Therapy Offerings

Movement-based trauma therapy using TCTSY is for folks living with the effects of complex trauma who feel that a nondirective, non-conversation-based, trauma-sensitive movement practice could be accessible at this time.

You don’t need to have any specific movement experience or special equipment. This practice is designed to be adaptive to the needs of all bodies.

Because movement practices can sometimes bring strong or unexpected feelings to the surface, I ask that all participants have access to a trusted support person or network where you can share and process your experiences from TCTSY sessions, since the majority of our time will be non-conversation-based movement.

TCTSY can be used by itself, or as an add-on trauma-focused therapy to other therapy work. If you are already seeing a therapist (or other primary support person) and would like to add a movement-based trauma approach, TCTSY could be a fit. Our sessions could focus on the movement experience, while conversation/processing happens with your other therapist.

As part of our initial conversation and in individual sessions, I welcome you to share if there are parts of your body you’d like to move (or not), and how conversation might be part of our time.

The majority of our time together will involve me offering invitations for you to explore movement and/or stillness through different shapes with your body, as I practice along with you. I facilitate by sharing invitational options of ways you might choose to explore movement or stillness, and sometimes invite you to notice your breath or sensation. How you move (or don’t) remains entirely up to you! For example, I might say “if you’d like, you could explore movement with your neck. One way to move your neck could be by bringing your ear toward your shoulder, any amount. If you decide to bring your ear toward your shoulder, you’re welcome to find stillness in this shape, or to explore movement.”

TCTSY can be practiced standing, seated on a chair or the floor, or lying down. No special equipment is needed.

Individual movement-based trauma therapy using TCTSY is available in-person in Northampton, MA or virtually. Whether your camera is on or off during the practice is always your choice.

Most insurance plans bill for a 30-min, 45-min, or 55-minute session. You are welcome to decide which works for you.

We will also decide together whether and how much conversation will be part of our sessions, with the majority of our time spent with movement.

As one example, we might decide to spend a few minutes at the beginning of a 55-min session discussing anything you’d like to share about your experience from the last session(s) and if you have specific movement interests for today. Then I could offer 40-45 minutes of practice, with a few minutes at the end of the session to discuss anything you’d like to share and transition out. You are always welcome to pause our movement practice to discuss your experience, provide feedback, and make new movement choices.

Movement-based trauma therapy is an offering of Trauma Center Trauma Sensitive Yoga (TCTSY), which is an empirically-validated (research-supported) intervention for people who are impacted by the effects of complex trauma. If you’d like, you can explore the research supporting TCTSY here.

As an offering of TCTSY, this movement-based trauma therapy is shaped by trauma theory, attachment theory, and neuroscience, which are specific academic lineages that try to help tell the story of how complex trauma affects peoples’ bodies and relationships.

TCTSY is also rooted in several key principles, which I seek to integrate into every aspect of the process:

-Invitation: Rather than telling you how to be or move, I invite you to consider whether and how you’d like to try something on.

-Noncoercion: There isn’t a right or wrong way to practice, move, or have a body. There are options, and you get to decide what is interesting or useful to you, without added pressure. Rooted in this principle, TCTSY never involves the use of touch.

-Choice: This is the name of the game. I provide some potential options, and you’re welcome to explore what is interesting or useful to you in this moment.

-Shared Authentic Experience: As I facilitate, I’m actually practicing right along with you (often with my eyes closed!). The idea here is that I can offer embodied facilitation, help ensure that you have space to explore without being observed, and that we get to explore independently and “together.”

-Internal Body Awareness: I use plain, body-focused language to provide opportunities for you to explore whether and how you’d like to notice what’s happening in your body through movement and sensation.

-Feedback: I live a commitment to creating spaciousness for your feedback, and I respect any feedback you to choose to provide as a gift. It’s then my responsibility to respond to that feedback with care, self-reflection, and transparency.

While it has “yoga” in the name and integrates some yogic principles, TCTSY is different from many other expressions of yoga. How different TCTSY is to you likely depends on the yoga you've seen or practiced before.

TCTSY is an empirically-validated intervention for complex trauma or “chronic, treatment-resistant post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD).” It may be used in community settings (like a yoga studio or recovery center) or in clinical setting (like a hospital or therapy practice).

Importantly, I am also not currently a registered yoga teacher (RYT). As a certified TCTSY facilitator, I use a variety of movements that may or may not be hatha-style yoga forms, and I don’t use Sanskrit or English names for specific yoga forms (like “tree pose”). My training in TCTSY focused on treating complex trauma, rather than grounding in yogic teachings or physical forms.

Unlike in many yoga offerings (particularly in commercial yoga settings), TCTSY does not emphasize the external expression or appearance of forms (i.e. doing it "right"), or receiving the approval of an external authority, such as a teacher. Its goal is not "fitness" or relaxation. Instead, the purpose is your internal experience as the participant. TCTSY is designed to concentrate power with the participant rather than the TCTSY facilitator. Importantly, this also means that there are no “physical assists” or any other kind of touch in a TCTSY session.

If you have more questions about how TCTSY may be different than or similar to other kinds of yoga practice, feel free to reach out!

-Get connected. The process starts by contacting me. Via email, we will find a time that works for an initial consultation, which is a free 15-20 min conversation to discuss your questions and whether TCTSY could be a helpful offering for you.

-Make an account with Grow Therapy. If or when you decide to schedule an intake, you’ll need to get set up with an account with Grow Therapy. All of my therapy services are offered through the Grow Therapy platform, which manages billing, booking, and the video platform I use for virtual sessions. When you make an account, it will ask you for your contact information, insurance information, and payment information (debit or credit card, for co-pays or co-insurance). Making an account also requires agreeing to Grow’s “practice policy,” which is linked on the registration page.

-Complete paperwork. As part of scheduling the intake, you will receive two kinds of paperwork to complete. (1) An intake questionnaire will come directly from Grow when you register, and has general questions about you, your mental health and family history, and emergency contact. You are welcome to share as much or as little information as you’d like. If you’d prefer, we can discuss these topics when we meet instead. (2) I will email you a link to a protected Google form which confirms your emergency contact information (with a bit more detail) and asks for your digital signature on a waiver. Movement-based trauma therapy using TCTSY has some risks unique from talk-based therapy; the waiver discusses these. You can view/download the waiver here.

-Intake session. This session is a conversation about your interest in movement-based trauma therapy, needs, hopes, and questions. It usually lasts about 45-60min. As a medical service, I am required to make a diagnosis based on our intake—I am happy to discuss this with you.

-Sessions begin! We can schedule sessions in a way that works for you and my schedule; for example, as weekly or biweekly sessions.

-Questions. You’re welcome to reach out at any point during the process to ask questions or learn more!