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Lara Kennerly, PsyD
Therapy for Adults Impacted by Wildfires in California
You survived the fire. But part of you is still living in it.
Evacuating in the middle of the night, losing your home, or watching your community change overnight are not experiences you simply move on from. The fear, grief, and exhaustion can stay long after the fire is out.
You are carrying something that deserves real support. Dr. Lara Kennerly provides therapy for adults impacted by wildfires, with in-person sessions in Sacramento and virtual therapy across California.
You're Grateful To Be Alive. But You Don't Feel Okay.
Maybe you find yourself scanning the sky when the air smells like smoke. Maybe your sleep is disrupted, or you wake up feeling on edge without knowing why.
You try to stay grateful. You made it out. But that does not stop the thoughts, the tension, or the emotional ups and downs. It does not make the loss feel any easier.
You might also notice others around you moving on, while you still feel stuck in what happened.
You may be experiencing:
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Feeling anxious or constantly on edge, especially during fire season
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Replaying the evacuation or the moments you had to leave things behind
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Grief for your home, your community, or your sense of safety
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Difficulty concentrating or feeling mentally foggy
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Irritability or emotional reactions that feel harder to manage
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Survivor’s guilt or questioning why you made it out
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Feeling disconnected or not fully present
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Ongoing fear when conditions start to feel similar again
These are natural responses to something overwhelming. Your mind and body are trying to process what happened, and you do not have to do that alone.
Trauma Therapy for Wildfire Survivors in California
Support for anxiety, PTSD, and the lasting impact of living through a wildfire.
For many wildfire survivors in California, including those impacted by large-scale events like the Los Angeles fires and other natural disasters, the effects can show up as ongoing anxiety, symptoms of PTSD, or a constant sense of being on edge even when things are no longer in immediate danger. These responses are not random. They are how your nervous system adapted to protect you.
Trauma therapy focuses on helping those responses settle over time. Instead of pushing the experience away, the work is about gently processing what happened, reducing the intensity of triggers, and helping your body relearn what safety feels like.
This may include working through intrusive memories, easing hypervigilance, and addressing patterns of avoidance or emotional shutdown that often follow traumatic events.
At Navigating Rough Waters Therapy, Dr. Lara Kennerly provides trauma-informed therapy for wildfire survivors in California, with in-person sessions in Sacramento and virtual therapy available across the state.
How Therapy Supports Wildfire Trauma Recovery
Wildfire trauma recovery is not about forcing yourself to move on. It is about helping your mind and body gradually come out of survival mode and feel more stable again.
Therapy provides a space to process what happened without pressure. Instead of reliving everything, the focus is on understanding your responses, reducing overwhelm, and building a sense of safety in your day-to-day life.
Over time, therapy can help you:
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Make sense of your reactions by understanding why your mind and body respond the way they do, without shame or judgment
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Process the grief, not just the loss of your home, but the loss of safety, stability, and the life you had built
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Reduce the intensity of intrusive memories and triggers so reminders of the fire feel less overwhelming
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Rebuild a sense of safety, both internally and in how you move through daily life
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Reconnect with yourself, especially if you feel different from who you were before
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Prepare for fire season with more steadiness, without constant fear taking over your day
Every person who experiences a wildfire carries something different. Therapy is shaped around what you have been through and what you need to move forward.
A Therapist Who Understands Disaster Trauma
I work with adults who have been impacted by wildfires in different ways, whether that means losing a home, going through evacuation, or living with the ongoing stress that often follows these events.
During the 2018 Camp Fire in Butte County, I supported first responders and saw up close how deeply disasters like this can affect people, not just in the moment, but long after. That experience continues to inform how I approach this work.
My approach integrates psychodynamic, insight-oriented, and trauma-informed therapy. Together, we look at how these experiences have affected you emotionally and psychologically, while also focusing on helping your nervous system feel more settled.
The goal is not to rush the process, but to help you work through grief, reduce the intensity of stress responses, and gradually rebuild a sense of safety, stability, and meaning in your life.
"Although the world is full of suffering, it is also full of the overcoming of it."
— Helen Keller
Frequently asked questions
Start Therapy After a Wildfire
You made it through something overwhelming. You do not have to carry it on your own.
Therapy offers a space to process what you have been through, at a pace that feels manageable, so you can begin to feel more grounded and in control again.
Dr. Lara Kennerly provides trauma-informed therapy for adults impacted by wildfires, with in-person sessions in Sacramento and virtual therapy across California.
Book a free 15-minute consultation to see if this feels like the right fit. No pressure, no commitment.