Somatic Trauma THERAPY
“You are not a self-improvement project. You are a song the world wants to hear.”
I am here to champion the exquisite beauty of your humanity, the expression of your unique being, and the liberation of your true gifts. I hold a radically protected space for your tender places and welcome all of you into the arms of the nourishing moment where your defenses can unwind and your essential nature can shine.
Connecting all my work is a recognition of the body as the primary ground for healing, a deep practice of open-hearted awareness, an appreciation for the cultural and ancestral context of all healing, a deference to the mystery, and a knack for bringing delight to de-dark.
In practice, I draw from Somatic Experiencing (SE) and Internal Family Systems (IFS), but my primary focus is Psychedelic Somatic Interactional Psychotherapy (PSIP). I focus on PSIP because it gently enables the deeper, creative intelligence within you to take the lead. The same intelligence that knits wounds, splits seeds, composts waste, and sends up new shoots in spring.
I’m with you. I meet you exactly where you are and welcome every part of you to be felt and known.
Psychedelic Somatic Interactional Psychotherapy
Developed in part by Saj Razvi, PSIP uses low-dose cannabis and/or ketamine to help surface suppressed trauma as sensation, impulse, and relational pattern. It’s a bottom up approach liberating the same primal force that mends ecosystems, and composts what no longer serves.
SOMATIC EXPERIENCING
Developed in part by Peter Levine PhD, Somatic Experiencing is an approach to trauma healing informed by the intrinsic intelligence of the nervous system to release trauma as observed in all mammals. It taps into the abundant resources available in the body for facing challenges that were previously overwhelming.
INTERNAL FAMILY SYSTEMS
Developed in part by Dr. Richard Schwartz, IFS is based on the idea that each of us is made of a multiplicity of well-intentioned parts and an indestructible core that can heal and liberate the parts that limit us and alleviate anxiety, addiction, phobias, attachment challenges, and lingering traumatic residue.
Adult attachment Healing
The most painful and persistent challenges we face as adults are rooted in unmet childhood needs. The wounds this early deprivation causes and the attempt to get these childhood needs met often turn into painful unconscious patterns as adults, especially in our relationships. We heal these relational wounds through relationship. I have marveled at how the most profound healing and transformation becomes possible when these attachment wounds get skillful attention.
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Some people work with me to focus on a specific issue over the course of a few sessions. Others use our time together as an ongoing sanctuary for the soul, a regular date with the deepest part of themselves. Both are welcome.
“Gwen takes you where you are and can work on many different levels – personal, spiritual & professional. Whatever my block, she always has just the right process. I am much more on track now, but am not ready to give up her insights just yet!”
“Working with Gwen is a delight and has helped me develop greater playful presence and sense of freedom in my life. I would recommend her to anyone interested in developing those qualities!”
“I love working with Gwen. She’s compassionate, insightful, and she makes me laugh when I’m taking myself too seriously. She’s had a big impact by being gently persistent with me on the issues that I do/but I don’t really want to work on.”