If you want to get a good overall sense of my approach to, and understanding of, therapy work for mould illness recovery and/or trauma healing without joining my email list or opting into anything, these points below would be a fine starting point.
For the modalities i practice, scroll down to the bottom of the page!
Working at the convergence of physiology, psychology and spirituality
Providing the right support to you and your nervous system means working with both your physiology and your psychology.
Physiology because any somatic intervention works with, and has a direct effect on, your body, on your vagus nerve, your brain, your limbic system, your immune system – ultimately, your cells.
Psychology because the way your nervous system works informs your emotions, your behaviours and ultimately, the meaning you make of what happens to you.
Whether you are healing from mould illness/ chronic inflammatory response syndrome or trauma, this means not only a profound alignment between your body and your mind so you can be primed for healing, but also that you can find hope, moments of peace and grounding even in the high waves of life.
And it may sound far-fetched, but who knows… you may even find a deeper meaning and beauty in your journey through it all.
Healing through somatics
The body is extraordinary – it works tirelessly to keep us safe and allow us to survive. To do this, it is constantly scanning for safety, with a continuous exchange of information between the brain and the rest of the body. About 20% of information is directed top-down, from the brain to the periphery (body) – while the remaining 80% is bottom-up, from the body to the brain.
When we are affected by illness or trauma, our body and nervous system become dysregulated as a beautiful way to self-protect. Our body shifts to a survival response with specific associated bodily sensations, which then inform our emotions, reactions, behaviours and ultimately thoughts. Sometimes this mechanism gets stuck and our system is unable to return to a state of safety and connection.
When in survival mode, the logical, rational part of our brain, including those areas that process language, go offline. This means that we can’t talk ourselves out of these experiences, we need to intervene at the same level at which the dysregulation happens – which is through the body.
Somatic healing means reconnecting with the body in a tolerable way. You will be able to discern when your survival responses are appropriate to the situation faced or when they become stuck. You will be able to bring in appropriate resources and the safety needed to return to feel good.
A process of befriending
Some people call the support I offer brain retraining – but i like to think of it as a process of befriending.
At the beginning of our work together, we approach your body and nervous system as a new friend, little by little discovering what it likes, what drives it, what it gets affected and startled by, what are its resources and where it finds nourishment. We then start paying attention to it calls.
We learn to tend to this relationship with care, we are present to it.
With chronic inflammation and trauma, the nervous system gets retuned – it gets used to a constant state of survival. So, as good friends do, we support it, offering gentle, yet steady advice, appropriate tools and compassion, nudging it back to a state of wellbeing.
Modalities
Polyvagal Theory is the science of safety. It allows us to understand our autonomic nervous system and engage with its responses, from survival (fight, flight, freeze and immobility) to safety and connection.
With chronic inflammation and trauma, the nervous system becomes dysregulated and over time it gets retuned to patterns of survival, which become habitual and disproportionate to the perceived threat. Polyvagal Theory offers an incredible map to return to regulation and ultimately to wellbeing.
PSYCH-K® is a a simple, yet powerful process to change subconscious beliefs that are self-limiting and self-sabotaging.
Working with PSYCH-K® is a bit like working with affirmations but those affirmations are shared with the subconscious mind so change can be easy. It helps reduce stress by eliciting a whole-brain state, which activates both hemispheres of the brain simultaneously. Used as a complement to standard medical treatments, it can also hel activate the body’s natural self-healing properties.
Somatic Experiencing® is a body-awareness approach to healing trauma developed by Dr. Peter Levine based on the realisation that human beings have an innate ability to overcome the effects of trauma.
It allows to process trauma in a tolerable, balanced and gentle way. Working with sensations, images, emotions, cognitions and incomplete body movements, it allows the slow, safe and gradual release of pent-up energy stored in the body as a result of trauma, bringing freedom from overwhelm, restoring a sense of aliveness, relaxation and wholeness.
If you feel ready, here you can schedule a FREE 20 minutes intro chat