Psyche & Soma Psychotherapy Group

The erotic as power is a deep knowing that touches into a ‘feminine plane’ within each of us. The erotic is as she (Audre Lorde) says ‘the creative energy empowered.’ It is rooted in the senses and a vital connection to the body. But the erotic is not only the sexual. She is talking about the ability to feel fully and live deeply into our experience (to love experience), something that is discouraged in a society that values speed, activity, productivity, and the mind over l...iving the richness and depth of feeling in the body. With sex, this depth is perverted into only being about a type of sex that is quick, isolated, and transactional (I do this, you do that) what she calls the pornographic. In the rest of life, depth is sacrificed to the scramble to keep up and survive what I’ll call the hustle. Yes, often you gotta hustle to survive (until tomorrow or next month or at all). The erotic is about thriving and savoring, every moment. - Sebene Selassie, Erotic as Power: The Problem of Power & Feeling the Feminine #traumatherapist #traumarecovery #fullertontherapist #brea #anaheim #fullerton #yorbalinda #placentia #whittier #orange #psychology #depthpsychology #counseling #healing #therapyisforeveryone #mentalhealth #reparenting #innerchild #innerchildwork #shadowwork #somaticexperiencing #psycheandsomatherapy #anxiety #depression #posttraumaticstress #ptsd #mindfulness #selfcare #ocshrinks

I believe that the client and therapist relationship is the foundation for creating positive growth and healing. That is why my focus is to ensure my clients have a space that is free of judgment, and this means that I welcome clients of all sexual orientations, gender identities, and relationship styles. I utilize a sex-positive, body-positive, trauma-informed, and identity affirmative perspective in supporting my clients’ self-discovery. I am currently training with the Am...erican Association of Sexuality Educators, Counselors, and Therapists (AASECT) to become a Certified Sex Therapist. If you’re curious about working together, let’s connect! 714-794-2734 or [email protected] or @mindful_misfit

If we don’t have a way to release the survival energy that becomes activated during a traumatic or highly stressful event(s), it remains stored in our bodies and creates a domino effect of sorts on our psyches and our bodies. Our bodies are powerful organisms and this is why we can’t just think our way out of trauma responses. We need to move through - slowly, gently, on our own accord, and in relationship.... #traumatherapist #traumarecovery #fullertontherapist #brea #anaheim #fullerton #yorbalinda #placentia #whittier #orange #psychology #depthpsychology #counseling #healing #therapyisforeveryone #mentalhealth #reparenting #innerchild #innerchildwork #shadowwork #somaticexperiencing #psycheandsomatherapy #anxiety #depression #posttraumaticstress #ptsd #mindfulness #selfcare #ocshrinks

You had to have learned it somewhere. Through family, through community, through grind culture, through oppressive spaces, through heavily positive interactions, through war- torn and unsafe neighborhoods or environments. You learned it somewhere as a survival skill. You likely learned it in order to keep going. You learned it because a big person didn’t know how to connect with or contain their own feelings and had limited ability in showing you how to connect with and saf...ely contain your own. The process of re-parenting your younger self must include learning how to feel your feelings so that you can show those less emotionally developed parts of you how to do it in a way that is authentic, safe, and promotes wholeness. Our suggestion? You can learn to do this in therapy with a therapist who understands complex trauma, inner child and re-parenting work, and emotional neglect and abuse; this can also be done through other secure adult relationships, such as friendships, partners, colleagues, teachers, mentors, etc. Our therapists understand and are exceptional in working with complex trauma and with adults who learned very well how to survive but who now want to live more meaningful lives. Reach out today for a free consultation - we’re here to support all parts of you! 657.201.9030 or [email protected]

Pain, discomfort, hurt, and trauma are all parts of life. There is a difference, though, in the growing pains, the descent, and the lessons learned along the way in service of individuation, integration, and transformation and the pain and suffering that comes from living a sleepy, unconscious, or purposeless life. What needs to be expressed today (to yourself, to another)? What do you need in order to feel safe enough to express this?... How do you want to express it (with your voice? with your writing? with your paint? by some other means?) What need is being met (the need for connection? the need to honor your truth? the need to work through something that’s been on your mind? the need to break a cycle?) Why is this important to you? How do you know this is important to you? #traumatherapist #traumarecovery #fullertontherapist #brea #anaheim #fullerton #yorbalinda #placentia #whittier #orange #psychology #depthpsychology #counseling #healing #therapyisforeveryone #mentalhealth #reparenting #innerchild #innerchildwork #shadowwork #somaticexperiencing #psycheandsomatherapy #anxiety #depression #posttraumaticstress #ptsd #mindfulness #selfcare #ocshrinks

First, this does not necessarily apply to folks currently living in frightening, literally unsafe situations. This is a reminder for those of us who have made it through stressful and traumatic experiences and the threat is now over. This is a reminder that although it may not *feel* like the emotional or physical threat is over, it is. Therapy can be one space to help process old feelings so that they don’t take over your life and leave you feeling immobilized and disempower...ed. Processing, unlearning, and relating in new ways IS hard work, but it doesn’t have to be something fearful. We have to be willing to not fear fear. Our feelings won’t kill us. #traumatherapist #traumarecovery #fullertontherapist #brea #anaheim #fullerton #yorbalinda #placentia #whittier #orange #psychology #depthpsychology #counseling #healing #therapyisforeveryone #mentalhealth #reparenting #innerchild #innerchildwork #shadowwork #somaticexperiencing #psycheandsomatherapy #anxiety #depression #posttraumaticstress #ptsd #mindfulness #selfcare #ocshrinks

We often talk about how staying in our comfort zone keeps us comfortable and safe. While safety and comfort are important, I often wonder if a felt sense of safety and comfort is actually what’s being experienced. When we stay in our bubble, is it also possible that we’re feeling numb, unhappy, and small? We want to know: what helps you move through difficult feelings and growth? Comment below! #traumatherapist #traumarecovery #fullertontherapist #brea #anaheim #fullerton #yorbalinda #placentia #whittier #orange #psychology #depthpsychology #counseling #healing #therapyisforeveryone #mentalhealth #reparenting #innerchild #innerchildwork #shadowwork #somaticexperiencing #psycheandsomatherapy #anxiety #depression #posttraumaticstress #ptsd #mindfulness #selfcare #ocshrinks

Jungian analyst, Marion Woodman, writes about how important bringing the body into the trauma recovery process is. A necessary dance and connection to both Psyche and Soma need to happen in order for authentic transformation to happen. Sometimes this happens naturally, sometimes this happens with a little guidance from someone who’s been on the path. She says, Unless the body knows it’s loved, that its responses are acceptable, the psyche does not have the ...ground of certainty in the instincts that it requires; sooner or later the person will become stuck because the ego is afraid to trust; at the point of surrender, the ego becomes paralyzed. Unless the body knows that there are inner loving arms strong enough to contain it, however fierce or broken it may be, it will hang onto its own rigidity in an effort to survive. That rigidity is echoed in the rigidity of the persona and the ego. #traumatherapist #traumarecovery #fullertontherapist #brea #anaheim #fullerton #yorbalinda #placentia #whittier #orange #psychology #depthpsychology #counseling #healing #therapyisforeveryone #mentalhealth #reparenting #innerchild #innerchildwork #shadowwork #somaticexperiencing #psycheandsomatherapy #anxiety #depression #posttraumaticstress #ptsd #mindfulness #selfcare #ocshrinks

Here’s your daily reminder that Psyche (soul) and Soma (body) are built for wholeness. We are constantly sending and receiving messages from all parts of ourselves, to others, and from others, to our environment, from our environment. We are complex systems within larger systems. Take a moment to notice what’s happening in your physical body or in your inner landscape. What needs your attention in this moment? How does it feel? What does it look like? What are some of it’s qu...alities? Just pick one thing you’re noticing right now and play around with it. See if your body needs to express what you’re physically or psychologically feeling right now. #traumatherapist #traumarecovery #fullertontherapist #brea #anaheim #fullerton #yorbalinda #placentia #whittier #orange #psychology #depthpsychology #counseling #healing #therapyisforeveryone #mentalhealth #reparenting #innerchild #innerchildwork #shadowwork #somaticexperiencing #psycheandsomatherapy #anxiety #depression #posttraumaticstress #ptsd #mindfulness #selfcare #ocshrinks

BOOK REVIEW: Bodyfulness: Somatic Practices for Presence, Empowerment, and Waking up in This Life, was recommended by my colleague and Somatic Experiencing friend and classmate, @helenavissing. While only a few chapters in, Christine Caldwell’s book, Bodyfulness, has been a wonderful read so far! She has created this book for people looking to integrate into a more full life, to gain access to their power, and to better relate to being in your body. It is full of information... on research, exercises to practice, psychoeducation on body and psychology, and invites deeper exploration into what science has revealed to us through neuroscience, anatomy, physics, and mindfulness. I highly recommend this book for those in the mental health world as well as those who want to learn more about experiencing their body. #traumatherapist #traumarecovery #fullertontherapist #brea #anaheim #fullerton #yorbalinda #placentia #whittier #orange #psychology #depthpsychology #counseling #healing #therapyisforeveryone #mentalhealth #reparenting #innerchild #innerchildwork #shadowwork #somaticexperiencing #psycheandsomatherapy #anxiety #depression #posttraumaticstress #ptsd #mindfulness #selfcare #ocshrinks

From Bodyfullness by Christine Caldwell: Bodyfullness is about working toward our potential as a whole human animal that breathes as well as thinks, moves as well as sits, takes action as well as considers, and exists not just because it thinks but because it dances, stretches, bounces, gazes, focuses, and attunes to others. #traumatherapist #traumarecovery #fullertontherapist #brea #anaheim #fullerton #yorbalinda #placentia #whittier #orange #psychology #depthpsychology #counseling #healing #therapyisforeveryone #mentalhealth #reparenting #innerchild #innerchildwork #shadowwork #somaticexperiencing #psycheandsomatherapy #anxiety #depression #posttraumaticstress #ptsd #mindfulness #selfcare #ocshrinks

A corrective emotional experience is when we offer ourselves and others a different response than we/they have received before. A corrective emotional experience, depending on the situation, might include: - listening without judgment -being mindful about your own feelings without reacting -responding instead of reacting -being angry with and for someone when an injustice has occurred -letting someone know how glad you are they told you -seeing things from another’s perspecti...ve -stepping in to put an end to an abusive or toxic situation -speaking up when something is harmful -listening quietly -inviting discussion about difficult things -asking about the meaning they make around a particular experience -exploring what we/they would have liked instead -owning our blindspots when we’ve messed up #traumatherapist #traumarecovery #fullertontherapist #brea #anaheim #fullerton #yorbalinda #placentia #whittier #orange #psychology #depthpsychology #counseling #healing #therapyisforeveryone #mentalhealth #reparenting #innerchild #innerchildwork #shadowwork #somaticexperiencing #psycheandsomatherapy #anxiety #depression #posttraumaticstress #ptsd #mindfulness #selfcare #ocshrinks

The second part of our group practice name (Soma) is another term for the physical body. As trauma-informed clinicians, we believe it’s important to also incorporate the Body’s wisdom into treatment. Our mind’s know a lot, our unconscious is rich with information, and our bodies also store a lot of helpful cues and clues. For trauma survivors, and anyone living in a highly stressful environment (hello, America 2020!), survival energy can become stored in the physical body and... make an impact on all systems within the body. If that survival energy has nowhere to move through and out, it becomes trapped and we begin feeling things like muscle tension, digestive issues, headaches, tightening in the chest, changes in appetite, immobility, excessive mobility, and so on. Body-based approaches to healing can help people be more present with their current sensations, feelings, and experiences without having to go all the way back and process old trauma. The body knows enough. Just like Psyche, the body is also so resilient and adaptive and built for balance, healing, pleasure, and fullness. #traumatherapist #traumarecovery #fullertontherapist #brea #anaheim #fullerton #yorbalinda #placentia #whittier #orange #psychology #depthpsychology #counseling #healing #therapyisforeveryone #mentalhealth #reparenting #innerchild #innerchildwork #shadowwork #somaticexperiencing #psycheandsomatherapy #anxiety #depression #posttraumaticstress #ptsd #mindfulness #selfcare #ocshrinks