Working with Animals Helps Me Work with You

I know I’m not the only one who views things I have done for a long time as “easy”.  I have heard other people talk this way, too. The thing I have done longer than anything else, often alongside other things, is work with animals. It started with pets, of course, and whatever else we […]

The Work Works in Cycles

If I recall correctly from my time playing Mario Bros., there is this thing about advancing to the next level. It gets harder. Like. Lots harder. You just finally got the hang of handling what the previous level was, and then you feel like a beginner again. I’m not the first to bring this analogy […]

Is It a Resource, Coping Strategy, or Trauma Pattern (and Does It Matter)?

Coping strategies. Trauma patterns. Resources. These are all different things. I could sit here and explain what each one is and what it might look like. And yet. In the day-to-day slog, they get all kinds of muddy. Am I reaching for chocolate as a coping strategy or as a resource? Or has it become […]

Bypassing the Brain

One of the things I find myself needing to say again and again, to clients and myself, is “bypass your brain.” I use this in a particular situation. This is when the body is speaking, through images, sensations, or movement, and it doesn’t make sense to the brain.  Or it makes too much sense, and […]

Increased Capacity in Action

Here are a couple of tangible examples of increased nervous system capacity. Yesterday, in our second-to-last Collapse Resilience group meeting of the series, the topic of conversation leaned toward our feelings about what’s going on. Righteous indignation and pain over how “othered” humans are being treated. Horror about the trajectory of this country. Anger around […]

Nervous System Capacity

I know I’m not the only one who has lamented having a small nervous system capacity… I know because it’s a recurrent lament. What I’m referring to is that when one does enough work to realize that they have been living in nervous system overwhelm, or dysregulation, freeze, or fight/flight, the next step is to […]

Renegotiation of a “Trauma” or Event

Trauma resolution does not mean the erasure of the past. There are a couple of ways that this shows up in my practice. One is that when people are really in it in a session, and I suggest that they consider how else they might have responded to a situation or reenact it now, they […]

How I Handle the Big Stuff

How I Handle the Big Stuff I was recently reminded of how many pieces go into allowing me to be an outwardly functioning human. Let me rephrase that last… A well-managed and regulated human. Notice how easy it is to slip into the socialized, shame-inducing framing we are so used to?!? I have spent the […]

Touchwork

Touchwork I understand my job as holding space for your nervous system to figure out what it needs to do to complete incomplete stress responses. Your nervous system knows what it needs to do.  Sometimes we just need to get you out of the way.  Sometimes I need to create the sense of safety that […]

Having My Own Practitioner

Having My Own Practitioner I’ve had a few discussions with clients and colleagues over the last month or so regarding what makes a “good” practitioner. That term is so subjective… In this case, though, we were talking about someone effective, confident, and can hold a compassionate container for you (the client or group member) to […]