Trauma Support
Trauma is a fact of life. Over half of American 17-year-olds have experienced trauma or witnessed it firsthand. The next person you meet is more likely to be carrying nervous system trauma (1 in 5) than they are to be left-handed (1 in 8).
While trauma fundamentally challenges our understanding of ourselves and the world, healing is possible. By examining your body’s response to traumatic experiences, we can begin to integrate your past into your current reality, helping you to reclaim a sense of wholeness and vitality.
My Philosophy
I’m trained in Somatic Experiencing, a body-oriented modality that helps heal trauma and other stress disorders. Developed by Peter Levine, Ph.D., it is the result of the multidisciplinary study of stress physiology, psychology, ethology, biology, neuroscience, indigenous healing practices, and medical biophysics, with more than 45 years of successful application.
SE resolves symptoms of stress, shock, and trauma that accumulate in our bodies. When we are stuck in patterns of fight, flight, or freeze, SE helps us release, recover, and become more resilient. The large majority of people worldwide have traumatic experiences in their lifetime, which can have major impacts on their health and well-being. Rates of trauma exposure are estimated to be anywhere from 60-100% in the general population.
How I Can Help
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Establishing Safety
The most important thing that I offer as a coach is the safest environment that I can provide for you. This means loving you exactly as you are, respecting your truth, and believing completely in your capacity for healing and your right to thrive. I will never judge your reactions to stimuli, and I will hold your experience in compassion. Even if we’ve never met, I care about you, and I know with certainty that you deserve a vibrant life full of love and care.
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Discovering Your Body’s Messaging System
At first, this can seem like an overwhelming task. Many of us with traumatic history are in a physical state of hypervigilance; consciously or unconsciously bracing ourselves against future threats. We start by working to notice how your body reacts to stimuli. Can you feel a squeezing, a tightness? Coldness in your fingers? A sense of emptiness in the pit of your stomach? I use trusted tools from Somatic Experiencing, and practices from Deb Dana and Stephen Porges’s research into the polyvagal theory to help you learn to notice your interior landscape.
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Tracking Sensation, Not Reliving Your Pain
There’s a misconception (and dangerous practice) that we have to relive painful events in order to desensitize ourselves and regain power over our history. Decades of SE research have shown that this isn’t true. Peter Levine teaches that trauma isn’t really in the event itself; it’s in your body’s response to those events. Once we’ve learned to witness the ways that your body sends you signals, we get curious about how your nervous system responds to activation. You’ll learn to observe these physical events and understand their causes, allowing you to watch them arise without being pulled under by their weight.
Schedule a Consultation
Curious if Somatic Experiencing could help you? Book your consultation call for free! We’ll talk about your questions and look at how SE can support your healing journey.