Somatic Trauma Therapy in Brunswick heads, Byron Bay and Online
My approach to trauma work
I believe trauma is not just in the event that happened; I understand it to be the lasting impact of that event on your nervous system, your relationships, and your sense of self. Whether you are experiencing complex trauma, developmental trauma, or shock trauma, this work supports you in accessing your own capacity to process and integrate those experiences.. I am trained in somatic, holistic and evidence-based therapeutic modalities. My approach is always tailored to your unique needs and you can choose what you would like to work on, ensuring a path that is respectful and collaborative. This work can be complemented by somatic body-based modalities such as yoga therapy and gentle breath practices if that is preferable to you.
"Trauma is not what happens to us, but what we hold inside in the absence of an empathetic witness"
- Peter Levine
Who I support
As a mental health clinician, I work from a perspective that begins with the body and nervous system. I support women and children aged 7 and above to reconnect with their body and inner wisdom, so they can feel empowered, whole, and safer, responding to life with greater authenticity, connection, and vitality. For therapeutic trauma work to be meaningful and beneficial, there needs to be enough safety and stability established before our work begins, therefore I may make recommendations for you to engage with support services in advance of beginning therapy.
What’s the difference between Somatic Trauma Therapy and Holistic Counselling?
Somatic Trauma Therapy is focused specifically on working with trauma as the primary concern. It draws on specialised training to support the processing of trauma held within the body and nervous system, helping to gently support you to resolve survival responses and restore a sense of safety and regulation.
Holistic Counselling is a broader approach that supports your overall mental health and wellbeing. While it can include working with trauma, it also addresses a wider range of experiences such as stress, anxiety, life transitions, and emotional challenges. This approach integrates a range of modalities to support you as a whole person - not just your symptoms or a single issue.
I can support you with:
Overwhelming anxiety and panic attacks
Accessing healthy anger
Emotional and nervous system regulation
Flashbacks, nightmares, and intrusive thoughts
Nervous system patterns (stuck in fight, flight, freeze or fawn)
Difficulty forming or maintaining healthy relationships
Chronic feelings of shame, guilt, or low self-worth
A loud and harsh inner critical voice
Feeling safer in your body and environment
Creating boundaries
Releasing stored survival stress
The modalities and training that inform my work with trauma
Somatic Experiencing® (SE)
A body-based approach to gently process and resolve trauma by building capacity to notice and track physical sensations and restoring the nervous system's capacity to self-regulate..
Trauma Coupling Dynamics (TCD)
The process of connecting and disconnecting elements of traumatic experiences
Gestalt-informed skills
Utilises present-moment awareness, experiential techniques and relational dialogue, to help you integrate fragmented parts of your experience and increase self-regulation. Gestalt supports the relational aspects of trauma.
Internal Family Systems (IFS)
IFS offers a compassionate framework to explore and integrate your inner world. It supports healing from trauma, anxiety, and emotional burdens by fostering self-awareness and restoring your natural capacity for wisdom and calm.
Dialectical Behaviour Therapy (DBT)
Focuses on practical skills for managing intense emotions, distress tolerance, mindfulness, and improving interpersonal relationships.
Trauma-informed yoga therapy
Emphasising autonomy, choice and nervous system regulation over perfection of poses, supporting you to gently reconnect with your body, exploring feelings and preferences, with invitational language.
My clinical experience and the categories of trauma I work with
I have dedicated my career to supporting individuals through profound trauma. My clinical experience includes:
Trauma therapy and counselling: One-to-one sessions to support the processing and integration of traumatic events and complex trauma
Child protection and out-of-home care: Extensive experience working with children who have experienced significant child abuse and neglect
Family violence: Supporting women and children impacted by domestic and family violence.
My specialist trauma training includes a 3-year program in Somatic Experiencing (SE), with faculty mentored by SE founder, Dr. Peter Levine. I have also completed advanced Trauma Coupling Dynamics training with Kathy Kain, which focuses on the complex physiological patterns that maintain trauma responses.
I have specialist skills to support and process trauma for the following categories:
Medical trauma: Including preparation for surgery, post-operative recovery, and the impact of anaesthesia.
Accidents: Near drownings, motor vehicle accidents (MVAs).
Violence including family violence: including inescapable attack, assault.
Sexual trauma: Specialist support for survivors of sexual assaults and sexual abuse.
Intergenerational trauma: Understanding and healing the transmission of trauma across generations.
“Trauma is a breach to the protective barrier against stimulation, leading to overwhelming feelings of helplessness.”
— Sigmund Freud
What to expect in your trauma therapy journey
Your first step is simply reaching out. We can begin with a confidential, introductory call to understand your history, current needs, and your goals for therapy. This initial conversation is a chance for us to see if we are a good fit. Trauma work moves through the following steps:
1. Building Safety
We focus on developing your regulation skills and capacity to track and settle your nervous system. We work with boundaries, consent, and preferences to support a greater sense of safety, awareness, and empowerment in your body. We may integrate parts work (IFS), DBT-informed regulation skills, and supportive yogic practices to support your capacity for regulation and self-awareness.
2. The protective system
We begin to gently track activation within your nervous system, while getting to know your protective parts. Noticing sensations, nervous system patterns (fight, flight, freeze, fawn), and cues of activation, as well as understanding the intention of your protectors in keeping you safe. As you build awareness, you are supported to relate to your protective system with curiosity and compassion, strengthening your capacity to stay present, regulated, and more connected to your self.
3. Processing trauma
Using Somatic Experiencing, Trauma Coupling Dynamics, and Internal Family Systems, we gently work with unprocessed memories, sensations, activation, and nervous system responses through titration and pendulation. I support you in connecting with Self-energy whilst working with protective parts and, when ready, gently working with exiled parts that hold unresolved burdens. This process allows the body’s natural capacity to heal to emerge, with compassion, safety, and regulation.
4. Integration & growth
You integrate new experiences, insights, and shifts in your nervous system, helping to bring meaning and understanding to what has been processed. This includes strengthening your connection to Self-energy, fostering a compassionate relationship with protective and exiled parts, and supporting their healthy reintegration. Through this process, you develop greater resilience, self-awareness, and a renewed sense of wholeness, allowing you to move forward with more balance, presence, and embodied confidence.