Somatic Therapy (Body Centered)

Another model I frequently incorporate in session is Somatic Experiencing, a body-oriented modality aimed at addressing the physical as well as cognitive aspects of trauma. I have completed the Level 2/Intermediate training through the Somatic Experiencing International Institute.

I began training in Somatic Experiencing in 2010, officially became a Somatic Experiencing Practitioner in 2014, and was an assistant trainer for years. It and the basis in understanding the nervous system from Polyvagal Theory is deeply integrated into how I approach treatment and in addition to providing individual therapy from this lens, I have been built a group therapy program called Resiliency and Regulation where individuals can learn the principles and practices.

I guide women in fostering a deeper connection with their bodies. This approach empowers you to explore your mind-body connection, addressing both emotional and physical aspects. Through body awareness, we navigate and release stored tension, promoting healing and self-acceptance. I'm all about elevating well-being and redefining your relationship with your body. My style is gentle, guided, and supportive.

I believe that most mental health issues are the result of our limbic brains working to keep us safe. Limbic brains don't understand logic, but they do understand stories and metaphors. I believe that change, at the limbic level, must include connecting to our bodies in new ways and that the most direct pathway of communication to the limbic brain is through bodily sensations. I use my training in tantric healing and in Somatic Experiencing to help guide you to healing.

Somatic Experiencing Practitioner

I have my 200 hour certification in yoga and mindfulness, and integrate somatic approaches into my work through a trauma-informed lens. My work is informed by sensorimotor psychotherapy, trauma-sensitive mindfulness, and expressive arts.

Most of the trauma-resolution modalities I work in are body based, and supporting my clients to return to their bodies as a safe place and secure base are integral in my work. I love supporting my clients to increase their capacity to track their bodily awareness and integrate this information into their more global self-awareness.

Every experience we have affects us on a bodily level. We feel emotions in a physical way, thoughts make us cringe or tense up, memories can make us feel like we are physically back in the past. Traditional talk therapy ignored the body and tried to change our patterns by only engaging our thinking mind. Somatic therapy is a powerful new tool we have for healing. When we engage the body, we engage and heal all parts of our experience. I use sensorimotor psychotherapy, yoga, and meditation.

I am an integrative therapist, meaning I have trained in many different approaches and can select interventions from various modalities to best match your treatment goals and preferences. Within my continuing education, I have trained in many trauma therapy approaches such as somatic experiencing, EMDR, interpersonal therapy, CBT-TR, attachment focused approaches to trauma, and Internal Family Systems.

I am certified in Trauma Conscious Yoga Method (TCYM) and utlized body based practices in my work. What this can look like may be noticing where a certain emotion lands in your body or engaging in certain breathing techniques or postures to assist in regulation.

So much of what we experience in life and the impact of those experiences are stored in our bodies. Sometimes we've lost connection to our body, sometimes we have access but are still feeling frozen or stuck in many ways. We have clinicians trained in attachment focused somatic experiencing that can help move you through the somatic healing process in a gentle and freeing way.

Somatic therapy can be a powerful tool in your journey to heal stored trauma and integrate your body and mind. With personalized techniques like breathwork, body awareness, and breathing into sensations, it empowers you to truly process and move through your feelings and experiences, offering profound relief. By addressing trauma on a physical level, somatic therapy can guide you toward deep healing, restoring balance and resilience to your life.

I could have spent my whole life talking about trauma instead of moving it through. As a student who stumbled into the field, I was its biggest critic. I wanted evidence that the body mattered. In my most profound relationships now as client or healer, we don't talk a lot & the evidence is right there in the ability to process & release pain without analysis paralysis. I lead folx to learn from their own body how stress shapes the way they walk the world & they let it lead them toward freedom

Our bodies hold our traumas. Anxiety, tension, always being on edge, and feeling unsafe is part of trauma. Reclaim your body and your relationship with your body. Heal your trauma and learn tools to relax and ease your body.

What does somatic therapy mean and look like? Implicit memories (the ones without a movie in our head) are stored in the body keep people stuck. These memories can be released and accessed to heal the body and the mind with or without the story being shared or even touched. Together we bring on regulation, safety, with a compassionate witness to have a felt sense of being seen, heard and understood. Internalizing the safety into your body is the thrive of health.

Somatic Psychology (body-mind psychotherapy, body-oriented psychotherapy, etc.) is a holistic form of therapy that respects and utilizes the powerful connection between body, mind, and spirit. How we are in this world, how we relate to ourselves and others, is not just purely about the mind or our thoughts, but is also deeply rooted in our bodies and our spirits. Unlike traditional talk therapy or cognitive therapy, Somatic Psychology tends to be more experiential and powerful.

Our modern culture tends to solve every problem by logically thinking it through, however research shows that our body keeps the score of our experiences. By dropping into our body’s experience we can further work with the issues on the deepest level and invite lasting change. Together with somatic tools, we can bring caring attention to what your body is saying. I might help you tune into that sensation, unlock a feeling, and give you the support and tools to process what we find.

I use somatic awareness and yoga therapy.