Somatic Counseling Therapy in Pasadena, CA

Somatic Therapy is at the cutting edge of psychotherapy. Somatic work respects and utilizes the powerful connection between body and mind. It is a holisitic approach, meaning it honors and utilizes the the whole of the human system. Andrea-Marie is versed in utilizing this form of therapy to treat many different mental and spiritual issues.

Much of what influences our experience is unconscious. Adding the body into psychotherapy allows us to include that otherwise unreachable information. Somatic work unlocks core issues.

The Practice of Hakomi

Ron Kurtz, the founder of Hakomi Mindful Somatic Psychology , said that therapy is about discovering who you are in the very heart of yourself. 

 Hakomi uses mindfulness more than other forms of therapy to help you connect and work with your deepest emotional issues in a safe and gentle way. Hakomi usually works rather quickly as you become adept at looking internally and becoming familiar with the deeper places within.

Honor Your Body and Mind

 Hakomi has been referred to as a graceful form of therapy because it honors your system as it helps you understand your system. Unconscious material in the psyche causes us to create conflict internally, with ourselves, and externally with others. Our relationships will suffer, we may have difficulty with any aspect of our lives. Once we bring this unconscious material into our normal consciousness we can truly change, utterly shift into a new self-hood. With mindful awareness we can integrate past traumas and challenges and truly leave discordant life experiences behind us.

Where is the unconscious material hiding?

In Hakomi therapy we acknowledge the ancient wisdom of the body and the most current neuroscience. Trauma work has brought forth more understanding of how the body stores developmental or incidental trauma. The body stores memory differently in trauma or with deeper issues. Tuning into the body, looking at how the body is held in posture or where chronic issues live in the physical body can bring quick and powerful results.

 Researchers like Dr. Bessel van der Kolk have helped to reveal how somatic therapy works directly with the brain’s neuroplasticity to create updated neuronal pathways. This means we can “get past” trauma. We essentially “leave it behind” by integrating the experience through trauma work. When we bring past issues into current consciousness we create a pathway to freedom.