Modalities
Somatic Experiencing is a body-based therapy
Somatic Experiencing is a body-based therapy
“Trauma is not what happens to us, but what we hold inside in the absence of an empathetic witness”
Somatic Experiencing
Somatic Experiencing (SE), created by Dr. Peter Levine, is a trauma resolution treatment that helps the body reclaim it’s natural state of wellness. We have an innate ability within our beings to heal from traumatic events and restore wholeness.
We adapt to distress by constricting and reacting with the autonomic nervous systems (ANS) natural responses to perceived threat through the self preservation of fight, flight , freeze and appease. These protective responses can tangle us up into persistent states of anxiety, hyper-vigilance, and depression, or a state of collapses and freeze. These dysregulated states are the tangled distress that colors our experience of life.
SE helps to gently untangle the knots in our hearts and minds by expanding our capacity to tolerate the story trapped in our bodies.
SE supports us to unfold into the deeper truth of who we naturally are. This attunement to ourselves frees us from the bind of feeling trapped in old experiences, while creating space for us to emerge and experience a lighter sense of self.
Psychodrama
Psychodrama is a process used in groups and individual therapy that lets you put your stories into action. We can be wonderfully creative in replaying a scene from your life that has unfinished business, creating the vision of your new path, healing a childhood story with reparative replay. People in the group become your auxiliaries to help you create the new narrative in action. What has come to light with all of the neuropsychology that has emerged is that Psychodrama is one of the best ways to heal your wounds and embody your new story. Bessel van der Kolk, who wrote the Body Keeps Score, loves Psychodrama and does his version of it in his clinic.
What happens in a group is that everyone gets to play in each others stories. Deepening connection with the ventral vagal system we all have in our inherent nature. This supports creating a safe collective for rewriting all of the groups narratives about feeling connected with others. The role one person plays for someone is often the role they needed to play for their own story. The groups' stories tend to weave together in the collective truth of the human experience.
Our life stories are intricately woven into our bodies, hearts, and minds, shaping the tapestry of our nervous system. How we narrate these stories—focusing on traumas, losses, or growth—colors our perception and influences our well-being. In therapy, we explore these narratives from new perspectives, finding strength and resilience in our experiences.
At Joyfully Becoming Therapy, we honor your story and offer a compassionate space to rewrite its narrative. Through individual or group therapy, we untangle past wounds, fostering self-compassion and a renewed sense of self. Drawing from neuropsychology and somatic therapy, we help you release trapped pains and reshape your nervous system towards health and acceptance.
Imagine a tapestry of vibrant colors and new beginnings: where once faded, now blooms resilience and joy. This is the journey we embark on together, weaving a narrative that celebrates your whole-hearted self.
