Therapy

One of the main goals of therapy is to help individuals and couples regulate emotions. If you've experienced trauma, abuse, or neglect in the past, this ability may have been interrupted or didn't fully develop. When life triggers old wounds, we tend to fall back on familiar ways of coping, which often leads to frustration or unhelpful outcomes.

The body
Contemporary neuroscience has revolutionized psychotherapy by bringing body awareness back to the forefront. Indigenous cultures, early psychoanalysts, and Humanists all understood the importance of the mind-body connection in healing. They recognized that integrating this capacity is essential for our well-being. When we consciously bring body awareness into therapy, our mind works more effectively. The mind needs the body to think and to feel, which is why including the body directly in therapy can be so transformative.

Somatic skills like grounding, breath awareness, therapeutic touch, and connecting sensations with movement can help you differentiate and understand your inner experience in ways you may not have realized were possible. By engaging with the body-mind connection, you can access emotions and insights that were previously hidden. This process also enhances your ability to feel safe and connected with others, deepening your understanding of yourself through present-moment awareness. Unfortunately, this natural capacity can be interrupted without the right support. Through somatic work, you can emotionally integrate what once felt overwhelming, allowing your feelings to shift and evolve based on your current strengths and resources, rather than past limitations.

The body and creativity

Creativity is central to healing because it activates right brain processing, where emotional connection and healing happen. By bringing the body into psychotherapy, we tap into the imagination in subtle yet powerful ways. This allows us to creatively process past trauma and find emotional resolution.

A relational approach

It is important that therapy takes place within the safety of a compassionate therapeutic relationship, where trust is the foundation of healing, and the body plays an integral role in this process.

Body-mind connection

Your proprioceptive, interoceptive, and exteroceptive systems  allow you to be aware of yourself internally and externally. Increasing somatic awareness opens up more possibilities for sensing, thinking, and feeling.

Your kinesthetic sense gives you access to memories, feelings, and sensations in ways that the rational, cognitive mind cannot. This helps uncover and address underlying relational patterns—both with yourself and others—that otherwise tend to repeat past negative experiences.

Your autonomic nervous system is designed to maintain a balance between exertion and rest (sympathetic and parasympathetic systems). When anxiety, depression, or trauma are present, these systems can become dysregulated. They can be restored through touch, sensorial awarenesss and movement.

Your endocrine system regulates hormones that impact your emotions. The endocrine and nervous systems work together. These systems can be synchronized, supporting how you process your emotions.

Your myofascial and neuromuscular systems influence tension patterns in the body. Somatic touch and movement help differentiate these patterns and integrate new, healthier neuromuscular responses.

Your polyvagal system, a key component of the nervous system, enables direct body-to-brain communication about emotional safety in relationships and plays a crucial role in bonding with others.

Feel free to reach out for a free consultation.