Embodied Trauma Healing
“Trauma is a fact of life. It does not, however, need to be a life sentence.”
Trauma is part of the human experience, and so is the possibility of post-trauma growth and healing. These sessions offer a therapeutic approach to help you explore the underlying causes of whatever is troubling you in your daily life. Sessions take the form of a conversation to identify core issues, combined with somatic enquiry and practices to help you stabilise, process and integrate what arises. Sometimes we will touch on past events that may be significant but there’s no need to dwell in the past, because unresolved trauma shows up in the present experience of life and relationships.
Our body always remembers and tells the story of our lived experience, even if we have no conscious recollection. I will support you in uncovering the source of your discomfort and pain which is nearly always rooted in unprocessed experiences. Sessions address not only conscious beliefs and memories, but also the unconscious and implicit memories (pre-cognitive and/or pre-verbal) held in the bodymind.
In order for trauma to be healed and integrated, it’s necessary to turn towards the discomfort and to feel it in the present - the sensations in your body, the depths of your feelings and emotions - and to meet all of this with curiosity, courage and compassion for yourself. Approaching your wounds in this way, holding them close to you as you would an old friend or distressed child, invites an open awareness and understanding of the root causes and consequent shift in perspective - essentially you give yourself in the present, what you most needed in the past, but didn’t receive. Given that most trauma happens in a relational context, the supportive presence of another human being can have a profound impact on your sense of safety, connection, and ability to process and assimilate. Feeling fully seen and heard by another is profoundly healing.
The impact of trauma on the nervous system
When faced with an overwhelming situation, your nervous system will ready you to defend yourself (fight), run away (flight) or please/appease/deny your authentic Self (fawn). When none of these are an option, dissociation (freeze) will happen. Freeze is the body’s protective mechanism to not feel the physical and emotional. pain of the experience.
During overwhelm, you may not consciously register the pain or even have recollection of the event(s), however the body remembers and until these wounded unseen parts are allowed to come up to the surface and be held, they will continue to have an impact on your present lived experience.
Working to restore stability and flexibility in the nervous system is an essential part of the trauma healing journey.
“After trauma, the world is experienced with a different nervous system that has an altered perception of risk and safety.”
How might trauma be showing up in your life?
Trauma can show up in your physical, emotional and mental health. You may have heard of “Big T” as if certain traumatic events were more significant than others, however my experience is that persistent stress and unhealthy environments can have just as big an impact. Obvious manifestations of unresolved trauma may include anxiety, depression, addiction, self-harming, eating disorders, and chronic illness. Sleep problems, poor self-care and emotional reactivity can also be signs that we need support. Even less obvious may be core beliefs such as feeling too much, or not good enough, experiencing difficulty asking for help or feeling worthless, stupid, helpless, a failure, unlovable….
Outcomes of integration
- Living more in the present moment experience
- Feeling more emotional resilience and equanimity
- Experience more energy, vitality and joy
- Feeling safer in your body and the world around you
- Feeling more integrated and whole within yourself
- Experience more confidence and freedom to be your authentic self
- Feeling more connected to others
Let’s connect and have a conversation
When choosing someone to support you on your healing journey, it’s vitally important that you feel safe in their presence, and that they have done (and continue to do) their own work in order to be able to hold space for you effectively. If what I offer resonates with you, and you would like to meet me before scheduling a full session, please schedule a free 20-minute discovery call here.
Working Together
To establish safety and continuity in the therapeutic container, my recommendation is to work weekly or fortnightly for the first 4 sessions and then review together at the end of the 4th session to decide on best practice going forward. However, every person has different needs and constraints so it's best to seek guidance from within to decide what feels right for you in terms of frequency of sessions - listening and responding to what you need is a fundamental part of the healing journey.
Pricing
Sessions are offered with a tiered pricing structure rather than one fixed price. The intention is to allow more people to access sessions, supported by those who have access to more funds. Please choose the option that feels appropriate to you and your circumstances. You will not be asked to justify your choice.
REBALANCING
For those with good financial resources who wish to support others and help rebalance systemic inequity.
€80 / £70 p/h
FAIR
For those with sufficient financial resources who can pay the fair value for the sessions.
€60 / £55 p/h
SUPPORTED*
For those who currently have limited financial resources and can benefit from sessions supported by the community.
€40 / £40 p/h
Sessions are available in the Lourinhã area, Lisbon and online.
*At present, the SUPPORTED rate is only available for online sessions.
A testimonial that speaks to the possibility of post-trauma growth
“There really are no words to express how transformative and life changing my work with Michelle has been. I’ve grown more in 4 months than in over 20 years in other types of counselling.
The amalgamation of her experiences and training is, in my opinion, the best you will find! She is a GEM and anyone working with her should be truly excited for renewal, growth, and a genuine stepping into oneself.
Anxiety, fear and control used to run and dominate my life and my relationships, and I can honestly say, that now, after 4 months of working with Michelle, they are simply just not a part of my life anymore. It’s like a miracle. I felt them shedding as soon as I started sessions, but never knew it would be this transformative. It’s hard to believe sometimes, but the “freeze” or dissociation that used to be a daily part of my life no longer exists.
I am able to listen to my body for the first time. Honor my voice. Tap into my intuition. Feel confident and peaceful within myself, and let my feelings that come up, simply be. There is no more suppression, and it’s incredible to see how much quicker the feelings flow through me. It’s been a very intense year for me circumstantially, and I do think I would have been in a very dark place had it not been for my work with Michelle. I went from complete overwhelm and fear, to empowerment, strength and bright hope for the future, and the present.
I truly cannot recommend her enough. She is INCREDIBLE!”
—Sophie R., UK
FAQs
What does embodiment mean?
Embodiment means being more present to and in the body, and for the mind to become both more grounded in the sensations of the body and more in touch with simple satisfactions.. The more attuned we are to our inner landscape, our feelings and sensations, the easier it is to hear the body speaking, and over time we begin to live more from the wholeness of somatic intelligence rather than cognitive intelligence. Our body becomes a faithful and steady resource in an ongoing process that flowers into feeling totally at home in your bodymind, living with more vitality, joy and an unshakeable trust in life itself. We are home and can surrender to the flow of life as it unfolds.
What does somatic mean?
Your soma is your whole being. Somatic is often defined as relating to the body, as distinguished from the mind. However, the apparent separation of body and mind is merely cognitive. Sustained self-enquiry reveals that the mind is a reflection of the body, so when your body is comfortable and happy, then your mind will be clear and integrated.
What is trauma?
Most professionals agree that trauma involves overwhelm (too much, too soon, too fast) and/or too little, for too long, or too late. Essentially, it’s any experience that is so overwhelming that we are unable to cope and process fully, leaving a residual imprint in the organism. What differentiates trauma from stress is that trauma results in disconnection - from the body, emotions, our authentic Self, and in relationship to others. Disconnection is our way of coping with the unbearable and is a necessary survival response to the presence of real or perceived danger in the moment. However when the disconnection continues, it can result in us feeling reactive, defensive, unsafe, isolated and shut down, affecting our present moment experience of daily life.
Are there different types of trauma?
Trauma can arise from different experiences however it’s not in the event itself, but in the internal response to the event. As human beings, we may experience shock trauma as a result of an accident or natural disaster; developmental trauma from not having our needs fully met in childhood; or trans-generational relational trauma arising from being immersed in unhealthy family dynamics that are passed down through the generations. These are just a few examples of many experiences that can result in trauma being held in the body Ultimately, unresolved trauma can be thought of as being like an unhealed wound from the past, which continues to show up in the present every time it gets triggered.
What happens in a session?
I support people who feel stuck in unhelpful patterns and beliefs, and people experiencing pain, disease, and emotional distress. Sessions focus on stabilisation and integration supported by psycho-education, somatic practices for resourcing, release and nervous system regulation, and conversation that invites you to move into a different relationship with yourself. Sessions include techniques from Compassionate Inquiry® and Somatic Experiencing®, both body-based psychotherapeutic approaches to trauma healing.
You decide what you would like to explore in the sessions, and I will support you by offering a safe nurturing space and a compassionate, non-judgmental presence where all parts of you are welcome. In my experience, we already have all the answers within us so my role is to support you in becoming more attuned to your body’s messages and to explore them with curiosity and compassion.
What’s the difference between Embodied Trauma Healing and psychotherapy or counselling sessions?
The main difference is that the body is included as an essential part of the conversation because the body is where memories are stored, where wholeness resides, and where integration happens. We can’t think our way out of trauma. Embodied Trauma Healing has been born out of 27 years of experience of working with somatic practices supporting both myself and others to live lives with less pain and more freedom.
It’s important to know that my approach is one of walking beside you as another human being who has taken a consistent deep dive into healing from an embodied bottom-up approach both in my personal practice and living on retreat with one of my teachers for extended periods of time. Aside from somatic learning, my understanding about trauma is grounded in the work of Dr. Gabor Maté, who I studied Compassionate Inquiry® (CI) with, and also Somatic Experiencing® (SE) which I’m currently training in but already integrate into session work because it’s in alignment with my existing approach.
Somatic Experiencing® is a scientifically-proven body-based psychotherapeutic approach to trauma healing developed by Dr. Peter Levine. The CI approach was developed by Dr. Gabor Maté as a result of his extensive experience working with people suffering with trauma and addiction. Dr. Maté is a retired physician, the author of several books, an international speaker, and is widely respected as an authority on trauma, addiction, childhood development, and the relationship between stress and disease.