Therapy and the Body

Join Traci and I in a fun, depthful conversation about the intersection between spirituality and psychology. She shares how she was magically led to therapy and how transpersonal therapy specifically spoke to her soul. She also shares her about her deepening as a Relational Somatic Healing teacher and temple priestess, and her sacred online offerings for those on a spiritual path.

This episode is intended to give you an experience. I encourage you to actively participate. I’ll gently invite you to imagine, sense, and move your body. You can think of it as a mini-workshop. Give yourself the time and space to connect to yourself using movement.

Our earliest relationships with our caregivers are schematized in our brains and  the rest of our bodies. These messages implicit or explicit become internalized and over the years form our automatic way of relating to ourselves. Learn 3 easy ways to cultivate a healthier relationship with yourself. 

In this week’s episode we’ll be hearing from Jacki Hull who shares her heart felt story about how Ketamine Assisted Therapy helped her and her husband get through the hardest time in their lives. Also find out how the combination of touch therapy and Ketamine Assisted Therapy can beautifully support the healing of developmental trauma.  

Touch in psychotherapy is definitely a taboo topic so we absolutely have to address the elephant in the room and explore what makes it ethical. The linage of psychotherapy has a shadow side that includes the abuse of power and the violation of patients and clients without recourse. But many therapists, myself included, no longer want this shadow side to prevent us from receiving and sharing the he...

Tamura Method, Brainspotting, & RLT w/Shanna Lopresti (S2,E7) This is a 30 minute conversation where Shanna and I dive into how she blends body work, energy healing, and somatic therapy with individuals and couples. We talk about things clients and clinicians can relate to such as the importance of feeling safe in the therapeutic relationship for deep healing to happen and how the therapist being...

Connecting to your body enables you to live in your life rather than observing it from the outside. It brings presence to your present moment experiences so that you can act and make decisions accordingly. In our busy, modern lives where cognitive ability and production is prioritize we have lost our natural connection to ourselves. Taking time to practice tuning in through the senses can help you...

Have you ever heard of Rosen Method bodywork? It is a touch modality that is known to be helpful with dissociation which often is a tool used to cope with traumatic experiences; it can also be maladaptive when it becomes our default way to being. Jess talks about how Rosen Method supported her in feeling more present and safe in her body. She also talks about how she uses present moment awareness...

Beyond Attachment - Interview w/Shirley Dvir (S.2/Ep.3) Jarico Download Shirley, the founder of Beholding: Relational Somatic Healing (RSH) talks about what this healing modality is and introduces an upcoming class, Beyond Attachment. She shares how her curiosity about what is truly healing led her to including touch in therapy and the development RSH. In this interview you will be introduced to a...

Here I am briefly sharing what I’ve been up to recently and introducing the touch modality called Beholding: Relational Somatic Healing. Find out why it’s supportive in healing developmental trauma.

Hi, I’m Lu. Welcome to Season 2 of Therapy and The body! Join me on my journey as a therapist, a teacher, and lifelong student of the beautiful healing art, somatic therapy.  Get Inspired and be curious about the connection between your mind and body. Get some tips and tidbits on topics like listening to your body's language and using touch in psychotherapy.   One thing we always ha...

Oftentimes we judge ourselves harshly when we don’t prefer our patterned ways of being or default ways of reacting to people or circumstances. We can use the cultivation of self compassion to acknowledge and feel the way we are being and make space for new behaviors and beliefs to emerge.

A grounding and clearing meditation to support balance and restfulness I find that letting go of the day is essential to my overall sense of wellness. Anxiously thinking about what I should do, will do, or have already done leaves me feeling exhausted. Grounding and clearing practices can support the process of renewal and a sense of peace.

Erica beautifully describes the essence of Relational Somatic Healing. We’ve talked about the window of tolerance here before, but Erica takes it even further by sharing how, with touch, we can actually see and hear when our bodies come into more regulation. Erica also shares how being with clients with loving presence is the most essential part of supporting another. Guest Contact Info: Erica Ber...

Similarly to how small children enjoy bedtime stories told by their caregivers to help them wind down for the night, sometimes us adults need support with letting go of the day and resting too. Let the sound of my voice and the imagery in your mind’s eye support you in resting your mind and body.

Phoenix shares about her journey to becoming a therapist and gives us an easy to use technique to reduce anxiety and increase safety.  Phoenix Jackson shares vulnerably about her journey toward healing physical pain by acknowledging the anger she unconsciously held on to from past trauma. She also shares how her practice of material arts and her experience with body pain lead her down the jou...

Rory shares about traumatic experiences growing up as a gay kid in the Jersey Shore. As a young adult, he found community in City Center Philadelphia where he dove into visual and performance arts and learned that embodied creativity provided an amazing healing opportunity for him. His personal experiences with the healing power of creative expression directly informs his clinical work today.

We’ve been taught through harsh measures to keep our anger stuffed inside, but it’s not gone, it’s right beneath our skin. When anger is unexpressed it can explode out of us in unexpected and sometimes unsafe ways. Hear how I explore and express anger in a way that’s safe and life-affirming. (Please note that there’s a point where I say “our anger is valid” but it kinda sounds like I say “invalid”...

According to Steven Porges’ Polyvagal Theory, our autonomic nervous system has 3 functional systems which correspond to our evolutionary development as humans. When we are met with stimuli, first we respond with the most recent neural pathways, and if that’s not working, we go to the next and so on. Listen to some real life examples of what this means.    

This episode introduces the polyvagal theory as important scientific backing for body oriented healing modalities. I’ll share the difference between neuroception and perception which will prompt us to consider how we define safety. I’ll share a personal example to demonstrate how our bodies can be triggered into feeling unsafe, even when external circumstances seem like business as usual. Resource...

(Ep.5) How Early Attachment Impacts our Window of Tolerance Download This episode explains how our earliest relationships with our parents and caregivers impacts our ability to self-sooth and be soothed by another. When we are raised with caregivers who are mostly present, loving, and consistent, we learn the bodily experience of a regulated nervous system. Overtime we learn how to get there on ou...

We're talking to my dear friend Jessica Provenza today about how physical health challenges such as lupus and inflammatory conditions can mimic mental illness. Jessica is a somatic therapist who specializes in working with women who have complex health concerns that require the investigation and exploration of the physical body and mind. Here is her website for more information about her practice...

If your client is chronically dysregulated, you may find these 4 tips helpful. Here I discuss how chronic dysregulation is often a result of trauma and how going slow, using the body and the relationship, and collaboration can build safety and more regulation for your clients. These ideas are also helpful for non clinicians in building more regulation within oneself.  

This is an introduction to Dan Siegel’s Window of Tolerance model. It may give you some insight into why some people have difficulty with slowing down and resting even once their work is done, and why some people often feel low on energy and struggle to get out of bed or connect or others. I will discuss the three parts of the Window of Tolerance, and some physical cues to look for to determine if...

Welcome to my first podcast. I’ll use this time to share a bit about myself and my interest in somatic therapy. I'll also very briefly introduce Hakomi which is a body oriented psychotherapy modality that I'm an on-going student of. This episode will give you an idea of who I am personally and professionally and the topics that will be discussed by me and my therapist friends.