my unique approach to trauma work
I combine craniosacral therapy (bodywork) and somatic therapy (counseling)!
What is craniosacral therapy?
Craniosacral therapy is a gentle type of bodywork where light touch is applied to various parts of the body including the feet, skull, vertebral spine, and sacrum.
The craniosacral practitioner listens to the rhythms of the body, assessing imbalances, restrictions, and holding patterns while inviting the body to rearrange and rebalance itself.
The client might experience heightened sensations, resurfacing of old aches and pains, repressed emotions, nonsensical imagery, flashes of memories, and/or a deeper state of parasympathetic rest that is possible to obtain on their own.
The body will only present what is ready to be processed.
This is where healing happens!
What is somatic therapy?
Somatic therapy is style of counseling that utilizes a body-based approach to addressing the root cause of trauma, which is stored deep in our autonomic nervous system.
The somatic therapy practitioner utilizes the languages of the body (sensation, emotion, imagery, unconscious behaviour patterns) to teach the client how to track changes in their own nervous system.
The client learns to recognize their unique automatic and unconscious responses to stress and their environment. This allows them a greater capacity to resource themselves in times of challenge (and in their everyday lives) and find regulation in their system.
This counseling modality works well with cPTSD, PTSD, Anxiety, Depression, Burnout, OCD, and other trauma-based conditions.
What does a session look like?
I weave the two complimentary modalities together.
We always start with a short check-in. Exploring how the client’s system is presenting in today’s session, checking in on how they felt after our last session, and gauging intention and capacity for the present session.
We may explore a somatic orienting exercise before transitioning to the treatment table for the bodywork. This allows me to introduce mindfulness to the client’s body and assess its capacity and receptivity.
Once on the treatment table, we begin the craniosacral therapy. From here, many options arise.
We might spend the next hour in silence, giving your nervous system the deep rest it so often craves.
“Repeated activation of the relaxation response can reverse sustained problems in the body and mend the internal wear and tear brought on by stress”
Herbert Benson, MD. Timeless Healing 1996
We continue the bodywork throughout the session while intuitively inviting somatic therapeutic processing where available. Each session is unique to the client’s needs!
As we build rapport and grow our therapeutic relationship, we can deepen our somatic explorations, uncovering long held self-limiting beliefs and unconscious maladaptive behaviour patterns, ultimately creating the right conditions for trauma integration.
