ABOUT
About Daphne Fatter, PhD
Trauma is layered. So is this work.
I am a licensed psychologist, and I provide continuing education, trainings, and workshops on integrative trauma-informed therapies for people who offer mental health services. I consult one to one and in groups, I speak, and I write. My mission is to advance the field of trauma treatment through integrative trauma-informed therapies, including the integration of EMDR, parts work, neuroscience, and other evidence-based practices.
Who I Work With
Clinicians, and the organizations that train them.
I work with mental health providers in every setting imaginable, from providers serving active-duty military to community mental health, college counseling centers, the VA, and group and solo private practice. Early career, mid-career, and clinicians decades in who want to deepen their trauma-informed lens. What they share is a value for growth and a belief that learning a new skillset is possible and practical.
I also work with the organizations that train them. Group practices, agencies, community mental health centers, military bases, universities, conference programs, and continuing education companies, where a director or a training coordinator is solving for a whole team rather than for themselves. They want their providers to become more trauma-informed with current, innovative skills that improve treatment outcomes. And I consult with AI and digital mental health companies who want a trauma-informed lens on the products and services they are building.
I also write for anyone trying to decide whether to stay in a relationship or leave it, and my second book is for them.
Areas of Expertise
What I teach, consult on, and speak about.
Twenty years of treating PTSD and complex trauma, and ten years of teaching it. These are the areas I am most equipped to guide people through.
IFS/EMDR integration for complex trauma, my own model and method
Trauma reprocessing, including building readiness and what to do when reprocessing stalls or loops
Parts Work and the IFS model within trauma treatment
Trauma-informed stabilization tools and polyvagal-informed regulation
The neuroscience of traumatic stress, and how to apply it in a session
EMDR consultation toward EMDRIA certification
Ancestral, intergenerational, collective, and historical trauma
Trauma-informed consulting for organizations and for AI mental health products
Values-based decision making and self-compassion
Neuroscience-Informed Trauma Training That Builds Clinical Confidence
I tailor trainings to meet people's specific needs. If a team only provides telephone sessions, that is what I teach to. If they only work with veterans and active-duty military, I keep the focus on what is clinically recommended for those populations.
My Approach
Working together is about a relationship.
Trauma is the root of most mental health struggles. I learned that across the settings I have worked in, and it shapes everything I teach. The right intervention depends on the client's symptoms, their treatment goals, the reprocessing options available, and the practical constraints of the setting you work in. So I provide choices that are trauma-informed, innovative, and integrative, to support you in what you need.
Everything I teach is integrative and grounded in research and neuroscience. I work from EMDR, Parts Work and the IFS model, Cognitive Processing Therapy, narrative therapy, mindfulness and self-compassion practices, and ancestral lineage healing. Two of the integrations are my own: bringing the IFS model together with EMDR, and bringing Parts Work together with ancestral lineage healing. I also created STARR®, Self-Tapping for Attachment Readiness and Repair, a multi-sensory intervention using slow self-tapping for internal connection between Self and parts.
The feedback comes back the same way every time. Clearly organized, informative, relatable, practical. What I am listening for is the ah-ha moment, when the neuroscience and the intervention click together and a clinician can see exactly what to do differently.
Daphne Fatter, PhD
Licensed Psychologist, Trauma Educator, Consultant, and Author
My path to this work
Twenty years of treating PTSD and complex trauma.
I am a licensed psychologist with twenty years treating PTSD and complex trauma, across the VA, community mental health, college counseling centers, and private practice. I earned my Master of Arts in Transpersonal Counseling Psychology at Naropa University and my doctorate in Counseling Psychology at Pennsylvania State University, then completed a postdoctoral fellowship at The Trauma Center under the direct supervision of Dr. Bessel van der Kolk. I was the Military Sexual Trauma Coordinator at the Fort Worth VA. I am EMDR certified, an EMDRIA Approved Consultant, an Evergreen IFS Trauma Consultant and Evergreen IFS Trauma Certified, and a certified ancestral lineage healing practitioner.
Decades ago I found mindfulness, Buddhist meditation, and self-compassion practices in my own spiritual life. I studied and practiced meditation in Thailand, and I began teaching mindfulness in the United States in the early 2000s. What I kept noticing was that clients with trauma histories had traumatic memories surface while they meditated. That is what sent me toward a clinical focus in trauma, and I have been a dedicated lifelong learner ever since, most recently in EMDR 2.0 and the Flash Technique. I am an expert clinician in IFS therapy, having completed over 460 hours of IFS training, including Level 3 training in 2019 with Dr. Richard Schwartz, the founder of IFS therapy. I have also trained in and have extensive clinical experience using Cognitive Processing Therapy.
From my own clinical experience and going through my own divorce and the co-parenting that followed is where my process for values-based decision making came from, and it is what my second book is built on.
I have been a continuing education provider since 2016. I have spoken at the 2025 EMDRIA Conference, the 2024 PESI Innovations Conference, the 2024 Western Canada Trauma Conference, the 2021 and 2023 IFS Institute Conferences, and PESI's 2026 EMDR and IFS Summits. I train providers on military bases including Quantico, Fort Cavazos, and Schofield Barracks, and online for the Department of the Army Sexual Assault Response Team. I have published on the IFS model, EMDR, countertransference, mindfulness, and ancestral healing, and I am the author of two books.
People remember how you make them feel, and I want you to experience me as authentic, humble, and real. If you remember one thing about me, let it be this. Life is hard, and even though life is hard, internal change is still possible.
praise
What clinicians say about training with me.
I feel honored to be a participant with an instructor that is clearly a luminary in the field. She integrated the research and the clinical pieces of therapy with extreme skill and accuracy.
Dr. Fatter was one of the most engaging presenters I have experienced. Her knowledge and manner of presenting kept me engaged and provided excellent information.
I have been working in trauma assessment and recovery for decades. I've learned to respect diverse models of recovery. I appreciated that Dr. Fatter was nuanced and accurate discussing this topic.
Get updates from me.
New articles and resources, when trainings and group consultation open, and where I am speaking next.
