Psychotherapist - Ph.D.
Cognitive-Behaviorist, Ph.D. in Clinical Psychology with Neuropsychology sub-specialization, M.A.in Clinical Psychology, M.S. in Community Counseling (Couples and Family), 38 years of evidence (science) based clinical practice, PA Licensed Professional Counselor. Specialty in Trauma (PTSD) and Addictive Disorders, working both locally in-office, and internationally through HIPAA-compliant Zoom telehealth and FaceTime. I work with all branches of the Military (active-duty, veteran, reservists, and those with bad papers), Military Sexual Trauma (MST), refugees, and civilian populations with trauma, addiction, and relational issues and disorders.
In addition to her academic and clinical work in neuropsychological assessment and complex trauma, Dr Ullman holds a PhD in Clinical Psychology, two Master’s degrees in Clinical Psychology and Counseling and a professional counseling license to practice in the state of Pennsylvania. She has had the privilege to train under world-renown neuroscientists, academicians, psychiatrists, and clinical and counseling psychologists, and for the past 30 years has been a practicing psychotherapist specializing in the assessment and treatment of PTSD and complex (developmental) trauma and addictive disorders with children, teens, adults, and those in their senior years. She has been the invited guest speaker for public, private, and global organizations, as well as the Georgia Bar Association, multiple hospitals and universities, and charity function, on issues concerning crisis intervention and preparedness, sexual addiction, PTSD in the military, and disorders of arousal dysregulation.
Dr. Ullman’s clinical and academic focus is specific to the traumatic disorders of what we refer to as “arousal dysregulation”, a byproduct of early childhood trauma that results in impulsivity, rage reactions, extreme emotional functioning, and the inability to bring their emotions under control. Increasing attention is paid to the global crisis of refugee trauma, and the peritraumatic dissociative disorders related to what was historically referred to as “shell shock” specific to soldiers returning from battle, and what we now call PTSD, as well as childhood maltreatment and PTSD in adults that have been maltreated or abused during their childhood.
Our men and women in the armed forces, whether from recent OEF/OIF deployment, or those that served in any capacity and in any conflict, whether one tour or more, are especially susceptible to depression, anxiety, and the signs and symptoms of Post Traumatic Stress as a byproduct of war and conflict, and not as a byproduct of the individual. It is important to understand that posttraumatic stress is the result of a normal, psychologically healthy individual, that no matter how well prepared, having experienced or witnessed one or multiple difficult, often unspeakable or catastrophic events, is susceptible. No one is immune, including and sometimes especially local law enforcement and fire personnel who, on a continual basis, oftentimes day-after-day, return to the streets, horrific accidents, and/or the ravages of a devastating fire, whether risking one’s own life or trying to save others, put themselves in harrowing and danger-filled situations as part of their job description.
Childhood maltreatment and developmental trauma are specific to the populations that include children and adults that have experienced predominantly early childhood trauma such as sexual abuse, neglect, and/or violence. Unfortunately and through no fault of their own, a great many of these children are unable to self-regulate their feelings secondary to their maltreatment and resultant developmental impairment. When unable to recognize and manage what would otherwise be a normal range of emotion and levels of daily stress, these mild to moderate stressors are experienced as catastrophic. Consequently, these children develop significant inter-and intra-personal issues that without intervention, persist throughout the lifespan. As they approach their adolescence and early adulthood, these disturbances generally coalesce around issues pertaining to pathological shame and fear of abandonment and betrayal, intimacy and attachment, uncontrollable anger, explosive rage reactions, and personality and dissociative disorders. These are such problematic and painful issues of daily living that more often then not and dependent upon the type, duration, and intensity of the traumatic event or events and the resilience of the child, the need to tamp down and self medicate these emotions can easily lead to alcohol and drug abuse, and the process addictions such as sex addiction, gambling, eating, cutting, and gaming.
To quote Ram Dass…” When you go out into the woods and look at trees, you see all these different trees. And some of them are bent, and some are straight, and some of them are evergreens, and some of them are whatever. And you look at the tree and you allow it. You see why it is the way it is. You sort of understand that it didn’t get enough light and so it turned that way. And you don’t get all emotional about it. You just allow it. You appreciate the tree. The minute you get near humans, you lose all that. And you are constantly saying ‘you’re too this, or I’m too this’. That judging mind comes in. And so I practice turning people into trees. Which means appreciating them just the way they are.”
