“In order to change, people need to become more aware of their sensations and the way their bodies interact with the world around them. Physical self-awareness is the first step in releasing the tyranny of the past.”~ Bessel van der Kolk
I am trained in working with psychological and physical trauma using somatic (body-based) therapy such as Natural Processing and the Hakomi Method, as well as attachment-focused EMDR (Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing). The quote above captures the imperative nature of moving beyond talk therapy to sink into the wisdom of the body when it comes to healing. The quote below is a reminder of how deep this work is related to ancestral and racialized trauma, a lens that informs my work in every session.
Our bodies are shaped by our lives and the traumas we experience leave imprints on our somatic landscapes. From the way we hold tension, how we happen to fidget when talking about certain issues, the ways we make eye contact, and even breathe, these small imprints carry signs that a part of us is still reacting to and replaying a moment from the past that did not get resolved. In our work together, we will explore how the body and the psyche relate to one another, and how the body may be expressing what is hard to put into words. By listening to and tracking the sensations, energy and movement in the body, we can become even more aware of what has brought us into therapy, and a path to healing the issues we are grappling with, consciously or unconsciously. Together we will work to help you regulate your own nervous system, access deeper meaning and healing, and manage the intensity of emotions you may be holding in the present, or from the past, or even from something that didn’t even happen in your lifetime that got passed down to you.
“Trauma, decontextualized in a person over time, looks like personality. Trauma, decontextualized in a family, looks like family traits. Trauma, decontextualized in a people, looks like culture. When we heal our own trauma, individually and collectively, we don’t just heal our bodies. By refusing to pass on the trauma we inherited, we help heal the world.” ~ Resmaa Menakem
Below are some resources for trauma:
The Heart of Trauma by Bonnie Badenoch
The Body Keeps the Score by Bessel van der Kolk
In an Unspoken Voice by Peter Levine
Trauma and Recovery by Judith Herman
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