Trauma Recovery: Body-Based Modalities for Healing
Our bodies are so wise and know where to go for healing! Sharing details of what happened isn’t healing for every person, for some folks, sharing can be re-traumatizing. Together we will find what works best for you. We can employ different body-based and experiential trauma modalities like Brainspotting, EMDR, Parts Work and Polyvagal Theory to meet you where you’re at.
We aren’t here to compare our experiences and severity of what happened to us “versus” others. I take the approach of believing you, not just because that will increase comfort but because you know yourself best. You know what feels off or wrong or different!
When healing trauma, we begin by increasing your trust and security in us - as a humanistic/attachment-based therapist, this is key to all the work I do. We will also increase your coping and resourcing tools. These are going to be what works for you, not just the cliché of recommended meditations, yoga and journaling. Regulation skills and self-care are not one-size-fits-all.
How do you treat trauma?
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Brainspotting is a gentle, yet powerful modality that employs our brain and body as the drivers in healing. After determining what you'd like to tend to, we find a fixed eye position (or a few) AKA "a Brain spot" that is connected to our thoughts, feelings, and sensations. To continue reading more click this link
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EMDR is a therapy that was first developed to alleviate symptoms of PTSD and trauma. EMDR is an 8 Phase Treatment that utilizes bilateral stimulation (BLS) such as eye movement, handheld tappers, or sound to integrate positive or grounding coping techniques and to process distressing images, memories and emotions.
To Learn More: EMDR or The EMDR Institute
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Parts Work or Ego States work offers us a way to externalize emotions, reactions or behaviors so that we may look at them with more compassion.
This pairs beautifully with Brainspotting and EMDR.
Read more about it here.
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"Polyvagal Theory emphasizes the role the autonomic nervous system - especially the vagus nerve - plays in regulating our health and behavior."
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Polyvagal Theory is interwoven into preparation of each modality. It is my desire to empower you with knowledge and understanding of your nervous system and feel confident in your brilliant being's ability to heal. We will first start by discussing your desire for trauma therapy & assessing safety/security/support in your personal life and between us.
From there, we will collaboratively decide which path to take.
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This depends on various factors and it would not be appropriate to promise any timeline no matter the time frame. Our nervous systems and histories are so unique and individual. We will determine which technique or combination of techniques works best for you.
EMDR for example begins with a Resourcing phase where we build coping skills so that you can build confidence in your and your nervous system's ability to regulate. This can be anywhere between a few sessions to a few months.
Brainspotting offers us an opportunity to meet you were you are and after building a foundation of trust we can begin to process distressing thoughts, memories and emotions knowing that our dual attunement will allow space for co-regulation.
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Typically, we begin with weekly sessions and then move to biweekly as you begin to experience a decrease in symptoms.
Please know that the decision to decrease or increase session frequency is a joint decision.