3 minute Audio on Behavior Roots
Hi, I’m Annie Chen — a trauma-informed behavior analyst and breath coach, and the owner of Behavior Roots.
Behavior Roots is based on 4 foundational pillars, designed to meet you where you are and guide you toward thriving in your health, identity, and relationships.
Holistic Healing & Identity Integration
Understand how your nervous system, environment, and habits shape who you are—and learn to reconnect to your authentic self.Post-Trauma Empowerment & Self-Compassion
Uncover the tools you weren’t given growing up to support your healing journey with kindness, patience, and empowerment.Relational & Emotional Mastery
Build emotional awareness and communication skills that foster safety, connection, and resilience in your closest relationships.Education, Advocacy & Awareness
Gain knowledge and confidence to advocate for yourself and/or your family, break harmful cycles, and create sustainable change in your life and work.
My work combines practical behavior science, breathwork exercises, and trauma education. My clinical approach starts by understanding your unique situation with an in-depth assessment. From there, I provide customized tools and guidance to help you not just cope, but to thrive.
I offer an approach that offers my full presence and a compassionate ear, because I know what it’s like to be there. You don’t need to have it all figured out. You just need a safe space to begin.
Learn more about my training below.
What is ABA and what makes ABA services different?
ABA stands for Applied Behavior Analysis. It is the empirical study of anything an organism does (human or animal), or in layman's terms, it focuses on the study of behavior. Everything we do or say is a behavior. ABA research dates back to the 1970’s. The field of ABA continually evolves and changes with the most recent research. While ABA has mostly been known for its success in assisting individuals with autism, the principles of ABA can be applied to integrative health, diet, habit change, company staff development, relationship change, animal training, fitness, and general significant change in daily living.
Many services base their methods on their own life experiences or what they have found to be helpful for the collective society. ABA focuses on single-subject designs instead of the collective society. We utilize data, data analysis, and considerations for environmental factors to understand how to help you succeed. This data allows us to analyze patterns specific to you, rather than providing services based on bias, opinions, or generalizations. We focus on facts and we back it up with science!
Think of ABA experts as behavior change experts. They have a deep understanding of how and why we do the things we do. By breaking down complex behaviors into smaller parts, we can help individuals learn new skills and reduce challenging behaviors a person has learned over time (this includes intergenerational behavioral patterns!)
What is ACT and how can it help?
ACT stands for acceptance commitment therapy. Behavior roots offers acceptance commitment training, which utilizes the behavioral principles of ACT to teach you how to use these skills on your own. This is a skills-based training that offers tools for individuals to learn how to respond to their thoughts, emotions, and physical sensations in a more flexible and healthier way. The core belief of ACT is that we are all innately human and we have the ability to make choices. These day to day choices significantly impact the quality of our lives and the direction of our future.
Often times, the advice for how to handle difficult situations and circumstances from the outside world can more often than not encourage us to avoid the problem rather than address through the problem. When we get in the habit of avoiding, it eventually leads us away (or scares away) the people, values, and things that we truly care about.
How ACT assists with this is by building habits that increase psychological flexibility with a person’s thoughts, emotions, and behaviors. ACT can also address challenges such as:
How do I make choices that move me forward?
How do I respond to uncomfortable thoughts & emotions?
How do I know what matters to me?
How do I get to a place where I have the ability to take action towards the things that matter to me?
ACT has been proven to be effective in addressing anxiety, depression, addiction, substance abuse, chronic pain, PTSD, and many more.
Annie offers both 1:1 sessions for adults and children and group workshops teaching different breath practices that assist with emotional and physical ailments such as insomnia, stress, anxiety, ADHD, muscle tension, and more. What trauma-facilitated breath work offers:
A Sanctuary for Healing: Experience a safe space with guided breathwork to address stress and promote well-being.
Navigate Your Journey: Receive personalized support to understand and manage trauma responses through breath and somatic practices.
Reclaim Your Power: Empower yourself with tools to regulate emotions, reduce stress, and cultivate inner peace.
Let trauma-informed breathwork guide you to a more peaceful and empowered life.