A holistic approach to your mental wellbeing
Somatic psychotherapy, somatic movement therapy and anxiety counselling
While your mind is important, it’s just one part of the solution.
Have you done talk therapy to death and understand what your trauma and anxiety stem from, but still feel like it’s hanging over you? If yes, that’s because you’ve processed it cognitively and have insight, but now you need to add in a ‘bottom-up’ approach, creating embodied change. That’s what somatic psychotherapy is about.
Choice, collaboration, empowerment. Somatic Psychotherapy sessions follow a 3-stage trauma-informed approach using a combination of talking, movement and music in a safe and supportive environment. First we teach you how to self-soothe and self-regulate. When you feel ready we can unlock your inner knowing, to feel and perhaps mourn past hurts. We may not even talk about hurtful events – we can simply work with your bodily sensations. Finally, we look at how life might look for you going forward. Find out more about somatic therapy here.
What kind of issues do I help with?
A somatic psychotherapy approach can be applied to many issues we face in life. This list is not exhaustive, but these are the kinds of issues that I help clients like you with:
- Anxiety and panic attacks;
- Depression, low motivation and feelings of worthlessness;
- Stress management and Burnout;
- Relationship issues;
- Neurodivergence (ADHD, Autism)
- Intimacy issues;
- Loneliness and isolation;
- Sexuality;
- Trauma;
- Abuse (sexual, emotional or physical);
- Emotional crisis;
- Life transitions;
- Grief and loss (humans and pets);
- Pain;
- Psychosomatic illnesses;
- Stress management;
- Menopause
- Chronic fatigue;
- Workplace issues e.g. bullying.
My fees
My session rate is $185 including GST for 1 hour.
Health fund rebates available for BUPA, Medibank Private, AHM, Australian Regional Health Group (Teachers Union Health, Police Health, Emergency Services Health, St Luke’s Health, CUA Health, AIA Health, Phoenix Health Fund, GMHBA, Westfund).
I am registered with WorkCover as a provider.
Please note:
- I work 1:1 (individuals only, no couple therapy).
- I only work with adults over the age of 21 as my treatment approach requires emotional maturity. I do not work with anyone under the age of 21.
- I am not registered with Medicare. (Only psychologists and social workers are eligible for this). Therefore, I cannot accept the Mental Health Treatment Plan referral from your GP. However, I keep my rates as low as possible so that it is comparable to the out-of-pocket gap you would pay to see a psychologist.
- I am not registered with NDIS.
My approach
I have several different types of psychotherapy tools in my toolkit and use them interchangeably depending on your preferences and what’s happening in your session.
I adapt tools and techniques to suit your needs, whether you are neurodiverse or neurotypical. I also offer you a choice to do them or not. E.g. if you hate relaxation exercises we will avoid them like the plague!
They are practical, trauma-informed, polyvagal and somatic psychotherapy techniques – body-based, relational techniques that go deeper than talking or trying to do it by yourself.
These tools help you connect with your body and feel your emotions, to help you experience and integrate, not just analyse your thinking.
You don’t need to choose which one we’ll use, but below you’ll find some information about each. If you prefer you can book a complimentary call with me where I can suggest which techniques I would recommend specifically for you.
I also like to bring in a sense of playfulness and light-heartedness where appropriate. Therapy doesn’t have to be all doom and gloom!
Somatic Psychotherapy
When you’re overwhelmed by big emotions, when you’re anxious or depressed, you feel it physically as well as mentally. Your racing heart, the shortness of breath, that crushing feeling in your chest. These are all physical sensations in the body (aka ‘interoception’). We slow everything down so that you have time to listen to your body. In talk therapy you may have understood your trauma but still feel anxious. This is about working with your nervous system regulation so that you FEEL a sense of safety in your body, and can then start to process your past hurts in a trauma-informed way.
The word ‘somatic’ means ‘of the body’. Somatic psychotherapy integrates talk therapy with body awareness, movement, breathing, and mindfulness to help restore your mental and emotional wellbeing. It is a whole-body bottom-up approach to feeling better. This blend of body-orientated therapy is trauma-informed and neurodiverse-friendly. It promotes deep healing for anxiety, depression, trauma, grief, relationship issues, and more.
What are the benefits of Somatic Psychotherapy?
- Improved connection with your body and body awareness. Giving you a sense of congruency, of wholeness of self.
- Establishing a place of safety in your body, feeling you can trust your body and yourself.
- Ability to self-soothe and self-regulate. Polyvagal exercises and breathing techniques help you calm the farm and regulate your emotions.
- Breathing exercises also bring life back into your body which helps you regain your energy and motivation for life.
- Following your movement impulses we regain contact with memories stored in your implicit memory, and work with unmetabolized feelings held in your body.
- Let go of physical and emotional tension you have unconsciously been holding in your body and your mind, helping you feel less anxious.
- Somatic psychotherapy gives you an improved ability to express your feelings, hold boundaries and express your needs. And possibly learning to say the word “No” (imagine that!)
- Somatic psychotherapy helps you dive below the mask that you’ve been wearing in order to deal with the world and remember who you really are. That beautiful, amazing ‘core’ you.
Somatic Movement Therapy
Somatic Movement Therapy improves your mental well-being by bringing awareness to your body and the physical space you inhabit, following movement impulses instead of repressing them, bringing you into contact with your inner world, your unconscious mind. I subtly incorporate the teachings of dance-movement therapy, Somatics (Thomas Hanna) and Laban-Bartenieff fundamental movements to help you connect into the wisdom of your body.
How do you move through this world? How much space do you take up? How have you been forced to be a certain way (and move a certain way)? Would the real you like to stand up and be seen?
Never fear, I’m not going to get you to ‘dance’ (unless you want to!) In a 1:1 session we may not move much – perhaps we alter your posture, follow a impulse to move, or breathe more generously. It gives your body a chance to express what’s going on in your internal world, without having to find the words.
What are the benefits of Somatic Movement Therapy?
- Improving your connection with your body and body awareness.
- Establishing a place of safety in your body, feeling you can trust your body and yourself.
- Deepen your respiration.
- Creative self-expression.
- Emotional expression.
- Read your body’s ‘hidden’ conversations: micro-movements, impulses to move
- Bring to awareness subconscious material.
- Enlarge your self-expression and promote self-confidence.
Brainspotting
Brainspotting is a simple but powerful neurobiological technique that helps clients process stuck emotions. It works by finding a particular point in your visual field (a “brainspot”) that’s connected to an emotion or memory. When you recall a memory you’ll instinctively gaze at a certain point and that’s the point we keep your eyes on.
While you focus your gaze on that spot, we let your body and nervous system do the work — bypassing your thinking brain. It’s a bottom-up approach, which means we’re not trying to think our way out of the feeling. We’re letting your body access and release what’s been stored in the deeper, less-verbal parts of your brain — where the healing actually happens.
Whilst you keep your eyes on the spot, I’ll be right there with you, acutely attuned to your experience. Every flicker of your eyes, every twitch of your muscles.
What are the benefits of Brainspotting?
- You process stuck emotions in a really gentle way and we can stop at any time.
- Reduced stress, anxiety and depression.
- We turn down the volume on a memory that used to trigger you.
- It’s very similar to EMDR in it’s origins, but much less complicated and we can use it as a once-off technique.
Acceptance and Commitment Therapy
Acceptance and Commitment Therapy (ACT) encourages us to accept who you are and commit to leading the life you dream of. ACT bridges the gap between counselling and somatic psychotherapy by getting you to focus on your beliefs and action, but also noticing sensations in your body. It helps you look at the fears that have been holding you back, and the things you do to avoid uncomfortable feelings and thoughts. The techniques help you to sit with those uncomfortable feelings with more ease. You learn not to obsess over things that are out of your control and focus on the things you can control instead. You start to understand that negative thoughts are not ‘bad’, they are a natural part of how your brain works. You’ll stop fighting with your thoughts and instead make peace with them.
- The ability to tolerate unpleasant emotions with more ease.
- A reduction in stress and feelings of overwhelm.
- An increase our mental pain tolerance – such as with chronic pain.
- Getting clarity about how you want your life to be (and seeing where you have been holding yourself back in the past).
- Making peace with your past and being able to move on with your life instead of constantly ruminating and feeling depressed.
Cognitive Behavioural Therapy
Cognitive Behavioural Therapy is the most widely used therapy for anxiety. This is a counselling therapy that works with the mind only, working on how our thoughts and actions affect the way we feel. It’s really practical. It works on identifying unhelpful thoughts, beliefs, attitudes and behaviours and how to challenge them so we can develop better coping skills and feel more emotionally stable. Part of CBT involves using calm breathing (slowing down the breath) and progressive muscle relaxation (tensing and relaxing different muscle groups) – so even though it is a mind-focussed therapy, it still involves your body.
- Challenging your thinking and helping you see where you’ve been (unconsciously) using faulty logic (we all do this!) This gives you the ability to reshape negative thinking and see the bright side of life.
- Learn coping skills that you can use throughout your life after your therapy period ends.
- Feel more in control of your thoughts and feelings.
- The ability to calm yourself down when you spiral into anxiety.
Anxiety Resources
I offer free videos, complimentary audio recordings as well as online training courses helping you connect to your body and reduce the symptoms of anxiety. They are a cost-effective way to get support and are perfect for you if you are self-motivated and enjoy learning!
You can learn about all my free and paid resources by clicking here!
Book a free 15 minute discovery call
A commitment-free way to learn how Brisbane counselling or somatic psychotherapy can help you