Embodiment as an Act of Courage
What is Somatic Experiencing?
Somatic Experiencing is model that focuses on bridging the body and mind. It is well-respected and known for supporting the renegotiation of trauma and cultivating nervous system flexibility. The primarily focus is on tracking inwardly and being present to the bodies sensate experience, to the Soma. Unlike top-down therapeutic processes, with the body on board, we don’t so much need to ‘know’ or understand, we can rather give the body a voice and listen. The invitation is to feel, yield to, and be with what arises moment to moment, receiving the bodies cues as information.
This model heeds to the bodies innate wisdom and intelligence. When we are able to feel states of hyper or hypo arousal, to track and trust, we participate in the discharge of bound energy we often work so hard to keep at bay and the organization of what remains follows. We can open to spaces of what feels OK, perhaps even pleasurable. Often, and over time, we are left with more capacity, flow and physiological resilience.
What will we do together?
We work with what is not necessarily “sensible” to the linear or logical mind. Our curiosity is about the bodies story, the story of the nervous system, the different layers and levels of consciousness and slowing this all way down. This setting of pace can allow for things to surface that may not ordinarily if we use the mechanisms of mind. Through these surfacing’s, connection points can be made that might not otherwise, lending themselves to meaning making and poignant insight.
If it beckons and will provide support, we can integrate the intermodal arts to deepen confrontation, release, and integration cycles. This could be through movement, storytelling, poetics, drawing, or any other art modality that feels compelling to you personally.
I primarily work through the lens of Somatic Experiencing and the Tamalpa LifeArt process. Sessions happen via teleheath. Prices range from $60-120 per session. Sessions are 50-55 minutes.
Together we can
- attend to past traumatic events that feel “stuck” in the body
- confront our body stories, change & release
- attune to sensate experience & deepen embodiment
- regulate the nervous system
- separate what happened then from now
- increase self-regulation & orienting
- release & integrate thwarted fight, freeze & flee responses
- become resourced internally & with the arts
- and more.
“SE brought a lot of relief in my life. It compliments my talk therapy but adds something that talk therapy cannot give – something that is beyond words…Soothing, self-compassion and contentment – qualities that are so missed on an everyday basis. SE sessions have really made a difference in my life, supporting me to be stronger, more resilient, and self-aware in the long-term. Julie as a guide creates an amazing safe, compassionate space, where I can feel free and supported doing the work.”
“SE with Julie was game changing, and the missing ingredient in my healing process. Julie taught me nervous system literacy. And equipped with that literacy, so much of my life changed. When I felt anxious or unmotivated, I could approach myself with more compassion, seeing these feelings for the “nervous system injuries” that they were instead of character flaws. Thanks to Julie’s encouragement and faith in the wisdom of my body, I started finding my own ways of relating to my nervous system’s responses, and perhaps most importantly, I increased my capacity for comfort and pleasure. Julie’s understanding of nervous systems and her patient compassion earned my trust almost immediately. She truly has a gift with SE.” – Emily, CA