Our Approach

Somatic Experiencing® is a psychobiological trauma resolution therapy founded by Dr. Peter Levine. In the past, trauma therapy has focused on thought processes, feelings, and behaviors; this is helpful for many, but some may hold cognitive awareness of trauma yet continue to feel stuck in their own fight, flight or freeze responses. SE® trauma therapy effectively includes and addresses the vital role of the physiological experience of trauma by providing the framework to safely release trauma energy from the body. The safe release of this energy allows for a resolution of the trauma without having to re-live traumatic memories and in doing so experience a renewed quality of life and sense of aliveness.

Expressive arts therapy combines psychology and expressive processes to promote emotional, social and spiritual growth and healing. This multi-arts, or intermodal, approach to psychotherapy and counselling uses our inborn desire to be expressive—be it visual, music, theatre, poetry, dance, or other forms—as a therapeutic tool to help initiate and support change. Expressive approaches provide a safe and gentle way for individuals to explore issues that might be at first difficult to put into words. Our approaches include Sensorimotor Art Therapy®, a bottom-up body-focused psychotherapy that encourages awareness of the relationship between the client and the chosen expressive modality.

Hakomi Somatic Based Psychotherapy is a form of mindfulness-based body-oriented psychotherapy. Hakomi assists individuals in a process of experiential self-study in the here and now. The approach was founded by Ron Kurtz and his colleagues and is based in principles from eastern philosophy combined with western psychology. Hakomi is a gentle and powerful process of assisted self study that provides the opportunity to work from a mindful state to access and transform embodied and limiting core beliefs.

Somatic Touch Therapy is designed to support touch-based interventions to help the body recover from physical and emotional overwhelm, which can also be called traumatic experience. It is by nature a body oriented touch modality that works with creating new pathways in neurophysiology to reset towards safety, relaxation and healthier functioning

Cognitive behavioural therapy (CBT) is a psycho-social intervention that aims to reduce symptoms of various mental health conditions. CBT focuses on challenging and changing cognitive distortions (such as thoughts, beliefs, and attitudes) and their associated behaviours to improve emotional regulation and develop personal coping strategies that target solving current problems in everyday life.

DBT combines standard cognitive-behavioral techniques for emotion regulation and reality-testing with concepts of distress tolerance, acceptance, and mindful awareness largely derived from contemplative meditative practice.

The Re-Creation of the Self (R-CS) Model of Human Systems is both a comprehensive map of the inner Self, and a powerful, paradigm-challenging method for effecting client change. Grounded in mindfulness and somatic awareness, R-CS seeks to shift immediately the state of consciousness in which the distress is held offering a mind-opening opportunity to enhance effectiveness of functioning in the world.

Emotional freedom technique (EFT) is an alternative treatment for physical pain and emotional distress. It's also referred to as tapping or psychological acupressure. This technique can help create a balance in energy systems to treat and soothe pain.

Systems theory is concerned with the web of connections between persons and world, self and others. Systemic therapy tackles problems arising not within the individual as such, but rather within their wider life: their family and friends, work, and in the social (cultural, political, economic) context.