An interdisciplinary practice of somatics, movement & trauma therapy...
My story began with experiencing the transformative benefits of using strength & functional training and somatics along with body based trauma therapy in my own trauma recovery…
You might have heard of the phrase “ talking helps”… it does help! Until it doesn’t as you find yourself talking about the same issue over and over again with no resolution. You find yourself engaging in the same pattern despite trying multiple mindset change strategies.
If trauma is stored in the body…I quickly learnt that healing had to include the whole body in the therapy room.
Movement has the capacity to directly access the nervous system and support shifts between its arousal states.
Trauma robs us of the right to inhabit our body safely…Movement and Body Based interventions can support a safe haven in our body as we learn to understand its wisdom and embody our innate resources.
Movement can help restore that which is lost!
Trauma disrupts the myriad of layers of our development and well being and therefore healing from trauma demands a myriad of interventions and supports. It impacts our body at a more primal physiological level.
A stand alone talk based therapeutic approach that facilitates recovery from top- down ( brain to the body) is not only insufficient or ineffective- it is no longer evidence based for trauma recovery!
After recognizing the gaps in traditional talk therapies both as a client and practitioner, I hoped to create a more integrated & holistic therapy practice that intervened the impacts of trauma from a bottom to top (body to brain) approach.
Bottom to Top or Body Based or Somatic approaches appreciate the significant role of our internal body world in helping us resolve our unresolved traumas. The way we experience ourselves, our relationships and our life experiences are not limited to our thoughts, feelings and perceptions that then dictate our behaviors.
We experience them deep within our body in the form of sensations, movements, habitual postures, breath, heart rate, pain & inflammation, muscle preparation & arousal energy states created by our nervous system.
Trauma further impacts us at a cellular and systemic level- digestion, immunity, endocrinology, reproductive, respiratory & pulmonary, cardiovascular & lymphatic systems.
The cost of traumatic stress is paid by our whole body.
A Peek Into My Practice…
Somatic Psychotherapy interventions help reorganize and integrate our internal experiences of the external or our relational world. It works safely with the way our nervous system reacts in the present moment as informed by our past unresolved traumas that show up as body memories.
The word “Somatic” means “ of the body''. My approach combines movement interventions and somatic therapies, to create a deep understanding of your nervous system and offer it opportunities to develop skills to regulate through the shifting impacts of trauma.
I use a unique blend of functional training, strength training, prehab & rehab skills as well as somatic movements in fusion with somatic psychotherapy to help support the nervous system and physiological regulation, creating opportunities for a deeper understanding of your body.
We are thinking, feeling, sensing, perceiving, moving & meaning making beings
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We are thinking, feeling, sensing, perceiving, moving & meaning making beings ....
Sessions With Me
Whether you are engaging in therapy or movement, my work follows a phase approach which is considered the gold standard of trauma informed practice for individuals with trauma.
The first phase of trauma related healing is to establish deep levels of safety and stabilization across all layers. Without safety our nervous system cannot allow for protective responses to be replaced. We cant break down walls without knowing what built them in the first place.
The second phase is identifying resources. Once we recognize the many resources that are in place to help us with survival through those traumatic times, we can start to support alternate resources that are more adaptive to the present time.
Once we have spent time creating safe, grounding and soothing resources to manage trauma triggers, we can use those resources to support processing trauma memories and experiences within the body.
True transformation and integration of resolving unresolved traumas can occur once the energy and the arousal of old memories have been processed. This is the time we spend in embodying healing and recovery.
Meet Haritha…
Trauma Therapist
Somatic Movement Facilitator
Bachelor of Psychology, Political Science, English Lit. (Ind)
Master of Psychological Counselling (Ind)
Master of Counselling (UQ)
Cert III & Cert IV Personal Training
Master Functional Trainer
Movement Restoration Coach
R.E.H.AB Trainer
Interdisciplinary Movement & Somatics (In Prog)
Dyadic Developmental Psychotherapy Lv.1
Sensorimotor Psychotherapy Lv.1
Circle of Security- Parent Facilitator
TIST (In Prog)
As a therapist, I have over 6 years of experience working with children, young people and adults with trauma experiences of all kinds. My practice is grounded in the interpersonal neurobiology of trauma where relational and nervous system healing is at the heart of recovery.
In my work as both therapist and movement facilitator, I honor the embodied knowledge and wisdom of our body in its capacity to use its innate resources to heal from traumatic wounds.
Therapeutic relationship and safety are at the heart of successful therapy when it comes to trauma recovery. We now know that our neurobiology is heavily influenced by our psychology as well as our relational & attachment environments. Ones that we grew up in and ones that we are still in.
Processing my own early childhood traumas that were impacting my adulthood in a somatic way and with movement has been life changing! To bare witness to this work changing my clients’ lives…heartwarming!
Having my own history of attachment & developmental trauma I spent years experiencing disconnection and dissociation within my body. Feeling alienated from the wisdom and intuition my body had to offer, my relationships struggled. My capacity to draw boundaries were disembodied and I was chronically stuck in a dorsal vagal-freeze state.
Finding myself engaging in the same unhelpful repetitive patterns in attachment relationships, workplaces & emotional regulation despite receiving talk based therapy, was the last straw.
Learning that these responses were my body’s wonderful way of protecting me from connecting with overwhelming pain…was transformative!
It was then that I found sensorimotor psychotherapy and strength training! Engaging in a body based somatic therapy and lifting weights allowed my nervous system to expand its window of tolerance to distress and experience embodiment for the first time!
As I learnt to listen to my body, my relationships changed. My felt sense of safety became stronger and my capacity to regulate increased. This work is by no means a miracle pill!
While I am still on my own journey and my relationship with my healing unfolds, I now have more tools to lean into the wisdom of my own soma and a life full of vitality.
It is a painstakingly frustrating and non linear path. As I was held by other safe capable nervous systems in my own healing, my hope is to offer you my safe capable nervous system as you travel through your healing journey.
Me merely your guide!
I now offer somatic psychotherapy, attachment based dyadic therapy, somatic movement sessions, group work to individuals with
Developmental Trauma/Complex Trauma/Attachment Trauma
Trauma related dissociation
Chronic Stress & Burnout
Pain (Chronic, Emotional, Somatic, Joint/Muscular, Postural & Post Injury or Surgery related)
Repetitive Injuries
Chronic Health Conditions
Poor relationship with movement & body
Functional Movement restrictions & later stages of rehab.