In the deep, sometimes secret places of your being there lives a desire for healing and restoration that starts with a longing to be seen, listened to, and deeply understood.heart

about More than therapy – I welcome you to a deep, root cause healing process for all aspects of your experience – for emotional, physical and energetic symptoms. This is somatic soul healing work – not just for brief relief, this is a life changing process for your body, mind and soul – that can bring about changes to last a lifetime.

The deep work of allowing yourself to be fully seen, consistently witnessed by love, and to receive from a place of belonging. To fully experience the language of your aliveness and feel it pulsing through your fingertips.

We will land in the body with space to unwind and release deeply held trauma patterning – stored in the body – and begin to process our deepest, hidden wounds and symptoms in a slow, soft and safe container. I’m glad you found your way here.

When you take time to listen, you can hear a small voice that urges you towards healing. This voice may invite you into exploring what keeps you from love, belonging and peace – and it dares you to hope for fuller joy and well-being. somatic healing

I approach you with empathy and genuine embodied presence to promote trust and safety – a nurturing experience of the heart. I will attune to you, look beyond symptoms and pathology, and hold you gently to process hidden pain that you may carry – and this can lead to healing a multitude of hurts.

We heal, together. In relationship and in community. The relationship we build together can be healing – in and of itself. The experience of being with someone who values you and your experiences, and takes into account your body, mind and heart, can foster growth and a new sense of well-being that transcends the therapeutic space into your relationships and into the world.

Working together is a safe place for you to experience healing through a lens of safety, presence, and regulation. I understand that your body already knows how to heal itself, if it is allowed to experience more safety and less survival energy. From the moment you enter into my healing space, I see you as whole and complete. I have learned to lean into the truth – that your body is capable of creating new neural pathways in your brain that allow for less stress/anxiety/discomfort and more ability to learn, relate, and heal. 

This is a journey of embracing and exploring the feminine aspect of ourselves through our bodies and our lives. Early in our lives, there is an initial separation from the feminine, as we separate from our mother and search for identity in a masculine-defined culture. We often end up asking ourselves, what is all of this for? We may have achieved a lot, feel burned out and still feel empty. We’ve lost a deep relationship with ourselves. When we come back to ourselves through the body, and uncover the role of patriarchy and begin to open to and embrace the feminine aspect of our true nature.

This body-based healing work is based on the theory that when we experience ruptures during our development years, they continue to disrupt our lives at any age. This disruption can be seen as behavioural challenges, psychological challenges, spiritual challenges, and physical challenges. My offering is a combination of the important work of relational, family of origin healing and body-brain somatic healing.

As a heart-mind embodiment therapist, psychosomatic body-focused practitioner, somatic movement healing and body trust educator, and integrative intuitive energetic practitioner, I have a passion for supporting others to awaken to their true self, cultivate body-focused, energetic awareness and reclaim their innate body wisdom through integrative somatic energetic healing. I’ll support you to liberate your somatic consciousness, uncover the roots of your being, awaken to deep truth and your own inner healer. I’ll guide you to excavate the gifts hidden within your deepest wounds.

I will guide you to activate the energy of your body and reclaim the wild truth in yourself. I provide a bridge between the realms of psychological and physical medicine and traditional women’s wisdom – and apply this ancient energy to your modern life. I’ll offer you a gentle, nurturing, feminine approach to healing, transformation and embodiment. Cultivate your inner ability to receive, heal chronic stress patterns, resolve trauma & disconnection from self and transform your relationships. This is deep soul work – with space for love, support and understanding to begin to flow again.

What is true for you lives in the sensations and silence in your body – let us experience this truth together – this is healing from the inside out – and the body is the answer. For behaviour patterns to change, we need to explore the roots of these behaviours, which may include attachment wounds and unresolved trauma.

Your body doesn’t have energy – it is energy. When you feel truly safe at the root of your being – traumatic stress that is contained in your nervous system can begin to move – energy can begin to flow in your body and chronic emotional patterns and symptoms can lift – so we feel more energetic, grounded, healthy and alive. This healing can happen for everyone – embody true joy and feel it in your whole body.

We all long for deep, heartfelt connection, yet opening to another person brings to the surface our conditioned patterns that tend to shut this connection down – our deepest wounds, worst fears, lack of trust, and emotional trigger points – rise to the surface. We may never have felt fully loved or connected – so we have developed self-protective, defensive patterns that insulate us from the vulnerable openness that love brings. somatic healing

As babies, we developed in a certain way to adapt to our environment – and it is possible to expand ourselves emotionally and physically so we feel more fully alive. We can move beyond our trauma imprint – our self-protective, defensive patterns – a type of survival mode, and feelings of defensiveness and control – to heal our old energies of abandonment, hurt or rejection that happened long ago, that undermine the possibility for the deeper, heartfelt and embodied connection that you long for in your life now.

Thank you for letting me see you.

“If you want to improve the world, start by making people feel safer.” ~ Dr. Stephen Porgesomatic healing

Healing trauma isn’t about fixing or figuring it out.
It’s not about pushing for change.
You are not broken. You don’t need to be fixed.
Your body has the wisdom to heal itself.
I will support your body to connect to this deep wisdom.
Discover how healing can happen in the here and now.

Somatic healing invites in those who have become prisoners to a life lived in survival mode. It offers reprieve so you can better understand yourself and your nervous system.

Once you experience this work, you will realize that there isn’t anything wrong with you. The way you feel, think and behave, although seemingly self-destructive, has been an armouring of self-protection – a necessary response to early developmental trauma or a traumatic experience.

You’ll learn that depression, anger, fear and anxiety are natural responses to an overwhelmed nervous system, trying to protect you. You can learn to be a part of your healing process and learn about yourself and your body.

Soften – Allow in Support, Ease, Flowing Energy & Aliveness. Mend and Heal Our Tender Hearts & Bodies. Allow Emerging Life Force Energy to Come Back to Your Body. Compassionate. Inspired. Attuned. Meet Your Younger Part. Develop Boundaries. Heal Codependent Patterns. Create Interdependent Relationships. Love is the Deepest Truth Within You.

Integrative Somatic Relational Recovery Specialist.
Somatic Practitioner – Embodiment Specialist.
Transforming Early Childhood Developmental Trauma – Intergenerational, Inherited Family Trauma & Pre and Peri Natal Trauma.
Co-Regulating Touch Bodywork for Trauma.
NeuroAffective Touch for Early Developmental Trauma.
Somatic Support for Nervous System Regulation.
Neurochemical Support for the Brain & Nervous System.
Somatic Trauma Resolution. Somatic Attachment Healing. Somatic Awakening Method.
Feldenkrais Practitioner-in-Training.
Integrative Somatic Trauma & Resilience Specialist.
Somatic Movement Therapist & Educator.
Cultivating Somatic Resilience Sessions.

‘I get to take people on one of the most exotic explorations possible – their own self.’

Whole Body Mental Health Somatic Practice – Sacred Healing at the Roots

“The emotions and physical sensations that were imprinted during trauma (your early developmental childhood experiences) are experienced not as memories, but as disrupting physical reactions experienced in the body, in the present.” ~ Dr. Bessel van der Kolk

Heal the Trauma Body with a Whole Body Mental Health & Holistic Mind/Body Practice. Recalibrate your nervous system and release the stress and trauma that shows itself in your body in the form of emotional and relational concerns and physical pain, illness and chronic health conditions.

Our bodies can only tolerate so much stress and trauma before they begin to show signs of dis-ease in the form of emotional distress – anxiety, depression and overwhelm, accumulated stress, chronic pain, chronic illness and fatigue, fibromyalgia, PTSD, migraines, eating disorders – binge eating and anorexia, skin conditions, chronic health syndromes, mysterious symptoms, unexplained body pain, and many other persist health conditions that won’t go away.

Neuroscience and the Polyvagal Theory, developed by Dr. Stephen Porges, offers us new ways to heal and develop an understanding of how our bodies and minds respond to our internal and external worlds. Becoming conscious and knowledgeable in these areas allow us to create the conditions for us to experience nervous system regulation.

Your body wants to heal – when it feels safe enough to do so. This is time for you – to attend to yourself as a whole person – with a whole body health somatic approach – uncovering the impact of your past and of your daily choices on your body – as an emotional and physical being.

You will practice cultivating body-focused, embodied-presence and resilience – to be with the patterns in your nervous system, to invite expansion into your system, to understand chronic body-focused symptoms and how your body holds tension – and how this affects and contributes to your emotional and physical well-being.

As a trauma resolution, nervous system, and subtle body energy specialist – working with a psychosomatic approach and healing traumatic stress patterns and a wide variety of trauma including – somatic early developmental, intergenerational, relational/family trauma, medical trauma, abuse and neglect, and shock trauma – transforming attachment patterns in your body and in your life. We will tap into your body’s deepest wisdom as it relates to unwinding and releasing trauma physiology – related to the stress of daily living, and your patterns of attachment in relationships.

This work is designed to work deeply in your physiology – to return equilibrium to the nervous system and other organ systems in the body – to heal early developmental trauma held in your body and move beyond chronic emotional states (such as anxiety, panic and depression) and chronic physical illnesses.

My passion is helping adults, teens and children live a healthy life – to heal and move beyond labels, symptoms, emotions and diagnoses – and get to the root cause of emotional and relational struggles, physical symptoms, chronic illness and chronic pain. Many people are suffering needlessly in a healthcare system that places too much emphasis on treating symptoms with drugs rather than getting to the root cause of emotional struggles, illness, pain and disease. somatic healing

Relationally-oriented, emotionally attuned, polyvagal therapy-informed, somatic psychotherapy and co-regulating touch bodywork for trauma explicitly uses the therapeutic relationship to repair and resolve past relational wounds and chronic symptoms; and embodiment practices to foster a deeper connection to your body – how it moves, breathes, rests and feels – which is the starting point for self-knowledge in every realm of life.

The truth in you is unconditional openness, unshakeable presence, boundless love. You are already connected to everything and to all. This is a powerful path of noticing, feeling and releasing your inner blocks towards grace and freedom.

I hold deep heart space while individuals tap into their own grounded embodiment – exploring the emotional roots of physical concerns – and practice orienting to your body, feeling your emotions fully and creating a tolerance for feelings and sensations with Somatic Awareness, exploring through Somatic Inquiry, practicing Somatic Interventions, and integration through Somatic Reflection. I have taken part in my own personal somatic healing work, and I am committed to ongoing inner work. somatic healing

Put your hand on your heart, and listen closely to what you find there. Tune in to the inner guidance of your body and trust yourself.

“All of our dysfunctions, our relationship problems, the pain we carry, the resentment that we harbour towards others – and the anger we generate towards our partners – originates in early developmental childhood trauma.” ~ Dr. Gabor Mate

Within our emotional wounds, chronic symptoms, suffering and pain, our truest gifts are hidden – it’s not a gift in the moment, but it can be, when new understanding and healing happens afterwards.

I am a graduate of the Toronto Institute for Relational Psychotherapy. TIRP is widely recognized as being a leader in the training and practice of relational psychotherapy. Its unique training model equips therapists to be particularly open to the personal, embodied presence and a ‘here and now’ approach that is required of therapists working in a relational model.

I am also a Somatic Experiencing Practitioner (SEP), Co-Regulating Touch Bodywork for Trauma & NeuroAffective Touch Practitioner, Craniosacral Therapist and Clinical Somatic Movement Therapist & Educator – offering an Integrative, Body-Focused, Hands-On, Trauma-Informed Psychotherapy and Bodywork which works gently to deactivate an overwhelmed nervous system. My work provides support for your body and helps to orient your physiology towards safety and nervous system regulation – and based on a somatic, neurobiological, nervous system-focused  approach to healing early developmental, inherited and shock trauma. It is excellent for treating single incident trauma such as accidents; prolonged periods of stress in your life; and early developmental trauma with longstanding feelings of anxiety, depression, overwhelm, loneliness, stuckness and chronic illness and pain. 

I’ve learned and share many specialized teachings for trauma, chronic illness and chronic pain – and other ways of being in the body, including – Somatic Experiencing (SE) by Dr. Peter Levine PhD, Sensorimotor Psychotherapy for Trauma & Developmental Injury by Dr. Pat Ogden PhD., Nurturing Resilience & Trauma, Co-Regulating Touch Bodywork for Trauma with Kathy Kain PhD, Somatic Resilience and Regulation (SRR) with Stephen Terrell PsyD & Kathy Kain PhD,  Transforming the Experience-Based Brain (TEB) with Stephen Terrell PsyD, Trauma Coupling Dynamics Certificate with Kathy Kain PhD, Foundations of Somatic Sex Education, Working with Syndromes – with Dr. Peter Levine – Syndromal Conditions are chronic conditions that have complex symptoms – such as Crohn’s disease, Fibromyalgia, Osterarthritis, Eczema, Diverticulitis, Chronic Fatigue and many others; Embodied Recovery, Somatic Attachment, BASE Relational Bodywork and Somatic Education Training – Relational Touch for Trauma Practitioners – a trauma-informed bodywork model for working with complex trauma patterns – and attachment, relational, intergenerational and developmental survival patterns, NeuroAffective Touch (NAT) by Dr. Aline LaPierre; The Safe & Sound Protocol by Dr. Stephen Porges, EMDR – Eye Movement Desensitization & Processing, Brainspotting, Applied Quantum Biology Essentials, Taoist Tao Touch Chi Kung, Holistic Pelvic Care Essentials, Biofield Tuning – Sound Healing, Clinical Counseling Hypnotherapy, Unwind Tension Patterns with Craniosacral Therapy and the Flowing Fluid Dynamics in your Body, Menopause Doula Training, Somatic Attachment Therapy, Certified Breathing Specialist – Sleep Better and Breathe Better with The Butekyo Breathing Technique, Clinical Somatics Movement Educator – Hanna Somatics – Freeing the Body from Painful Patterns, Embodied Mindfulness, Relational Psychotherapy, Integral Somatic Psychology, Integrative Body Psychotherapy, Dynamics of Coherence in the Body with the School of Inner Health, Somatic & Movement Therapy, Attachment Theory, Family Systems Theory and Family Constellations, Applied Functional Medicine, Intuitive Eating Practitioner – an Anti-Diet Approach to Wellness, IFS – Internal Family Systems Therapy, Neuroscience, Interpersonal Neurobiology with Bonnie Badenoch PhD, Wisdom & Awakened Feminine teachings, Dr. Gabor Mate – When the Body Says No & Compassionate Inquiry, Trauma & The Embodied Brain, The Polyvagal Theory, Pre-and-Peri-Natal Psychology with Myrna Martin, Embodied Presence Process, Healing Relational Trauma, Childhood Emotional Neglect with Dr. Jonice Webb, Nutritional and Integrative Medicine for Mental Health, Chronic Pain & Illness with Veronique Mead MD, Somatic Sex Education, Nutritious Movement, Continuum Movement, Somatic Movement Practice, Body-Mind Centering, ECO Nidra – Cultivating a Deep Connection with Nature and the Earth, Dream Exploration, Open Floor Movement, Dance as Medicine, Phoenix Rising Yoga Therapy, Pilates, Psychospiritual Inquiry & Buddhist teachings, Trauma & The Realization Process, Conscious Parenting, Women’s Embodied Health & Well-Being – unifying what I do physically, spiritually and emotionally – and connecting me to the larger whole.

A Registered Psychotherapist (RP), Integrative Relational Somatic Trauma Therapist, Co-Regulating Touch Bodywork for Trauma Practitioner, Cultivating Somatic Resilience & Nervous System Regulation, Biodynamics of Trauma Practitioner, Somatic Awakening Method, Heart-Mind Embodiment Teacher, Nervous System Specialist, Somatic Experiencing (SE) Practitioner, Interpersonal Neurobiology Practitioner, Mind-Body Health Specialist, Healing the Mother & Father Wound and One-on-One Family Constellations Practitioner, Awakened Feminine Mindfulness Teacher, Functional Medicine Practitioner, Somatic Movement Teacher & Therapist and Integrative Somatic Healing PractitionerI share an embodied, relational, somatic and integrative approach to working with individuals, couples and with groups. Each embodied session is an invitation to go within yourself and your body and trust what you find there – to explore the root causes of emotional and physical concerns – and come back to yourself – shift your energy and create new movement within yourself. somatic healing

Underpinning each of my offerings is warm, nurturing presence and open, non-judgmental acceptance ~ allowing you to be as you are in this moment.

Along with my professional training, I practice embodiment and nervous system regulation – embodying all aspects of my whole being fully – as well as being in intentional community, connection and support with others.  I’ve explored my own wounding and developed deep inner self-awareness – along with presence, mindfulness and movement practices that ground my work within the guiding forces of my body.

I feel most at peace in the company of loving beings who are committed to community – caring about the earth and the people who surround them. I find joy in the company of my husband and dog – walking along the ocean, hiking deep in the forest, moving and dancing under the stars, laughing with loved ones and sharing space with beautiful human and animal souls.

Feeling grounded and connected to the flowing energetic aspects of my body and fluid nature is a part of my daily practice – I’m on a path of continuous integration with my own heart & soul.

One of the deepest longings of the human heart is to be seen for what we truly are. Living an authentic, liberated and fulfilling life requires us to wonder about the question “who am I?”.

Allowing space for what isn’t true to fall away – and offering resolution within us by connecting directly to the real love, peace, clarity, creativity, depth and joy that is woven into the very fabric of our being.

Discover a deep understanding of yourself and live an authentic life with freedom to move through insecurity and fear. In a field of unconditional acceptance, we will move through and beyond trauma, and persistent habits and patterns, to provide a practical foundation to unwind patterns of suffering.

You are not defined by limiting thoughts and unsatisfying feelings. There’s an embodied presence at the heart of every thought and feeling. Pure being that just is – everywhere, endlessly. It’s always at peace, no matter what happens.

Explore areas of yourself that have been uncharted until now, when you feel internally stuck, when you have habitual tendencies that seem stronger than you, or when you experience powerful outer circumstances that feel overwhelming.

Struggles will rise and fall away if you are willing to be as you are in this moment – and I want to share this possibility with you.

I’ll help you remember the song in your heart, and sing it back to your when you’ve forgotten it.

Come back to yourself with grace & ease.

I offer unconditional compassion and respect for you. I will hold space for you and guide you, at a pace that makes sense for you. Your autonomy at every stage of the process is a priority. I see our work together as sacred, and journeying alongside you is a deep honour.

Finding someone you feel comfortable sharing yourself with is an important part of your journey of awareness and understanding. This is an important relationship – and I am happy to discuss how I can support you in your life.

I look forward to deepening our connection and supporting your emotional and physical healing and growth.

Welcome. I look forward to being with you.

I draw upon a wide variety of training and experience for my work, including the following:

 

PsyD. (cand) Somatic Psychology – Meridian University. Master of Arts in Leadership from Royal Roads University. Graduate — The Toronto Institute for Relational Psychotherapy with training in Relational Psychotherapy. Somatic Experiencing (SE) 3-year Training Program. Touch Skills for Trauma Training with Kathy Kain PhD. Designation – Registered Psychotherapist (RP) – Member of the College of Registered Psychotherapists of Ontario. Member of the Canadian Association of Psychodynamic Therapists (CAPT). Applied Meditation and Mindfulness Training from the University of Toronto. Integrated Body Psychotherapy (IBP) Training Program Studying Body-Mind Centering Somatic Movement Education Program. Somatic Experiencing Institute – Practitioner in Training. Ego State Therapy – Love instead of Fear – Choose Again International. Embodied Mindfulness Yoga Therapy Training Program – Ottawa School of Embodied Yoga Therapy. Phoenix Rising Yoga Therapy Training. Open Floor International Ecstatic Dance Electives – Teacher Training. Trauma-Sensitive Yoga Training – Trauma-Sensitive Yoga Center. Emotionally Focused Therapy (EFT) Certification – (Book – ‘Hold Me Tight’ by Susan Johnson). Couples Therapy Certification from the University of Guelph. Buddhist Psychology and Psycho-Spiritual Inquiry with John & Jennifer Welwood. Intensive Studies in Energy Medicine, Qi Gong and Spontaneous Conscious Movement. Buddhism Studies within the Shambhala Buddhist Tradition in Toronto. Body, Breath and Energy Training at The Haven. Executive Coach Training from Royal Roads University.
Certified Pilates Instructor – Body Harmonics. Yoga for Depression with Amy Weintraub. Body/Soul Retreats with the Marion Woodman Foundation. 5 Rhythms Dance & Movement. Spiritual Writing Circle Leader. Self-Acceptance, Self-Compassion & Self-Love Retreat Leader.