Listening to the language of the body,
and the story it's waiting to tell.
Mind-Body Therapy for Adults, Couples, & Trauma
Adults
Some people come to therapy out of a curiosity and desire to grow. Others contact a therapist because they feel stuck in patterns of anxiety, anger, or apathy. Still, others seek help for a crisis or relational conflict spinning out of control. But what happens when “talk therapy” and words are not enough? Bringing an awareness of the body into therapy sets the conditions for new levels of healing and change as the body is able to tell its untold story.
Couples
Do you sometimes feel like you and your partner are living as strangers? Maybe parts of your relationship feels distant, clingy, or stale? Perhaps you both are tired of fighting or your partner complains you’re emotionally unavailable? Or maybe you feel like your partner wants to change you and the only way to stay in the relationship is to lose yourself and reluctantly comply? Learn how you don’t have to settle for a mediocre or miserable relationship.
Trauma
Childhood neglect or abuse, car accidents, sexual assault, high impact falls, horrifying discoveries that you can’t seem to shake—all sorts of things can be too much. Overwhelming experiences, with all their intense emotions, are held in the body and can inhibit feeling safe, supported, and calm in the present. We don’t merely remember our trauma. We relive it. Discover how you can begin to clear out the activation of your trauma still lingering in your nervous system and not be hijacked by it.
Therapy With Me
Therapy isn’t a generic tool I apply to you. First and foremost, it’s an alliance of safety and support we build together. It’s about meeting you where you’re at and entering into a consensus of compassion, curiosity and respect for your unique value, vulnerability, and autonomy as an individual. And it is only here, within this container of safety that you can travel further into your journey of self-discovery, healing, and growth.
The somatic counseling/therapy I practice is similar to traditional talk therapy sessions. We will sit in chairs and use dialogue to explore your thoughts and feelings and relationship concerns. I will also occasionally illustrate relevant therapeutic ideas and skills on a whiteboard.
One unique aspect of somatic counseling is that I’ll be inquiring from time to time about sensations in your body as it relates to any of your present or past experiences. I use Somatic Experiencing therapy to address the ways your physiology keeps you “hooked” like a broken record in old neural networks of threat that contribute to repeatable patterns of functioning that don’t work for you or your relationships. In the past, the body was especially left out of the counseling setting. Learning to incorporate an awareness of the body and nervous system regulation is like shifting from viewing the world is flat to the world is round.
Something else that will likely be different from other past counseling experiences is that I will invite you to explore your attachment styles. Exploring yourself through the “lenses” of your body, attachment styles, and nervous system states helps to support greater access to neural pathways of safety, support, peace, joy, and the ease to pursue connection and dreams.
I consider myself an integrative therapist and a life-long learner. I reach into all corners of life for resources that can help facilitate healing and growth, looking to draw from…
- Somatic Experiencing
- Attachment Therapy
- Polyvagal Therapy
- Developmental Model for Couples Therapy
- EMDR
My role as a therapist isn’t to tell you what to do or to police your choices. I respect each person’s individual agency and capacities to make their own decisions. My role, however, is to support and guide you along in your journey of self-discovery and regulation that will give the best chance to sort through personal issues and connect in relationships in ways you find personally rewarding. Most importantly, I’m here to listen to you, ALL of you, including parts of yourself you never knew existed or you have been told to dismiss or have long forgotten. My goal is to be a caring witness to your story and to support and guide the person you are emerging into in the here and now.
Send me an email or give me a call to see if we are good fit.
“Jeff was made to be a therapist. He approached my issues with care and gentleness. I felt valued, significant and safe.”
“I have never felt safer with a therapist than I have with Jeff. And I have been to a number of therapists. I came into counseling without any hope for myself and my marriage. From the very first session I could feel hope returning.”
“Jeff met me right where I needed. He gently and skillfully helped me address my past trauma and taught me practical skills to move forward in life and in my relationships.”
