Guiding Healing and Building Resilience
Dr. Pampinella is a bilingual Licensed Clinical Mental Health Therapist Supervisor who specializes in helping people heal from trauma and difficult life experiences.
She earned her Ph.D. in Advanced Study in Human Behavior, with research focused on EMDR and play therapy and how these approaches support healing, especially in children. This work continues to guide her approach today.
Dr. Pampinella provides therapy to children, adolescents, adults, couples, and families. Fluent in both English and Spanish, she creates a safe, supportive space where patients feel understood, respected, and empowered to begin healing.
Discover Your Path to Resilience
Dr. Pampinella began her career working with children who had experienced abuse, neglect, and abandonment at the Children’s Attention Home in York County, South Carolina.
She went on to work with adolescents in more intensive settings, including both male and female juvenile sexual offenders, as well as middle school-aged youth.
After completing her dual master’s degrees and obtaining licensure in both North Carolina and South Carolina, she served as a lead therapist in intensive in-home services. In this role, she supported children and families multiple times per week in their homes, working closely with a multidisciplinary team of providers.
She later established her outpatient private practice, where she leads a team of providers, delivers trauma-focused therapy, and provides clinical supervision, overseeing caseloads and ensuring high-quality, ethical care across services.
In addition to her private practice, Dr. Pampinella is the founder of a nonprofit organization dedicated to expanding access to mental health care. Through this work, she provides services to individuals without insurance, helping reduce barriers to care and support underserved communities. She also serves as a field professor, supervising and training graduate-level counseling students in partnership with several universities.
Over time, in response to the growing need for bilingual services, she expanded her work to include adolescents, adults, couples, and families with a wide range of mental health needs.
Building Resilience and Empowerment
In 2012, Dr. Pampinella completed EMDR training, an experience that shaped the way she works with trauma. She is EMDR-trained, EMDR-certified, and has served as an EMDR consultant, with extensive experience helping people heal from difficult life experiences.
Her approach is based on a simple idea: trauma is not just something we think about, it’s something the brain and body hold onto.
Traditional talk therapy focuses on talking through experiences, understanding emotions, and learning ways to cope over time. While this can be helpful, Dr. Pampinella also uses EMDR, which helps the brain process and release stuck memories so they no longer feel as overwhelming.
One of the key benefits of EMDR is that patients do not have to go into full detail about painful experiences. This reduces the risk of feeling overwhelmed or re-triggered, making therapy feel safer and more manageable.
Her work is structured and focused, helping patients move through unresolved experiences step by step, while still respecting their pace and comfort level.
In addition to thoughts and emotions, her approach also addresses how trauma is held in the body, helping patients feel calmer, more regulated, and more in control.
This allows patients to move beyond simply coping with symptoms and toward real, lasting healing.
Guiding Meaningful Transformation
Dr. Pampinella creates a space where patients feel safe enough to begin healing at their own pace. Her work is grounded in trauma-informed care and combines EMDR with a thoughtful, individualized approach.
She helps patients:
• Work through painful or overwhelming experiences
• Feel more in control of their emotions and reactions
• Reduce anxiety, stress, and trauma-related symptoms
• Improve relationships and daily functioning
• Build confidence and long-term emotional strength
Her goal is not just to help patients manage symptoms, but to support meaningful, lasting change.
Focus Areas: Trauma & Abuse Recovery | EMDR-Focused Therapy | Bilingual Services (English & Spanish) | Children, Adolescents, Adults, Couples & Families
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