop practical skills to move toward your goals. Over time, clarity grows, resilience strengthens, and a renewed sense of purpose begins to guide your path forward.
NeuroBiology of Trauma
The Importance of Safety in Healing
Safety is not simply the absence of threat—it is the presence of connection, trust, and love. Feeling safe depends on the cues we receive from our environment and, most importantly, from the relationships around us. When safety is nurtured and reciprocated, healing becomes possible.
At the most basic neurobiological level, our bodies are designed to protect and defend us. This natural survival response helps us navigate danger, but also supports us in connection, work, and play. For individuals who have endured trauma, however, the nervous system can remain “stuck” in survival mode. This imbalance often leads to chemical, hormonal, psychological, and physiological challenges that block our ability to feel calm, flexible, and stable.
Therapy helps restore balance by re-engaging the body–brain–mind connection. Through approaches such as bilateral stimulation, movement, music, and Vagus Nerve regulation, the body learns to send signals of safety and calm back to the brain. As the nervous system settles, processing can begin, opening the door to deeper healing.
The primary goal of therapy is helping you feel safe, connected, and regulated—because only in this state can true healing take root.
Trauma
Trauma is any experience that overwhelms your ability to cope, make sense of, or put into words what has happened. In those moments, the body responds instinctively with fight, flight, fawn, or shutdown—natural survival responses designed to protect you.
These experiences can leave lasting imprints on both brain and body, shaping how we see ourselves, others, and the world around us. Trauma influences thoughts, emotions, and behaviors—sometimes consciously, but often in ways we don’t even realize.
At its core, trauma disconnects and fragments our sense of self. It shifts focus away from purpose, curiosity, and meaning, and pulls us into patterns of fear and survival. Healing is the process of restoring safety, reconnection, and wholeness.
Therapy
I integrate both bottom-up and top-down approaches—such as EMDR, Vagus Nerve stimulation, autonomic nervous system regulation, art, music, mindfulness, and somatic techniques—to support healing. These methods help shift the body from a state of protection and defense (sympathetic system) into a state of calm, safety, and connection (parasympathetic system). The Vagus Nerve plays a key role in guiding the body out of fight-or-flight and into regulation.
By engaging the body first, clients can process experiences without needing to repeatedly retell trauma stories, which often reactivate distress and slow progress in therapy. Once the nervous system is settled, deeper exploration becomes possible. Each client’s goals are unique, but the process consistently centers on reconnection—allowing thoughts, feelings, and emotions to safely surface for reflection, integration, and healing.
Hope and Healing with TheMountainVue
Deborah C. Kish, MACC, LPC, NCC
I began pursuing my passion and love of medicine in the Nursing program at the University of New Mexico. After a Major change, I graduated with a Bachelor of Science degree in Psychology/Biology, July of 2000. January of 2018, I received a Master of Arts in Christian Counseling, focused on the Integration of Psychology and Theology; Gordon-Conwell Theological Seminary, Charlotte, NC Campus.
I am currently a Licensed Clinical Mental Health Counselor (LCMHC/LPC) in North Carolina, license #13945. In addition, I am a Nationally Certified Counselor as designated by NBCC, having fulfilled CACREP Accreditation requirements at GCTS. I specialize in severe mental health issues, specifically trauma and co-occuring disorders.
I have extensive experience counseling adolescents, adults and families throughout clinical internships at Family Preservation Services and Randolph Primary Care-Carolina HealthCare System (Atrium) on an Integrative Care team. I worked at LivingWell Counseling from 2018 to 2019 prior to opening my own private practice; MountainVue Counseling, PLLC in March of 2019.
I have counseled in a variety of settings including mental health hospitals, day treatment centers, intensive in-home therapy, and integrated care teams. Currently, I am private practice due to the confidential/intensive/delicate nature of the work involved. My areas of expertise range from Complex Trauma/PTSD, relational issues, self-esteem, identity issues, spiritual/faith integration, addiction, anxiety, depression and grief and loss to more severe mental illness such as mood, personality disorders, Schizophrenia and Dissociative Identity Disorders. I have been certified in EMDR (Eye Movement Desensitization Reprocessing), Motivational Interviewing, Complex Trauma, CCTP (Certified Clinical Trauma Professional) and ZONES of Regulation to name a few. My current focus and area of study is the NeuroBiology of Traumatic events and processes over the lifespan.
I use a variety of therapeutic approaches, modalities, dynamic techniques and tools tailored to the needs of each individual. I have experience with and draw upon theoretical approaches such as the PolyVagal Theory, Internal Family Systems, EMDR, Motivational Interviewing, Trauma-Focused CBT, Somatic Movement and Manipulation, ANS regulation, Art Therapy, Psychodynamic therapy and a variety of Addiction Recovery interventions; operating from the lens of The NeuroBiology of Traumatic events and responses.
