Denise Dalgarn, MS, LMFT

Denise's Clinical Foundation

Denise is a Licensed Marriage and Family Therapist in California, Texas, Kansas, and Utah. Her professional development has centered on advanced trauma treatment models that address both developmental and sudden trauma, including work with structural dissociation, attachment disruption, and identity fragmentation. Denise integrates neuroscience-informed approaches with depth-oriented clinical work, drawing from models that honor both the body and the mind. Her training includes advanced applications of trauma processing therapies, ego state work, and dissociation-informed interventions. Denise has pursued ongoing consultation and continuing education specifically focused on treating highly dissociative clients, early and preverbal trauma, and complex attachment injuries. Her clinical stance is steady, respectful, and collaborative. She views symptoms not as pathology to eliminate, but as adaptations that once served survival. Treatment focuses on safety, stabilization, and careful pacing, allowing the client’s system to unfold in a way that preserves autonomy and dignity.

Why Denise Appreciates Trauma Model Therapy (TMT)

Denise deeply values Trauma Model Therapy, developed by Colin A. Ross, for its clarity, flexibility, and profound respect for the client.

At the heart of TMT is a deep respect for the client’s internal system. Rather than imposing interpretations or forcing integration, the model encourages collaboration and consent at every level of treatment. Denise appreciates how Dr. Ross emphasizes listening carefully to the client’s lived experience and allowing their internal system to guide the pace, sequencing, and direction of therapy.

TMT provides a structured, organized framework for addressing trauma-related disorders across a wide diagnostic spectrum — including dissociative disorders, complex PTSD, mood disorders, psychotic symptoms, and personality adaptations. Denise values the way the model conceptualizes symptoms through a trauma lens, creating coherence in cases that might otherwise appear fragmented, confusing, or treatment-resistant. Rather than focusing solely on symptom reduction, TMT seeks to understand the origin and function of symptoms within the individual’s trauma history.

One of the strengths Denise appreciates most about TMT is how seamlessly it blends with other therapeutic approaches. The model does not compete with other modalities; instead, it provides a stable scaffolding that strengthens and organizes them. Denise finds that TMT integrates naturally with parts work, EMDR-informed processing, attachment-focused therapy, somatic and nervous system–based interventions, and ego state therapy.

The result is a treatment approach that is both structured and adaptable — clinically grounded, trauma-informed, and deeply responsive to the individual client.

Clinical Highlights:

Favorite Approaches: Trauma Model Therapy (TMT), Attachment-based Therapy, EMDR, CBT, Image Transformation Therapy, Clinical Hypnosis

Consultation Style:

Denise’s consultation style is steady, thoughtful, and collaborative. She approaches clinicians with the same respect for autonomy that she brings to clients.

Her consultation work is characterized by:

• Careful case conceptualization through a trauma-informed lens

• Attention to dissociation and system dynamics

• Practical application of theory to real clinical challenges

• Emphasis on pacing, containment, and therapist regulation

• Support for clinicians working with high-acuity or highly dissociative clients

Denise creates a consultation environment where clinicians can think clearly, slow down complex material, and strengthen their confidence in treating trauma-related disorders. She prioritizes clarity over urgency and depth over quick fixes.

Types of Counseling Experience:

Denise has extensive experience working with:

• Complex trauma and developmental trauma

• Dissociative disorders, including DID and structural dissociation

• Preverbal and attachment trauma

• Clients with chronic shame and “not good enough” core beliefs

• Survivors of interpersonal violence and high-betrayal trauma

• Clients navigating medical trauma and persistent somatic symptoms

• Individuals preparing for legal proceedings related to trauma

Her clinical work often involves clients who have felt misunderstood, misdiagnosed, or labeled as "resistant." Denise is particularly skilled at helping clients make sense of confusing internal experiences by organizing symptoms within a coherent trauma framework. Across settings, her work is marked by steadiness, respect, and careful pacing — allowing clients to build safety before moving into deeper trauma processing.

TMT Consultation Details:

• Individual: $80 per hour

• Group: $50 per hour (2–4 people in a group; flexible scheduling)

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