The wisdom of the body brings healing to the Whole Self — Somatic Therapy

 

My Basics of Counseling

I often ask clients, “Which sensation in your body tells you that you are feeling upset?”  And “Which sensation is there, right now, that is the opposite of that upset?”  The body’s language when properly engaged — called somatic therapy — has tremendous wisdom, is limitless and ever changing, inviting constant curiosity and love.

Many years ago, when I was in my twenties, a bodyworker had their hands around my rib cage, gently following my breath in and out.  They asked me, “What inspires you to be alive?” and I burst into tears!

Counselors had been asking me a very similar question “What do you like about being alive today?” for many years, trying to show me a way out of my sad, depressive feelings, with minimal success. So it wasn’t the question that did the trick, it was the combination of the question combined with my felt-sense of bone and tissue and breath, right now, in that moment.  “I LOVE being alive!!”  I blurted out through my tears.  I hadn’t really answered the question, but I knew I was LIVING the question.  I suddenly felt such a clear sense, a dynamic passion, for being alive.  Where had that non-answer, that inner-knowing been hiding my whole life?  In my chest, in my very breath, evidently.  That was the beginning of my fascination with the mindbody (and later, Spirit) connections.

I started my healing arts practice in 1996 as a Hellerwork, Structural Integration deep tissue bodywork practitioner.  Hellerwork has at its core a MindBodySpirit intention.   I did that work, along with CranioSacral Therapy, for eighteen years before becoming a counselor.  I have been using Somatic Experiencing, a body-centered trauma therapy for psychotherapists and bodyworkers, since 2005.

I also have a Masters of Arts in Psychology from LIOS college, Saybrook University.   I use all of my  education to advance my understanding of how to help those suffering from depression, anxiety, PTSD (trauma) and the host of disorders that are related to them.  I maintain my license as a Massage Practitioner (LMP) in order to practice CranioSacral Therapy.

Which part of you has been taught not to love or be loved?  Together, we can bring the lost, disconnected parts back home to be loved again.

 

Couples Counseling

Are you connecting from what you learned from your own family, or from how you feel right now with this person?  It’s probably a combination of the two.  Learn how to change the relationship by seeing more of the whole pattern, allowing new, responsive choices without changing who you are!  I can show you how to see a new person in the partner you’ve either just met, or been with for a long time.

Since I work from a Family Systems perspective, I often find value in exploring cross-cultural and cross-generational patterns that influence and inform how you behave around each other.

I am a poly-friendly, LGBTQ informed therapist.