At Somatic Therapy Partners, our body-based therapy aims to help our clients move from a place of surviving to a life of thriving. Through somatic therapy and other leading edge approaches, we help clients re-engage with their bodies in new ways, heal from the inside out and reclaim resilience, confidence, hope, and joy.
Coregulating Touch
Coregulating Touch is a passive form of therapeutic touch designed to help the nervous system function more optimally and move towards greater resilience. Created by Kathy Kain and Stephen Terrell, authors of Nurturing Resilience, Coregulating Touch helps move you out of “survival physiology” into thriving and flow. While this approach is particularly effective for complex or developmental trauma, it is also effective for any form of trauma or as an adjunct to other traditional therapeutic modalities.
A typical Touch session involves you laying face up on a massage table while I “hold” parts of your body. The areas of your body that I touch include kidneys, brainstem (holding your skull) and ankles. You are welcome to do nothing or stay engaged via conversation with me. Feeling safe is paramount to this work so we will always go at the pace of your comfort level and we seek verbal consent before we do any touching of your body.
Clients typically experience heightened states of relaxation, gentle “floatiness,” increased awareness of pleasant sensations in your body, sleepiness, and ease. Click here to read what clients have said about Coregulating Touch.
Safe and Sound Protocol (SSP)
The Safe and Sound Protocol (SSP) was developed by Dr. Steven Porges who looked at the importance of one’s autonomic state when approaching any task or experience. This 5-day auditory intervention or listening protocol is designed to reduce stress and auditory sensitivities and further develop social engagement and increase resilience.
During the five days, you will listen to the specially filtered music for an hour in the comfort of my office. I will provide quiet activities for you to engage with during the listening such as coloring, play dough, drawing, water colors, and the possibility of slow movements for example yoga. Some people choose to sit quietly and simply listen to the music.
During the listening, shifts within your autonomic nervous system are occurring in both subtle and potentially big ways. Due to these shifts, my role in attuning to your nervous system and body is of utmost importance. I am there to provide you the support and guidance through these shifts while creating a safe place to listen. Regardless what how you choose to engage, I am there to check in and support you and your nervous system throughout the hour.
The nervous system is constantly evaluating situations and interactions with people in order to determine level of safety. When the nervous system is dysregulated, people have difficulty with not only listening to other people but also in comprehending the meaning in social interactions. Through the use of specially filtered music, SSP creates movement in the middle ear muscles training them to pick up on the frequencies found in human speech. This supports social engagement and regulation within the nervous system, and people are better able to interpret the meaning and intent when in conversation with others.
When we are able to listen to and comprehend human voices, then we are able to remain in a state of safety and experience a calm physiological state. When our physiological state is regulated, other forms of therapy are enhanced and people are better able to access parts of themselves which felt unsafe to access prior.
Mosaic Journey
The Mosaic Journey was formed by Ana doValle who works closely with Dr. Porges. It combines SSP with art, yoga movements, personal narratives, and soul-exploration to bring transformation in a person’s narrative and a regulated nervous system. The Mosaic Journey is a 7-day intervention which includes the 5-day SSP listening. This intervention provides a portal for increased depth and richness in the therapeutic work between clients and myself. It enhances the SSP by bridging connection between body, mind, and soul. Through Mosaic Journey, increased flexibility within the nervous system, greater sense of embodiment, and increased resilience to stress is created.
Through the use of the Mosaic Journey, you may notice growth in the following ways: improved social engagement, decreased anxiety within social interaction, easier management of stressors, increased capacity to manage distress, decreased auditory sensitivities, and a more regulated nervous system.
I offer the Mosaic Journey and SSP at my office, and I will work with you to create a schedule for the 7 day or 5 day protocol. With any unfamiliar or new therapeutic intervention, I encourage you to contact me today with any questions you may have!
Somatic Experiencing®
The Somatic Experiencing® method, created by Peter Levine, is a body-oriented approach to the healing of trauma and other stress disorders. The Somatic Experiencing® approach facilitates the completion of self-protective behaviors and the release of stuck energy bound in the body, thus addressing the root cause of trauma symptoms. This is done by gently guiding clients to develop increasing tolerance for difficult bodily sensations and suppressed emotions. SE offers a framework to assess where a person is “stuck” in the fight, flight or freeze responses and provides clinical tools to resolve these fixated physiological states.
Somatic Supervision and Consultation
Are you a provider who would like to learn more about somatic approaches to helping your clients heal? Are you curious about how to apply a somatic lens to working with clients? Or are you taking trainings in Somatic Experiencing, Somatic Resilience and Regulation or Touch Skills Training for therapists and want support with case consultation? If so, reach out and let’s see how we can help.
Faith Counseling
Faith-based pressures can cause all kinds of doubts and fears which can weigh heavy on you and begin to make daily life difficult. You might be worried about judgement, or you may be fearing the loss of your faith community. But we are here to help. Somatic therapy can help you to grapple with the conflict and have space to explore your fears and doubts.
Self-Regulation Education
Learn the basics about your nervous system, how it functions and skills to help you feel more grounded and present. Sign up for free right now.