Counselling and Trauma Therapy
Merissa’s holistic counselling approach is more than just “talk-therapy”, it’s combined with her training in somatic work as a body based trauma therapist. She guides you through a powerful experiential process that helps you discover and release habitual patterns and beliefs that keep you stuck.
These approaches help you get underneath what you are feeling on the surface, triggering the bodies memory and working together to integrate the mind and body.
All these process’s are rooted in your nervous systems abilty to ingetrate them in order to create deep and lasting change.
Understanding and healing trauma
Trauma is defined as anything that happens too quickly for your nervous system to process.
The Somatic Experiencing® method is a body oriented approach to the healing of trauma and other stress disorders. It is a holistic approach that helps “re-set” your nervous system and establish a natural flow between mind and body.
Re-establishing the cycle between alertness and rest
The reason we want to create a more regulated nervous system is to restore the natural flow between alertness and rest. When trauma occurs, this cycle is interrupted and an energy charge gets “stuck” in your body. This energy charge gets continually triggered when you encounter situations that remind you of the earlier experience that your nervous system never fully processed.
You can never fully live in the present when our past has not been processed which mean we can never be fully present
How Somatic Experiencing® works:
The Somatic approach facilitates the completion of self-protective motor responses and the release of thwarted survival energy bound in the body, thus addressing the root cause of trauma symptoms. This is approached by gently guiding clients to develop increasing tolerance for difficult bodily sensations and suppressed emotions.
Stress can’t live in a calm system
Creating a balanced regulated nervous system allows you to settle to more quiet states for digestion and rest. These states are required for optimal health and vitality.
Merissa’s holistic counselling approach is informed by the following training:
Somatic Experiencing
Dr. Peter Levine’s Somatic model of understanding the nervous system works on releasing pain and trauma in the nervous system where the core of the bodies memories are rooted.
Neuroscience of Trauma
Dr. Bessel von der Kolks neuroscience of trauma work on integrating trauma therapay with the body
Inherited Trauma
Mark Wolynn’s Inherited Trauma works to uncover the intergenerational traumas that have been passed down
Developmental Science
Dr Gordon Neufelds relational-developmental approach works on understanding the developmental science of children
Family Systems Theory
Clearminds Family Systems Theory works by examining how your family of origin shapes our beliefs, behaviours and value systems
Depth Psychology
Clearminds Depth psychology framework is an experiential, relational and transpersonal paradigm that fosters the self awareness and relationship skills required to transform lives.