Services
Mind-Body Psychotherapy
Mind-Body psychotherapy, also known as somatic psychology, operates on the principle that individuals perceive the world through not just their thoughts and emotions, but also their bodies. It embraces a holistic perspective, viewing individuals as integrated entities encompassing mind, body, and spirit.
These therapeutic approaches don’t merely address thoughts and emotions; they also aim to enhance the nervous system’s ability to manage stress. By fostering a balanced nervous system, these therapies promote mental clarity, bolster resilience against daily challenges, and foster a deeper connection to one’s essential self.
The therapies we provide include…
Somatic Parts Work
Somatic Parts Work aims to deepen the connection to one’s Core Self by addressing past pain, hurt, and trauma. Various therapeutic modalities focusing on different parts of the self benefit from an integrative approach. By tapping into the body’s felt experience and wisdom, these parts are accessed and healed through connection, safety, and heightened awareness.
Internal Family Systems Therapy (IFS)
Internal Family Systems Therapy (IFS), developed by family therapist Richard Schwartz, Ph.D., in the 1990s, centres around the concept of the Core Self, an undamaged aspect of the individual unaffected by trauma or conditioning. Schwartz identifies three types of sub-personalities within the psyche: Exiles (wounded and suppressed parts), Managers (protective parts shielding from distressful emotions), and Firefighters (distracting from pain when Exiles surface). For instance, trauma may create Exiled parts harbouring unresolved emotions suppressed during the event. Managers suppress Exiles to prevent distress, while Firefighters engage in compulsive or addictive behaviours to distract from emotional pain. The therapy aims to restore trust in the Core Self by collaboratively unburdening extreme roles of these parts, achieving congruence and harmony within the personality.
Gestalt Therapy
Gestalt therapy is dedicated to resolving inner conflicts hindering individuals from realizing their full potential. It achieves this by facilitating the individual's awareness of their personal obstacles and guiding them in overcoming these barriers by addressing "unfinished business" from the past. Through this process, individuals reclaim parts of themselves they may have disowned and cultivate a renewed desire to connect with inner states fulfilling human needs.
At the heart of Gestalt therapy lies the belief that individuals must take personal responsibility for their lives and refrain from attributing their pain or setbacks to external factors. It empowers individuals through deep exploration and mindfulness of the present moment, fostering a holistic mind-body connection. Gestalt therapy encourages the experiential exploration of sensations and emotions, along with a creative and experimental approach to navigating life's challenges.
Inner Child Work
The inner child resides within your subconscious and harbours both positive and negative memories from childhood. When subjected to abuse, emotional neglect, or trauma without resolution, the inner child retains the pain of those experiences. This unresolved pain manifests in various aspects of your present life, affecting both mental and physical well-being.
Primarily, the child communicates unmet needs for validation, comfort, connection, and safety—essential elements lacking in their interactions with adults. Inner child work involves collaboration between client and therapist to connect with these child parts and alleviate their burdens from the past. Upon releasing entrenched beliefs rooted in fear, the child can access the support they were deprived of and progress with optimism and eagerness for the future.
Eye Movement
Desensitization & Reprocessing (EMDR)
EMDR and eye movement therapies, utilizing bilateral stimulation, facilitate the transformation of maladaptive neural networks by linking traumatic memories with new information. As processing unfolds, frozen bodily sensations are released, giving way to the emergence of empowering thoughts and emotions.
Eye Movement Desensitization & Reprocessing (EMDR)
EMDR, or Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing, is a psychotherapeutic approach designed to facilitate healing from past traumatic memories and experiences. Research indicates that unprocessed traumatic memories contain negative beliefs, emotions, and sensations, and EMDR aids in repairing the mental injury caused by these memories. By altering the neural pathways associated with trauma, EMDR creates new pathways that gradually reduce the emotional intensity over time.
EMDR employs a specialized method for processing traumatic memories. Through techniques such as eye movements or bilateral stimulation, emotional experiences trapped in the nervous system are released. Bilateral stimulation activates both sides of the brain, enabling emotions to surface in a way that they can be experienced and comprehended. The back-and-forth eye movements activate the parasympathetic nervous system, leading to a calming effect on the nervous system as a whole. This calms the sympathetic nervous system responsible for the fight-flight-freeze response, allowing emotional experiences to emerge safely.
As an evidence-based treatment for posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD), EMDR has been extensively studied and proven effective. Typically, individuals can expect to undergo between 6 to 8 sessions to initiate the healing process, with the number of sessions varying based on the individual's trauma history and needs.
Attachment Focused EMDR
Clients who have endured childhood traumas that have profoundly affected their sense of safety and ability to form intimate relationships as adults require adjustments to the conventional EMDR protocol. These traumas encompass a range of experiences, including physical and sexual abuse, early losses, neglect, birth trauma, medical trauma, parental substance abuse, and caregiver neglect. Furthermore, children raised by traumatized parents may internalize their parents' pain, distress, and dysfunctional belief systems. Moreover, children who have had to assume a "false self" to suppress emotions or adapt to their caregivers' needs for attachment can also benefit from Attachment Focused EMDR (AF-EMDR).
AF-EMDR facilitates healing of attachment wounds and developmental deficits by instilling attachment feelings within the neural networks of the brain. As the healing journey unfolds, clients gain the capacity to regulate distressing emotions, address attachment wounds, and forge deeper connections with others.
Feeling State Addiction Protocol (FSAP)
The Feeling State Addiction Protocol (FSAP) is a brief therapeutic intervention designed to address behavioral addictions by reducing or eliminating urges and cravings. Addiction often involves a strong connection between emotions and actions, and the FSAP protocol aims to disrupt this connection. Through pinpointing the specific feeling and behavior associated with the addiction, the protocol utilizes a modified version of the EMDR Protocol to process and break the fixation.
Once the fixation is dismantled through FSAP, individuals typically experience a decrease or cessation of cravings and urges, alleviating the need for ongoing control or management of the addictive behavior. Instead, individuals find themselves capable of engaging in the behavior in a balanced and appropriate manner. FSAP offers a targeted approach to addiction treatment, helping individuals regain control over their behaviours and find healthier ways of coping with
Integral Somatic Psychology (ISP)
Integral Somatic Psychology (ISP) is a therapeutic approach that emphasizes the interconnectedness of the mind, body, and spirit in the healing process. Developed by Dr. Raja Selvam, ISP integrates principles from psychology, neuroscience, body-oriented psychotherapy, mindfulness practices, and Eastern spiritual traditions.
In ISP, emotion is viewed as an embodied experience, meaning that emotions are not solely confined to the mind but are also felt in the body as physical sensations and responses. ISP recognizes that emotional issues often manifest as tension, discomfort, or other somatic experiences in the body.
The role of ISP in emotion is to help individuals develop somatic awareness, which involves tuning into bodily sensations and recognizing how these sensations relate to emotional experiences. Through mindfulness practices and somatic experiencing techniques, ISP aims to facilitate the processing and release of stored emotions and traumatic experiences held within the body.
By addressing emotions on both psychological and somatic levels, ISP offers a comprehensive approach to emotional healing. It helps individuals develop greater self-awareness, regulate their emotional responses, and cultivate a deeper understanding of their emotional experiences.
Polyvagal Therapy
Polyvagal therapy is a therapeutic approach based on the Polyvagal Theory, which was developed by Dr. Stephen Porges. This theory suggests that the nervous system plays a crucial role in regulating our responses to stress and trauma. Polyvagal therapy aims to regulate the nervous system by focusing on the vagus nerve, a key component of the autonomic nervous system responsible for regulating functions such as heart rate, breathing, and digestion.
The therapy involves techniques to activate the vagus nerve's calming response, known as the parasympathetic nervous system, which helps the body relax and recover from stress. By engaging in specific exercises, such as deep breathing, mindfulness, and gentle movements, individuals can stimulate the vagus nerve and promote relaxation and emotional regulation.
Polyvagal therapy is helpful for individuals experiencing symptoms of anxiety, depression, trauma, and other stress-related conditions. By regulating the nervous system's response to stress, it can reduce symptoms and improve overall well-being. Additionally, polyvagal therapy can enhance resilience and coping skills, empowering individuals to better manage life's challenges.
Image Transformation Therapy (ImTT)
Image Transformation Therapy (ImTT) is a therapeutic approach that focuses on using guided imagery and somatic techniques to help individuals release distressing emotions and transform negative beliefs or memories. The core premise of ImTT is that our mental images and physical sensations are interconnected, and by working with these images and sensations, individuals can effectively process and release emotional pain, trauma, and other challenging experiences.
In ImTT sessions, individuals are guided through visualization exercises designed to help them access and work through difficult emotions or memories in a safe and supportive environment. The therapist may guide the individual to visualize themselves in a calm and peaceful setting or to imagine themselves interacting with the troubling image or memory in a new and empowering way. Throughout the process, the therapist helps the individual to connect with their body sensations and emotions, facilitating the release of emotional distress and the transformation of negative beliefs or patterns.
ImTT is often used to address a wide range of psychological issues, including trauma, anxiety, depression, and low self-esteem. By working with mental imagery and somatic sensations, ImTT can help individuals to process and integrate difficult experiences, leading to healing, personal growth, and greater emotional well-being.
Somatic Based Hypnotherapy
Hypnosis induces a Theta brainwave state, fostering deep relaxation and increased receptivity to altering unwanted thoughts, emotions, and behaviours. For individuals grappling with emotional trauma, hypnosis often proves to be a potent therapeutic tool, facilitating the release of emotional pain and the resolution of past traumatic memories. During hypnosis, the conscious mind communicates with the subconscious, which holds access to memories. Somatic Hypnotherapy aids in safely and calmly accessing these memories, with clients becoming progressively relaxed and attuned to the sensations and insights within their bodies. Ultimately, the goal is to resolve trauma by alleviating emotional pain stored in the nervous system.
Nutritional Counselling for Nervous System Regulation
Nutritional counselling is pivotal in regulating the nervous system through several key avenues. It starts with fostering a balanced diet rich in essential nutrients like omega-3 fatty acids, B vitamins, magnesium, and antioxidants, crucial for nerve health and neurotransmitter production. This approach extends to stress management, where guidance on stress-reducing foods helps regulate cortisol levels and combat oxidative stress. Additionally, nutritional counselling educates on balanced meals to stabilize blood sugar levels, promoting consistent energy production. By advocating for a healthy gut microbiome through fibre-rich foods, fermented foods, and probiotics, it positively impacts mood, cognition, and overall nervous system function, acknowledging the gut-brain axis. Moreover, the focus on an anti-inflammatory diet aids in reducing chronic inflammation, crucial for mitigating negative impacts on the nervous system. Finally, personalized supplement recommendations address specific nutrient deficiencies, ensuring safe and effective supplementation and ultimately optimizing overall nervous system function and well-being.
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