Identity is how you think about and see yourself. It is the core of everything you do. If you change your actions without changing your identity, you will fall back into old patterns. As you shift your identity, feelings and actions flow much more easily. This is the mind portion of the work we do.

Embodiment is your connection to your body. Your body houses so much wisdom that your mind can’t yet see, because it happens through feeling and experience. When you are embodied, your connection to others is also strengthened. This is the heart portion of the work we do.

Healthy habits are the actions we take repeatedly toward the person we want to become, or the life we want to create.  Taking action reinforces the identity and embodiment you develop, and in turn, aligned identity and embodiment lead to more effective action.

When we are born, we are feeling creatures first and later learn language and thoughts. So if our development is like an onion, forming feelings then thoughts in layers, we must peel back the layers of the onion with thoughts then feelings. Examining and questioning current thoughts and beliefs is usually where I start, but it’s just the beginning. Realizing how much agency you have over your thoughts is an empowering awareness for most people.

“Soma” means body. Somatic tools are those that get us out of our heads, where we often spin in circles, and into our bodies. Somatic tools are the heart of my work. I believe your body holds wisdom and will tell you what you need, if you learn to listen to it. This is where you practice, with gentle guidance from me, to be with your emotions instead of resisting them. This is the simplest, yet most powerful tool in my toolbox.

(in the coach-client relationship) When we shame and judge ourselves, our left brain is literally turning away from our right brain where our essential selves live. We must learn to turn back toward ourselves to feel whole and integrated again. We do this by witnessing ourselves with compassion and grace. I found this to be very difficult until I experienced it coming from someone else first.  My relationship with you, building upon a foundation of safety, is one of the assets I use to help you heal. I will never judge you, and you always make sense no matter what. Especially in trauma work, compassionate witnessing solves for the alarmed aloneness we feel.

I have found in my own personal work and in my work with clients, speaking to the child within you can shift things quickly. This is especially true when working with emotions that were created in the past and are not fully resolved. This tool coupled with compassionate witnessing or somatic work can be a force for so much good change.

I have found visualization and meditation to be highly effective, especially in relation to identity and creating the healthy habits you desire, and putting space between you and your feelings.

In order to go deep quickly, I rely heavily on my intuition. Each session may look differently than the one before it. We are dynamic humans, which calls for dynamic responses for different life situations. I don’t use every tool in every session, but go where the Spirit directs.