A Gentle Approach to Targeting What Hurts The Most.

My name is Ananda DeMaio and I am an EMDR therapist. EMDR (Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing) is most widely known for being used to treat Trauma, both PTSD and Complex Trauma. However, my clients come to me for so many nuanced reasons and it has been through using EMDR to work through a variety of stuck moments in traditional talk therapy that I have experienced its true potential.

With a lengthy and diverse background in an array of community mental health settings as well as privately funded treatment centers across the country, I learned early on and often how truly impactful our early experiences in life are to our adult experience regardless of our background. I have yet to encounter a human life without suffering, yet I am also keenly aware that the experience of that suffering also varies greatly depending on many factors that usually first show up in childhood.

Becoming a mother deepened my understanding of the unique emotional landscape surrounding pregnancy, birth, and parenthood in general. My own personal experience with birth trauma - and healing it using EMDR - inspired me to seek specialized training in Perinatal Mood Disorders, allowing me to offer informed and compassionate support during this significant life stage. It is also this life stage of ours that joins together our children’s early childhood to their adulthood, making it that much more important that you are supported well during this time.

My own journey through life as a daughter, sister, wife, mother, social worker, and complex human has profoundly shaped my approach to therapy. These roles have illuminated the importance of connection, deepening relationships, building resilience, working towards better emotional regulation, setting boundaries, and most importantly being able to find joy in the midst of life's complexities. It is with this understanding, empathy, and eagerness that I offer my support to you.

My Services

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  • Therapy during this time supports your unique mental health journey through these crucial and emotional life stages. I welcome all birthing individuals and partners seeking support for challenging experiences, mood changes, troubling thoughts, general well-being, trauma, difficult or complicated birth, processing loss, and finding joy in the upheaval.

  • Navigating the emotional landscape, identity shifts, and relationship challenges that arise in parenthood is not for the faint of heart. The kids, your partner, your parents, YOU. A supportive space to process challenges, receive empathy, gain practical strategies to use with yourself and with your children - all rooted in an understanding of child brain development and trauma.

  • My philosophy is that trauma is a normal response to adverse experiences. I view it on a spectrum which includes PTSD and Complex PTSD, but also experiences like unmet emotional needs, being taken advantage of, betrayal, feeling shame, the list goes on. All of these experiences deserve structured healing that works. Healing from your trauma will incorporate an integrated approach using a blend of EMDR, Internal Family Systems, Cognitive Behavioral Therapy, and talk therapy all based on your unique needs. Therapy will help you regain control over your responses to triggers and past events and truly feel a difference internally.

  • Heal faster with an EMDR Intensive. Although an intensive can appear to be a larger investment up front, this focused approach can save you some serious time and money in the long run. Dedicate extended time to rapidly, yet safely and gently with an integrated approach, process through your targeted goal without the interruption of life between weekly sessions. This option is ideal for individuals ready and wanting to address and move through something quickly.

    EMDR Intensives start at 3 hours, Typically book on Tuesdays or Saturdays and are $250 an hour. Payment plans are available to make this accelerated healing accessible.

    Please inquire via email for scheduling purposes.

  • I have such a passion for working with individuals attempting to maintain any stage of their recovery whether it’s early or long term. Years of experience working at every treatment level of care eventually led here to Private Practice where it has finally felt the best; supporting individuals at the outpatient level in an individualized way with the ability to identify and work on the root of things.

My Practice

I provide therapy both in person in the state of Rhode Island and virtually via Telehealth in the states of Rhode Island, Massachusetts, Minnesota, and Connecticut. Clients must reside and/or be present in one of these four states at the time of our therapy session.

My office in the heart of Wayland Square in Providence, RI provides a warm and inviting atmosphere where you can enter a neutral space and find comfort, safety, and calm during our sessions together.

State Licensing Information:

  • Rhode Island: LICSW 02751

  • Rhode Island: LCDP 00760

  • Massachusetts: LICSW 122872

  • Minnesota: LICSW 33271

  • Connecticut: LICSW 15177

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My Approach

The foundation of our work together is a genuine and supportive connection. From our initial sessions, my focus is on creating a safe and comfortable space where you are truly seen and heard.

This important process of getting to know one another, what matters most to you, and your goals for therapy allows us to build a solid base of trust. From this secure foundation, we can then explore deeper issues and work collaboratively towards meaningful change and healing.

  • Her warm and grounded presence created a safe space where I felt comfortable sharing things I had never said out loud. Her approach didn’t just make room for my pain—it helped me work through it with a precision and gentleness that was both empowering and liberating. I experienced breakthroughs and “a-ha” moments that reframed my entire relationship with the trauma.

    Elise

  • I’ve been to a number of counselors and never continued going. Ananda is very professional and makes it very comfortable to open up.

    Lisa

  • Initially resistant to being seen beyond addiction stereotypes, my first meeting with Ananda changed everything. Her compassion and understanding were unlike anything I'd encountered before. Her guidance has been crucial, and I still rely on it four years into my recovery.

    Nick

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A woman in a pink dress holding a child on a beach, with waves and cloudy sky in the background.
A pregnant woman standing outdoors with a young girl standing on a bench, touching her belly, while a man sits nearby, all surrounded by trees.
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