“It’s not that settling is good and activation is bad.
Your body needs to be able to do either one, based on the needs in the moment.
Ultimately, your body will learn to activate, or settle, or move back and forth
between the two as you need to, whenever you need to.”
-Resmaa Menakem

After almost 10 years in the field of clinical social work, I realized that there was a missing piece in traditional talk therapy, the piece was connecting with the body and our physical-emotional experience.  Enter somatic therapy as an embodied way to be present with emotional wounds.  Now 20 years into being a social worker and 12 years into integrating emotional and body-centered work, I am even more convinced that our bodies must be a part of how we heal.

**I have a strong passion for working with mixed race and BIPOC folks as well as parents working to heal intergenerational patterns to shift the trajectory of their children's realities.

Sessions are not your traditional talk therapy sessions although they may include conversation and naming shifts and insight.  

So, what do sessions look like?
Your session will include:
*a check-in to connect about themes we have named and how your body is feeling
*co-regulating touch and gentle movement (sometimes passive and sometimes active)
*opportunities to create new understandings of sensations
*increased understanding of your body’s emotional language  
*embodied questions and insight

Your session might include:
*outdoor practices to focus on your senses
*creative activities to root your body’s experience- in the form of art, imagery or visualizations
*guided or independent conversations with your body
*other gentle and regulating types of bodywork such as craniosacral and ortho-bionomy

*Luna- a therapy dog who is with me on Tuesdays  (Luna generally greets clients and then either lays near you or rests near by offering what I like to refer to as "vibration therapy" (a.k.a. snoring).  Having a therapy dog present is believed to " reduce blood pressure, provide physical stimulation and assist with pain management. Social benefits {may include}  greater self-esteem and focused interaction" (www.therapydogs.com).

What does healing look like?
Healing is an ongoing process and I do not believe that any one of us is ever fully “healed”
and am not sure anymore if that is even the real goal.  “Healing” may look like:

Trusting your intuition, capacity and your body’s wisdom even during times of increased stress
Improved sleep 
Improved digestion
Decreased symptoms of anxiety, depression or trauma
Increased sense of choice
Increased ability to pause before reaction
Increased sense of Embodiment
Decreased pain/tension 
Increased ability to connect with others

How will I know if this is worth trying?  Body-centered therapy is often a good fit for folks who:

*have done the talk therapy piece a few time or for a long time and either find that that doesn’t work
for them or it’s worked but now you have hit a wall and feel stuck.
(Co-regulating touch can be a great addition to talk therapy)
*Struggle to find the words for what they are experiencing but may notice that they have a lot of headaches, belly difficulties and other physical responses to stress/emotions
 *are curious about but feel disconnected from their bodies and possibly emotional experience
*have chronic tension, pain or ongoing medical issues
*experienced significant life events early on in their lives (neglect, abuse, immigration, caregiver limitations)
*have or currently experience systemic oppression
*believe that part of their experience is connected to intergenerational experiences
*have a safe and comfortable environment to live/be in after sessions 


What might not make this a good fit right now? 
Body-centered therapy is often NOT a good fit for folks who:

*are currently experiencing active suicidal ideation or homicidal ideation
or were recently discharged from a higher level of care
*are not open to touch 
*want a more traditional talk therapy experience
*do not currently have a stable housing situation 
*live with folks who you need to be on guard with

Walk me through a session:  
When you arrive, I will offer you tea and then we will head into the office which has two rooms, one with a couch and chairs and the other with a massage table.  Before getting on the table, we will start in the room with a couch and check-in on how you and your body are feeling noting any significant insights, experiences or sensations that may have occurred since we last met.  For initial sessions, we will also touch base on what your hopes are for our sessions, your history (both emotional and body-centered). We may during this check-in identify an intention or a question that you want to post to your body.
When our check-in has finished (usually 5-10 min) then I will have you lie down fully clothed (sometimes taking shoes off feels good) on the table.  We will take some time figuring out what you might need to feel the most cozy and comfortable.  Options include heating the table, heating pads or rice bags on top of you, blankets, bolsters, and a weighted blanket.
Once you are cozy, your job is simply to be.  You do not need to breathe a certain way or try to relax or figure anything out.  You just get to be, just as you are.  Your body and the connection between our nervous systems through touch will do the work. All touch work is collaborative and consent is discussed at length.  It is okay and encouraged for you to acknowledge if you need us to stop or make adjustments.  
This work can be still and sometimes people fall asleep. And that is completely okay, this work is happening at a nervous system and body level and will happen awake or asleep.  Most people fall into a space between wake and sleep where there is space for new perspectives and shifts to occur.  

How long does treatment last?
There is not a hard and fast rule as this is not a protocol type of therapy.  It is unique to each person.  I generally recommend trying at least 4 sessions within a couple of months to see if you notice a benefit and if you do, we will collaboratively determine a frequency for your ongoing sessions.  Most people who do find this to be effective notice short-term shifts even after the first or second session but for the shifts to be more rooted, we will likely work together for 6 months or more with varied frequency.


Reach out to schedule a 20 min consultation or an initial session if this all sounds good to you!