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Here are a few ways we can work together
My Services
Emotional Recovery
Somatic Experiencing is a gentle, naturalistic body-oriented therapy that works with the charge and discharge of the autonomic nervous system to renegotiate acute and historical trauma symptoms.
Unhealed past trauma can stem from birth complications, attachment disruptions, child, sexual, emotional, and verbal abuse. The charge from these experiences breaches our natural protective barriers, leaving us feeling depleted of our life force energy and aliveness.
When challenging situations happen too fast and with too much intensity, the energy from these experiences can become fixated in our systems, creating uncomfortable symptoms and patterns of bracing, constriction, and holding.
Over time, if the energy from high states of arousal is not released, this activation becomes locked in our physiology creating patterns that lead to symptoms of anxiety, depression and irritability and syndromes such as migraines, chronic pain and Fibromyalgia.
Somatic Experiencing and Somatic Practice help to restore access to our natural, and organic rhythm. This has a stabilizing and healing effect on our nervous system.
When we are in a coherent state, we are open, engaged, receptive, flexible, calm, curious, creative, embodied, and whole. Coherence enlivens our connection through resonance, not only with ourselves but with each other. When we can regulate in coherence, we can connect more deeply with all that is around us.
The body has been designed to renew itself through continuous self-correction. These same principles also apply to the healing of psyche, spirit, and soul.
- Peter A. Levine, Waking the Tiger: Healing Trauma
Betrayal Trauma, Separation and Divorce
Have you experienced betrayal trauma, spouse abandonment or are you currently going through a separation or divorce? Has your partner suddenly changed overnight without any warning or complaints? Or, has there been narcissistic abuse and control?
These may be highly traumatic experiences, causing PTSD, and some of the symptoms you may be experiencing are: hypervigilance, insomnia, stomach distress and physical pain, numbing, suspiciousness, guilt, nightmares, trouble recognizing, expressing or managing emotions, among others.
Betrayal trauma coined by Jennifer Freyd, "occurs when a person's trust is violated by a person or system that they rely on for survival." There are various stages to betrayal trauma, initially, there is shock, followed by disbelief and denial, obsession, anger and sadness, bargaining, mourning and finally acceptance and recovery. These experiences are immensely destabilizing to your whole system and being, emotionally, physically, physiologically, psychologically and spiritually.
I've created a framework to support and ease these symptoms and help move clients through the stages of betrayal trauma while supporting them emotionally through separation, divorce, reconciliation or recovery. This framework includes modalities such as Somatic Experiencing, Somatic Practice, Relational Life Therapy, DARE, Strength Based Counselling, CBT, Behavioural Therapy and Self Compassion Skills.
Somatic Touch Therapy
Somatic touch therapy is designed to help the body recover from emotional, physical and traumatic overwhelm. It supports the system by creating new pathways in our neurophysiology to create and reinforce a sense of safety, calm, overall wellness and healthy function.
This work is delicately titrated and boundaried. After safety has been established, the invitation to the client is to cultivate curiosity and to listen to the signals from the body. Co-regulation is supported by the practitioner to aid the clients system to decrease the production of stress chemicals that keep our system on alert. By increasing hormones such as oxytocin, the system can begin to trust and organize towards more resilience and regulation in our organs and nervous system. As regulation deepens through a new embodied state, we open to healing from challenging situations, accumulated stress, trauma and historical holding patterns.
Somatic regulating touch can be explored by actual touch or by the client bringing attention to various organs and systems in their body. The practitioner may also join the client in their focus and attention to enhance co-regulation and deepen safe neuroception.
What does Somatic Experiencing help with?
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Decreases Pain
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Improves Digestion
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Soothes Muscle Tension
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Builds Confidence
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Increases Energy Levels
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Supports Healthy Immune Function
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Lowers Anxiety
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Balances Mood
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Relieves Migraines
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Improves Sleep
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Promotes Ease & Clarity
