Somatic Therapy in
Portland, OR
Note: My practice is 100% VIRTUAL and I offer state-wide telehealth in Oregon & North Carolina, not just Portland, OR & Asheville, NC.
- Acute trauma
- Witnessing something traumatic
- Motor Vehicle Accident
- Surgery
- Medical Trauma
- Childhood or developmental trauma
- Physical or sexual abuse
- Chronic illness or pain
- Injury
- Birth trauma
- Unexpected change or transition
- Unexpected loss
- Intergenerational trauma
- Complex Trauma
- You struggle to express anger-either you have a difficult time even allowing yourself to feel anger or you are too good at feeling it.
- You have a hard time being in relationships and have a difficulty time trusting others
- You feel like you just feel different or changed after experiencing a traumatic event or surgery
- You waver between on high alert and feeling completely exhausted and zoned out
- You are too aware of your surroundings and too sensitive to your environment
- You find yourself in the same patterns of reacting to conflict, triggers, unpleasant feelings, challenges no matter how much intention you have to act differently
- You have experienced some hard shit, and not sure how it is affecting you, but know it is somehow
- You are an expert self-sabotager, especially when it comes to being successful or in relationships
- You have a difficult time feeling present, zone out mid conversation, forget things more often than usual
- The thought of being in your body is scary and you avoid feeling it.
Does this sound familiar?
Common Experiences that Clients seek out Somatic Therapy and Somatic Experiencing in Portland, OR for trauma:
Hi my name is Lexi, I’m a licensed professional counselor and Somatic Experiencing Practitioner. I trained through the Somatic Experiencing Training Institute. I specialize in providing virtual somatic therapy in Portland, OR and across Oregon.
- You feel as if you’re in survival mode all or most of the time. Your survival mode might look like waiting for the next shoe to drop, a sense to always be alert and ready, brain always on and thinking of solutions to potential problems, not being able to enjoy fun things or be in the moment. Maybe you’re not really sure why or how you got to this point
Reach out to inquire about starting Somatic Therapy in Portland, OR
Somatic therapy is bringing the body into the therapeutic work and stems from the belief that the mind and body are connected.
A simplified way to look at it is being curious about how the body responds to thoughts, feelings, stressors. Similarly, it is noticing how our thoughts, values, beliefs, emotions respond or change when we pay attention to our body.
Somatic based therapy can help add more elements of coping with anxiety, depression, big emotions, unpleasant body sensations, and trauma. These all aim to increase internal resources for you to better self-regulate and tolerate larger emotions, feelings, sensations, stressors without feeling flooded, overwhelmed, or reacting. Typically somatic therapy includes a combination of talk therapy and somatic therapy in addressing client’s goals.
If you resonate with any of the above-Somatic Therapy and Somatic Experiencing® might be right for you.
My approach to Somatic Therapy and Somatic Experiencing® in Portland, OR
Somatic Experiencing® (SE™) is a modality to work with trauma and other stress-related disorders and dysfunction in the body. It is body-oriented and nervous-system oriented. This approach helps clients complete self-protection responses (fight/flight/freeze) and release energy held in the body. It is intended to gently guide clients towards increasing tolerance for uncomfortable feelings, thoughts, and body sensations.
In this way, SE™ can address root causes of trauma symptoms. This can look like learning about the nervous system, its various patterns of self-protection (fight/flight/freeze), the different ways it can regulate, and noticing the ways in which the nervous system is already regulating itself. Some of these avenues of regulation I explore with clients include sensation, meaning making, emotion, imagery, movement, and the five senses. With SE™, I work in the present moment. Often these present nervous system responses are patterns from past experiences which allows clients to work on past trauma without needing to retell the story or even have full memories of what happened.
Additionally, in working in the present, it is much easier to go at a pace that feels “right.” SE™ values going at the pace of the nervous system, which for many is slower than they would like. The benefit of this, is that whatever processing happens typically has more time to integrate for longer change in stress responses and regulation. The slower pace can decrease feelings of overwhelm, rawness, or “too much” in trauma-focused work.
I am trained in and utilize the following somatic-based therapy techniques:
Other types of somatic therapies include:
· Nervous system education
· Somatic Experiencing®
· Safe & Sound Protocol (SSP)
· Mindfulness
· Movement
· Self-regulation skills
Interested in learning more about Somatic Experiencing and SSP? Learn more here
Somatic Experiencing® and Somatic Therapy FAQ's
Somatic Experiencing® was developed by Peter Levine. The aim is to help resolve symptoms and issues related to trauma, stress, and/or shock. Simply, SE helps to complete incomplete survival and self protected responses that did not get to happen, but now are held in the body. To learn more you can visit Somatic Experiencing International's site.
At its core, somatic therapy is acknowledging that the body is responding to and impacted by stress, tension, anxiety, depression, trauma, or other mental challenges.
A simplified way to look at it is being curious about how the body responds to thoughts, feelings, stressors. Similarly, it is noticing how our thoughts, values, beliefs, emotions respond or change when we pay attention to our body.
Somatic based therapy can help add more elements to coping with anxiety, depression, big emotions, and unpleasant body sensations. These all aim to increase internal resources for clients to better self-regulate and tolerate larger emotions, feelings, sensations, stressors without feeling flooded, overwhelmed, or reacting. Typically, somatic-based psychotherapy includes a combination of talk therapy and somatic therapy in addressing client’s goals.
Dysfunction in the nervous system can arise when it is unable to recognize that it has survived and is no longer in an environment that is threatening. With increasing demands from work, it can be easy to find yourself stuck in “on” mode and difficult to turn that off after work or even after the problem was solved. This tends to happen in those with chronic illness as their nervous system continues to react to various external and internal elements (allergens, toxins, foods, chemicals, pain, and more). This reinforces the nervous system bracing itself for threats, so it continues to go through cycles of self-protection. These cycles reinforce the stress responses in the body, which results in both a physical and mental toll on the body that can manifest in various symptoms connected to burnout or illness flare ups.
In my work with clients with both burnout and chronic illness, I help identify these cycles and slow them down so they have more time to choose how they want to respond. I support my clients in noticing moments of safety (even if it is relative) and highlighting them to communicate safety to their body and nervous system. I help my clients learn and practice regulation tools that are supportive of their needs and day to day activities. I help clients develop a new relationship with their body, one that does not only include pain, tension, anxiety, or a symptom, but also includes okayness and maybe even pleasantness.
No! You do not need to know what Somatic Experiencing® is, what Somatic Therapy is, or have any prior experience. In our work together, I will help orient you to Somatic Experiencing® and Somatic Therapy. I will do some teaching as well as working with you to find the right balance for you between talk therapy and processing and somatic therapy and experiential work. I will teach you the tools and skills you need. Plus, SE values a beginner mindset, so beginners are always welcome!
While I am an expert in SE, somatic therapy, and nervous system based work, your nervous system is unique to you and always changing. So even, if you do have experience with SE or Somatic therapy, the way we work together may lead to learning new information about your body and nervous system.
Oftentime, clients who have a lot of experience in therapy seek out somatic based therapy and Somatic Experiencing® because they are well versed in talk therapy. These clients tend to be really good at explaining their feelings and thoughts and why they are having those thoughts and feelings but they may not be as skilled at actually feeling and being with their feelings and how their body is responding to their thoughts. Somatic Experiencing® and Somatic therapy in Portland, OR can help with this.
Safe and Sound Protocol (SSP) is an evidence-based therapeutic tool, aimed at resetting the nervous system back to safety.
It is created to be used in tandem with other therapeutic modalities such as talk therapy, Somatic Experiencing®, occupational therapy, etc. It is a listening therapy and uses filtered music to stimulate the vagus nerve for safety. This tool helps clients to connect to themselves, others, and their environment with physiological cues for safety. Overall, SSP supports client’s physiology moving towards more tolerance of stress.
The core of the SSP is based in Dr. Steven Porges’ Polyvagal Theory. This theory is often termed the science of safety. It helps us understand how our nervous system and other systems in our body respond to and prepare to interact with the external environment. The theory helps us learn how what is going on inside our bodies — like the impacts of cues of safety or danger on our body — can impact our behavior.
SSP is delivered through over-the-ear headphones (non-noise canceling) and can be facilitated in-person or remotely. There are 5 hours of filtered music with additional playlists of unfiltered music to support relaxation and integration of the filtered music.
I combine SSP with SE™ work to help clients explore different aspects of regulation, safety, and calm that may be challenging to access initially. Music and the auditory sense is sometimes a more easily-accessible starting point for clients, who are developing awareness of their bodies and how it responds to stress. It can be challenging to have a baseline understanding and sense of calm and regulation, when we haven’t experienced it for a long time (or ever). I find that SSP can be helpful intervention to slowly start establishing this baseline.
To learn more, Integrated Listening offers a good overview on SSP, the research around the Safe and Sound Protocol, and Polyvagal Theory.
If you think Safe and Sound might be a good fit for you, reach out and schedule a time to talk!
