The Sacred In-Dwelling: Finding Your Way Back to Your Body
The cool, damp earth yields beneath your feet as you walk, the scent of pine needles and wet stone grounding you in the immediate present. You might notice the way your chest expands, not just with air, but with a quiet sense of "here-ness." This is embodiment—the felt sense that your Self is fully inhabiting the temple of your body, radiating a calm, vibrating energy that says, I am home.
The Shift: When the Self Becomes a Guest
In Chapter 11 of No Bad Parts, Richard Schwartz explores the profound truth that trauma often forces us out of our bodies. When life becomes too overwhelming, our protectors—those tireless internal guards—often use dissociation or numbness to keep us safe. While this was a brilliant survival strategy, it can leave us feeling like a "motherless child," disconnected from our own physical existence.
Sometimes, our parts try to get our attention through the body itself. When a protector feels unheard or a young, exiled part is in deep pain, that internal distress can manifest as physical symptoms—a racing heart, a localized pressure, or even chronic tension. These aren't defects; they are the body’s way of signaling that a part of you is desperately waiting for your Self’s compassionate witness.
Why it Matters: The Unrushed Return
Healing isn't about "fixing" a symptom; it's about making the system whole again. This re-inhabiting of the body is a delicate process that requires the "luxury of the slow down." Because my practice is private-pay, we are never rushing toward an insurance-mandated "cure." We have the spaciousness to:
Befriend the Physical: Instead of taking an aspirin to silence a headache, we get curious about it. We treat physical sensations as "trailheads" to the parts that need us most.
Earn Internal Trust: We don't push past the protectors who keep you numb. We thank them for their service and wait for their explicit permission before moving deeper.
Cultivate Self-Presence: We use somatic tools like Sensorimotor Psychotherapy and IFS meditations to help you recognize the "8 Cs" of Self-energy—like clarity and compassion—as physical markers of your own internal leadership.
Ready to trade the "numbness of survival" for the "vibrant peace of embodiment"?
I provide 100% virtual, neuro-affirming somatic therapy for adults across Minnesota who are ready to move from a state of disembodiment into a life of embodied, values-aligned peace.
About the Clinical Approach
My work is rooted in a somatic, trauma-informed perspective that honors the body as the primary site of healing. I integrate Internal Family Systems (IFS) to facilitate self-leadership, Sensorimotor Psychotherapy for nervous system regulation, and Acceptance and Commitment Therapy (ACT) to help you align with your deepest values. As a neuro-affirming therapist, I do not pathologize your lived experience; instead, I hold space for the unique, often non-linear ways your system has learned to survive. My practice is intentionally private-pay, ensuring that your care is unique, unrushed, and entirely free from the constraints of insurance labels or cookie-cutter protocols. We work together as humans—not as "expert" and "patient"—to build a sustainable path toward peace that honors your capacity, your autonomy, and your humanity.
