Somatic Therapy - a gentle, body based therapy to help your nervous system settle caring for body, heart, and mind.

Somatic Experiencing® (SE™) is a body-oriented approach to healing and restoring balance to the nervous system. Developed by Dr. Peter Levine, SE helps people resolve the lingering effects of stress, trauma, and overwhelm that often become “stuck” in the body. SE is a trauma-informed, nervous-system approach that helps your body complete the “stress cycles” that get stuck after challenging events. Rather than rehashing the story in detail, SE guides you to notice body sensations, impulses, and natural rhythms so your system can release survival energy, increase resilience, and restore a felt sense of safety.

I integrate SE with EMDR, parts work (IFS-informed), and attachment-focused therapy to support healing in a way that feels paced, collaborative, and respectful of your lived experience.

How Somatic Experiencing Can Help

Somatic Experiencing can support people who experience:

• Trauma (including birth trauma and medical trauma)
• Anxiety, panic, or chronic stress
• Dissociation, numbness, or shutdown
• Overwhelm and difficulty feeling present in daily life
• Perinatal challenges, including postpartum adjustment, bonding, and stress

For mothers and parents, SE can be especially helpful in addressing the effects of pregnancy and birth-related trauma, the intensity of caregiving, and the unique nervous system shifts that come with the perinatal period. Through SE, clients often discover more capacity to stay grounded, connected, and compassionate with themselves and others.

Motherhood + Healing Generational Lineage + Attachment Wounds

Motherhood is often a portal where our own histories can rise to the surface. The transition into parenting can awaken not only hope and love, but also the echoes of unfinished stories from our lineage.

Somatic therapy offers mothers a pathway to gently repair what has been carried forward, including:

• Traumatic pregnancy or birth experiences that left the body in shutdown or overwhelm. Making space for complex feelings from pregnancy, labor, and delivery (including unexpected interventions or NICU time).
• Identity and boundaries, reclaiming your voice, values, and needs in family, work, and community.
• A desire to develop secure bonding and attachment with your children that you may not have received yourself.
• Struggles to respond to a child’s big emotions without repeating old, painful patterns.

In Somatic therapy, we pay close attention to how your body carries both stress and strength. By tuning into your nervous system’s natural wisdom, we can start to gently release old patterns and create new ways of feeling safe, calm, and connected. This isn’t just about your own healing—it’s also about shifting what gets passed down through generations. Together, we’ll work toward helping you feel more grounded in your body, more open in your heart, and more present with your children so you can give them the steady, loving foundation every child needs.

My Somatic Experiencing Therapy Training & Approach

I am currently completing a three-year Somatic Experiencing® Practitioner (SEP) training program (≈216 contact hours + 30 consultation/personal hours) with certification expected in 2026. As part of my advanced training, I have completed specialized coursework, including:

• Advanced Somatic Resolution Skills for Perinatal Trauma with Abi Blakeslee, Ph.D., SEP and Kate White, SEP
• Unfreezing the Fawn: Working with Appeasement Patterns in Somatic Experiencing®, hosted by Somatic Experiencing International and taught by Shideh Lennon, Ph.D., SEP
• Somatic Trauma Therapy Certificate Course with Abi Blakeslee, a 4-month intensive online training hosted by PESI

I integrate SE with other trauma-informed approaches such as EMDR, IFS (Internal Family Systems), and attachment-focused therapy. This allows me to tailor sessions to each client, supporting healing of the body, heart, and mind.

What a Session Looks Like

Every session moves at your pace. Common elements include:

1. Arriving & orienting – Grounding in the present; noticing what feels steady or supportive right now.
2. Resourcing – Building anchors (breath, imagery, posture, objects, supportive memories) that help your nervous system feel safer.
3. Titration & pendulation – Touching into difficult sensations or emotions in small, manageable doses, then returning to steadier places so your capacity gently grows.
4. Tracking – Noticing subtle cues (warmth, breath shifts, muscle softening, impulses to move) and allowing incomplete defensive responses (fight/flight/freeze/fawn) to finally finish—often through tiny, organic movements or breaths.
5. Integration – Making meaning, noticing what’s different, and identifying everyday practices that support change between sessions.

You never have to tell your whole story or relive trauma. We follow your body’s “yes” and pause when needed.

Is SE Right for Me?

Clients who benefit from SE often describe:

• Feeling on edge, overwhelmed, or “stuck in survival mode”
• Numbness, shutdown, or difficulty feeling present
• Physical tension, headaches, GI upset, or pain linked to stress
• Aftereffects of difficult births, medical procedures, accidents, injuries, or relational trauma
• Sensitivity to feedback, conflict, or busy environments

If any of this sounds familiar, SE can provide a gentle, effective pathway to feeling calmer, connected, and at ease.

How SE Fits with EMDR & IFS

My approach is integrative:

• EMDR + SE: SE can prepare and steady the nervous system for EMDR reprocessing and support integration afterward.
• IFS-informed + SE: We can befriend protective and wounded parts while giving the body a direct way to complete stress responses.
• Attachment-focused: We move at the speed of trust, prioritizing safety and collaboration.

Common Questions

How fast will I feel better?
Everyone’s timeline is unique. Many people notice small shifts (more breath, less tension, better sleep) within a few sessions, with steadier change over weeks to months.

Do we meet online or in person?
I offer secure virtual sessions across California and in-office sessions in Rancho Cucamonga, CA. Both formats can be effective; we’ll choose what fits your life.

What do I need for sessions?
A private space to bring your mind and heart freely. Wear comfortable clothing.

What about homework?
I may suggest brief practices like orientation, micro-pauses, or gentle movements to reinforce change between sessions.

Is SE talk therapy?
We do talk, and we also pause to notice body cues. The goal is to include the wisdom of your body, heart, and mind.

Getting Started

If you’re ready to feel calmer, clearer, and more connected in your body, heart, and mind, I’d be happy to support you.

Schedule a free 15-minute consultation to explore whether Somatic therapy is a good fit that truly honors your goals.