Angela Herzog, MA, RP, SEP
Registered Psychotherapist & Somatic Experiencing Practitioner
I listened to the call of the wild, and now help others to do the same.
My playful, sensitive, and compassionate soul has guided me to create an authentic life aligned with the seasons, in the woods.
I am the somatic therapist… gone wild.
I blend Somatic Experiencing Therapy with nature’s wisdom. I help people move through burnout and life transitions by un-learning the pressures of productivity and returning to their own natural rhythm.
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Conforming myself didn’t work
For a long time, I tried to do life the way we’re "supposed" to. I lived in the city, I pushed, I performed, and I stayed busy. But that pace came with a cost: cycles of burnout and illness. I used to think, “There must be something wrong with me. Everyone else seems to be doing it—I just need to keep pushing.”
But as I began to listen to my own body and the natural world, I realized my body’s cues weren’t illness, but, wisdom. The cycles of the seasons invited me to slow down and align my body to nature’s rhythms instead of society’s.
I realized I wasn't broken, but the system is.
I simply could not heal my nervous system while staying trapped in the very environment that was overstimulating it.
Beyond the Four Walls of Therapy
In my years as a therapist, I also noticed this heartbreaking pattern. So many clients believed their struggles were uniquely theirs, yet I heard those same fears of "not doing enough" echoed by almost everyone who sat in my office chair. I saw how traditional, individual therapy could inadvertently reinforce that sense of isolation, and toxicity of productivity culture. Resulting even in therapy becoming, quick fixes and band-aids.
I wanted to create something different.
The Vision
I wanted to create offerings that returned nature’s wisdom to the center. I wanted to remind us of the interconnectedness that ancient cultures once shaped their lives around.
By returning to this innate wisdom, we can finally put down the heavy burden of 'fixing' ourselves and begin the sacred process of un-learning.
The Move
After a couple of years of resisting the vision, due to being scared to leave behind what was familiar, I listened. I packed up my life and my city office and moved North. I traded the four walls for the woods and waters of Manitoulin Island.
This move pushed me straight into the disorientation of transition. At first, I felt lost, pining for the comforts and the familiar city life. But as I allowed myself to grieve my old life, a new one began to solidify. I replaced the frantic pace of productivity, with a slow alignment to the land, building a new sense of belonging with the nature beings and the people of this island.
This transition was my own deep process of internal re-wilding, and it is the foundation for how I walk beside you in yours
My approach is simple: You are not broken.
You are a living system that has been trying to survive an unsustainable, toxic environment. In our work together, we stop looking problems to fix, and start looking for wisdom. We look at how your nervous system has protected you, and we gently invite it to find a new, more spacious rhythm.
I weave together several different approaches to support this healing:
Somatic Experiencing® (SE): This is the foundation. We work with the biology of your stress response, helping your nervous system release stored tension and rediscover a sense of internal safety.
Nature-Based Therapy: We step outside the "clinical box." By partnering with the land as a co-regulator, we allow the seasons to teach us how to ebb, flow, and rest.
Rites of Passage Framework: We look at life’s big transitions and burnout through the lens of initiation. We honor the severance from the old, the threshold of the unknown, and the eventual incorporation of the new self.
Internal Family Systems (IFS): We get curious about the different "parts" of you—the ones that push, the ones that protect, and the ones that are tired.
Attachment Repair Work: We explore how your early connections shaped your sense of belonging and work to create a secure, steady base within yourself and your current relationships.
CBT & Solution-Focused Therapy: While we dive deep, we also stay practical. We look at the patterns of your thoughts and find tangible steps to help you navigate your daily life with more ease.
The Roots: Creditionals and Qualifications
I am a Registered Psychotherapist (CRPO) with a foundation in both science and soul. I hold a BA in Psychology and an MA in Counselling and Spirituality from the University of Ottawa.
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Before launching private practice, my clinical roots were formed in the social service sector. I spent years supporting young mothers, survivors of domestic violence and childhood trauma, unhoused youth, and individuals navigating complex mental health needs.
These roles were my first true teachers; they continually affirmed for me the incredible resilience and resourcefulness of the human spirit.
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Somatic Experiencing® Practitioner (SEP): Completed the full three-year trauma resolution training through the SE Trauma Institute.
International Assistant: Assisted in Somatic Experiencing® professional trainings globally.
Post-Advanced SE Education: Specialized training in Developmental Trauma and Somatic Attachment Repair (trained by Kathy Kain and Stephen Terrell).
The Alchemy of Shame: Advanced somatic study of shame and its resolution.
Touch Skills for Therapists (Part One): Somatic resilience and touch-based co-regulation.
Ceremony and Rites of Passage: Specialized training in mapping and marking transitions with ritual through the Somatic Nature Therapy Institute.
Internal Family Systems (IFS): Workshops facilitated by Risa Adams; ongoing IFS clinical consultation.
Focusing-Oriented Therapy: Training in Focusing and Wholebody Focusing to support a compassionate relationship with inner parts.
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Nature is my greatest teacher and my primary co-regulator. My relationship with the land is both professional and personal, shaped by years of wilderness exploration, intimacy with the elements and ecological restoration.
Soul Discovery Course: Purpose Guides Institute,(Founder Jonathan Gustin) based on the eco-depth psychology of Bill Plotkin.
Eco-Spirituality Program: The Living Centre.
Learn the Land: Guelph Outdoor School.
Ecological Restoration Projects: Ignatius Jesuit Centre