Somatic Trauma Healing

Have you ever thought, “I can’t believe I just did that again. Why do I keep doing that?”

Or maybe you seem to have the same romantic relationship over and over again, even though the romantic partner changes.

We all have patterns that don’t seem to “make sense”. Some people call it self-sabotage, others call it addiction or even imposter syndrome.

Whatever you call them, these patterns are painful. We don’t “want” them, but they keep showing up.

The solution that mainstream mental health practices gives you is cognitive, analytic or pharmacological tools to manage your struggles.

But that doesn’t always help the way we hope.

So I want you to know something, your patterns of behavior are not your fault.

There’s nothing “wrong” with you.

You’re completely normal. This is the state of humanity.

But what if I told you it doesn’t have to stay like this? What if I told you that there’s a form of therapy that actually moves these patterns through your body so you can release them?

It’s possible.

After living with extreme emotional pain for years, I’ve learned that you can actually transform these patterns and heal the pain, so you don’t need to settle for “coping”.

Instead, you heal.

The key? The patterns live in your body.

Exploring the sensations and feelings that live in your body will heal your underlying trauma.

And until we include the body in your healing, your emotions will keep your patterns in place.

Through Somatic Therapy, you’ll learn how to experience your “negative” sensations and emotions in a safe and controlled environment so they can shift and transform.

And as you do that, you’ll experience a new level of clarity, freedom and peace.

You and I will work together in a private setting as I support you to release the pent up energy that’s sucking your energy and vitality.

I can help you reclaim your zestful self and experience life fully again.

Book a free 20-minute consultation

This process is for you if you:

Can commit to your growth and healing

Are willing to experience some level of discomfort in the process
Can be open and honest about your experiences
Understand that the resistance that comes up s a way into exploring deeper issues
Believe that all experiences, positive or negative, get stored in the body or at least are willing to explore this idea
Can trust in your body to tell it’s truth

If you’ve ever thought:

“I tried therapy before and it didn’t work”
“I already have a therapist”
“I’m not really connected to my feelings”
“I don’t know if I can trust you”

Here’s what I have to say to you:

There are so many forms of therapy out there and each one has its place.

But what makes Somatic Therapy unique is the core belief that the body records all of our experiences.

Painful experiences from our past are what make us act and respond in patterned ways, even if those patterns aren’t helpful.

In Somatic Therapy, we believe you can change your “what was that?” behavior or response by addressing the core traumas.

And the amazing part is that those core trauma exist in the body in the form of sensations and feelings. Somatic Therapy helps you move these feelings and sensations through your body, so you can heal.

What’s great about Somatic Therapy is that it works beautifully in conjunction with other therapies, or alone. So you can work with me while you continue your cognitive work with your current therapist.

If getting in touch with your feelings feels like a challenge, you’re not alone!

You, along with practically every other human being in this society, have been methodically and systematically trained to separate from your body as much as possible.

But our ability to feel what the body is telling us is inherent to our humanity, which we can see in babies and young people.

This means that our ability to connect to the body is always there for us. All we have to do is re-train ourselves to connect, in the exact same way we exercise to strengthen our muscles.

When you seek a professional to support you in your healing process, it’s important to find someone who not only has the right credentials but who has also gone through a similar journey and has succeeded in coming out the other side using the same tools.

My experience is unique because of my lifelong personal journey healing my own issues through my body.

Through that healing, I’ve created a life I never dreamt possible given the level of trauma that I experienced.

I know that it will take more than my word for you to trust me and rightly so.

Not all therapists are suitable for every individual, and trust is something that needs to be earned.

That’s why I invite you to book a free 20-minute consultation with me so we can get to know each other and you can sense if I’m the right fit for you.

Once we agree to work with each other, we will find a regular time that works for both of us and we will meet weekly for an hour at a time.

I recommend giving the process a chance to take its effect for at least 3 months and then we can evaluate our progress and agree on the right next steps.

book a free 20-minute consultation

Here is what clients have to say about working with me:

“Our Somatic Therapy session was a powerful experience - not only in the moment but also hours and even days later. I quickly came to realize how this practice has the potential to take me out of my thinking brain and begin to listen to the wisdom that my body contains. ”

— SUSAN GELLERT

“I see how Somatic Therapy can be a powerful way for me to add a deeper dimension to my personal journey of self awareness and growth- maybe even to break through old, limiting patterns in a way that traditional talk therapy hasn’t yet been able to.”

— former student

“Odelia is a natural and empathetic healer who has a profound ability to hold space and witness her client. I was able to gain insight in an hour session through somatic experience that may have taken years in talk therapy. She is warm, empathetic, and compassionate- her presence is absolute and authentic.”

— Sheryl Sarnak

What if listening to the body could heal you from past trauma?

The body holds everything we have ever experienced. Every injury, physical or emotional, every fear, every delight… But often we don’t have the time or resources to process things immediately. Often we go through periods where we are surviving, and our survival is to be celebrated. But what to do with the effects of our life? When and how do we process them, to allow ourselves to use what is working and release what is not?

Listening to the body’s wisdom, needs, and desires is a transformative action. Allowing the body to take the microphone, to ignore the many voices that tell us how we should act, look, and feel, can change our whole life.*

*Side Effects of this work may include empowerment, freedom from anxiety and depression, a sense of flow, being “in tune” with our physical and emotional needs, more ease and less pain in the body, and more.

Right now…

Your body has a relationship to your emotions, but you’re not sure how to access that connection.

You’d like to focus more attention on your own needs and desires, but you’re not sure how to get there.
You know you have patterns that don’t work for you: over-eating, self-sabotage, addictive behavior.
You might feel stress, anxiety, depression, grief, or fear as a tight chest or a headache.
You tend to put the needs of others ahead of your own
You crave a place where you can just be.

Imagine if…

You knew how to respond to all of that with ease and peace.
Challenges have a solution you can access, almost immediately.
Your body felt free, open, available, and could easily navigate the world.
You found a place to center yourself, and a person to support you doing it.

book a free call with me

Odelia Shargian

RYT, RSME, RSMT, SEP

I have a BA in Psychology, and extensive training and experience as a counselor and as a Re-evaluation counseling teacher. My journey into the body-mind connection has led me to become a Yoga instructor and a Registered Somatic Movement Therapist and Educator certified through the International Somatic Movement Education and Therapy association.

My journey into Somatics allowed me to infuse my practice with the top trauma healing modalities in the body-psychotherapy world, Somatic Experiencing and Inner Relationship Focusing.

My own personal work involved healing my fraught relationship with my body. In order to learn how to accept my body fully and help others do the same, I trained as an Intuitive Eating counselor. All my offerings are therefore body inclusive and HAES® aligned.

Healing my relationship with my body expanded into healing my relationship with my sexuality and learning how to heal my trauma through pleasure. This work has led me to train with the Somatica® Institute and become a Somatic Sex and Relationship coach and a Somatic Sexologist.