Somatic Therapy Sessions
Yearn to feel alive and not just survive?
One-on-One Somatic Experiencing Therapy Sessions
For various reasons, including societal conditions, familial traumas, lack of community support, many of us have not received the attuned presence of others that create the conditions to move into living a full, authentic life. To cope with this reality, we often have to push away our emotions, desires and interests to try to fit a mold in hopes to find support. Instead of finding belonging, this coping further divides us from our own self and body, and creates even more isolation. We tend to then start living from our heads and believe thoughts of unworthiness, which can perpetuate experiences of anxiety and depression. Somatic Experiencing supports us to safely re-connect to our bodies so we can rediscover who we are outside of trauma.
What to Expect
In our work together, I offer a genuine, sensitive presence to help you slowly and safely, start tuning into your own experience. Together, we will offer compassion to discarded parts of yourself. Restoring this connection to yourself and your body, allows us to discover the underlying traumas and needs that created these coping patterns. As we progress through therapy, you will learn to trust this connection and you can come in touch with your body’s innate process to let stress responses move through the body and be released. As this release takes place, you will be able to welcome back lost parts of yourself and move into a sense of worthiness and authenticity; your true home.
“The process of being seen, understood, and accepted by an attuned, empathetic other engenders a sense of genuine self-acceptance, a feeling that we are profoundly okay. We feel safe enough, strong enough, sure enough to venture courageously into the world and develop the competencies we need need to deal with life’s challenges.”
– Linda Graham
Somatic Experiencing is a specialized trauma therapy that uses the understanding of the nervous system and your body as nature to help you restore aliveness.
Indoor and Outdoor Sessions
Our sessions can stay within my office that people have noted feels like a cottage as it has a cozy atmosphere with a pine ceiling and nature objects decorating the space, and large windows overlooking a field and forest. We can also have sessions that venture beyond the four walls and onto the land surrounded by trees, plants and water.
This natural setting offers you a deeper experience of slowing down and connecting to your authentic experience as you connect with the natural wonders around you. Nature becomes the therapy room and can offer you rich lessons and connection that can give you a deeper sense of peace and belonging throughout your therapy journey.
We can slowly walk as we talk or find a quiet place to sit and take in the surroundings as we explore your inner experiences.
Ready to take the first step in your journey home?
Book an Exploration Call Today
Please complete the form below to set up a 15 minute exploration call where we can discuss the various pathways for your healing
“Trauma is not what happens to us, but what we hold inside in the absence of an emphatic witness.”
– Peter Levine
More about Somatic Experiencing
Have you ever noticed you keep telling the same story over and over again to friends, family, and even therapists, but nothing actually changes?
Instead, each time you share the story, it feels like the first time you share it as emotions, thoughts, and images keep returning. You may get some relief sharing your story but it still keeps coming back.
That is because our stories are more than words, but how our body has survived and coped with the many experiences of being alive. So, to find change, is to start becoming curious and give space for the body’s story to emerge.
Trauma is a pretty popular word these days, and let’s face it – we are all touched by elements of trauma. So, what exactly is trauma?
Trauma is anything that overwhelms us and we cannot protect ourselves or receive the right support during or after an event occurs. This results in our nervous system getting locked into a fight/flight/freeze response. Even though the event may be over, our body still sounds the alarm that danger is present. And, we then create a life trying to manage this alarm. Our mind works hard at trying to convince ourselves that we are safe, yet our body keeps that alarm going.
Somatic Experiencing is a specialized trauma therapy that uses the understanding of the nervous system and your body as nature to help you restore aliveness.
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Somatic Experiencing is a specialized trauma therapy that uses the understanding of the nervous system and your body as nature to help you restore aliveness. Somatic experiencing offers a chance for the body to stop the alarm, so we can naturally experience safety and resume living in the present.
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The cool thing is our body has an innate capacity to return to a more balanced, regulating system. When we step aside from the cognitive story, into the body’s experience, we can slowly track body sensations and allow our body to have a chance to do what it needed to do at the time of the event. This allows the fight/flight/freeze energy to slowly and safely start to shift and the alarm bell can become softer. Imagine what could be different if you weren’t daily fighting that internal alarm bell? So much more energy could be focused on living the life you really want.
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Finding the right balance between talking and getting curious about body’s experience
Invitations to slow down and bring attention to the environment
Education about trauma and the nervous system
Invitations to slow down and bring attention to emotions, sensations and movements as you tell your story
Emphasis on finding helpful and soothing sensations to support grounding and settling
A safe and gentle pace to avoid overwhelm
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Angela integrates Somatic Experiencing into her individual therapy sessions. Angela offers support for students of Somatic Experiencing and travels internationally to provide assistance at the trainings. Angela currently can provide sessions for Intermediate students in preparation for their SEP certificate.