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Somatic Psychotherapy, Cardiff
Trauma integration bodywork, Cardiff

I offer a confidential and safe environment for you to openly explore any personal difficulties, challenges or needs for self- development. You will be treated with respect, without judgment and feel genuinely seen, heard and understood.   

The psychotherapeutic method that I offer is somatic, it respects and utilizes the connection between a person’s body and mind. 

It no longer makes sense to treat what happens in the mind as separate from the body. Talk based therapies tend to emphasise literal explanations and cognitive solutions to problems in what then becomes a story over a story. To be truly transformative, it necessitates connecting to our whole experience and that includes paying attention to body sensations, perceptions, gestures,  impulses and feelings. When we listen more deeply, we can understand that much of what is troubling us has some origin or truth in the body. 

A somatic approach supports individuals to become ‘agents of their own change’. By developing greater self-insight and conscious action it is possible to transform limiting patterns, beliefs and habits through creativity, self-compassion and embodied care.

How can it help?

Somatic psychotherapy can provide help for anxiety, depression and stress as well as relationship, work or family conflict.  It can support you during a personal crisis, challenge or life transition.

Perhaps you have experienced a trauma or you are going through a loss or bereavement. It might be that you do not know the reasons you feel stuck or unhappy but you wish for a change. As you make contact and start to befriend your bodymind, you can make sense of life events, stresses and any conditioning of your past.

Body psychotherapy supports you to:

    • Gain self-awareness and an understanding  of your thoughts, feelings, impulses and actions.
    • Gain resources and tools to shift challenges into opportunities
    • Understand internal triggers and habitual reactions and explore possibilities for choice and change.
    • Address how historical wounds or painful past experiences might still inform and condition your present life
    • Gain a renewed sense of purpose

  1. Trauma integrated bodywork

  2. I have training in poly-vagal informed psychotherapy for trauma, and I have developed a particular bodywork method that I offer to individuals who are experiencing CPTSD/ PTSD or traumatic stress. This therapy supports a better functioning of the nervous system after a crisis or upheaval. These sessions focus on reducing physical distress or feelings in the body. Many people with trauma will feel it as a lived phenomenon in their body, as trembling, agitation, numbness, heaviness, disconnect, pain and tension. Body work is a valuable tool to support both the relief of symptoms as well as a way to understand and be-friend the body.

  3. The therapeutic relationship

  4. For therapy to be useful, it needs a supportive relationship. Relationship is like a mirror, it provides insight, and a way to see ourselves through empathic reflection. Research has shown that a good therapeutic relationship between client and therapist is the single most important factor in securing a positive outcome for clients.     

  5. Questions and Answers  

  6. Why would I need counselling and therapy? 
    Everybody experiences pain and difficulty in their lives. We are inherently resilient to overcome our troubles and grow from them. However, sometimes we become isolated and need support: a kind face and reassuring hand. This has always been the role of a counsellor: to help restore hope and wholeness.

  7. Can’t I just talk to my friends and family?
    Counselling does not replace any existing relationships.  It would in fact, encourage you to build and maintain healthy relationships. A therapeutic alliance is not the same as a normal family or friend relationship, the connection that you develop with your therapist is one that  addresses your needs. 
    Sometimes it can be difficult to talk openly to friends and family, we might feel guilt and shame about what is troubling us. A counsellor will understand this and  treat any vulnerability with  care. A therapist will also have considerable experience and understanding of the inner dynamics of mind and body.       

  8. How long does it take and what is the difference between short term and long term therapy? 
    Every individual on their therapeutic journey is unique and responds in their own way, as such there is no designated time limit for therapy. Some clients come with a specific issue in mind, some need relief from a stressful situation or crisis. In this case, short term therapy (anything from 12-16 weeks) may be appropriate and sufficient. Other clients will prefer an open ended, long term approach. A deeper, personal restructuring and process of change needs spaciousness and time and  can be anything from months to years.