I love this quote from Dolly. For a lot of people, “who I am” got organised early around what kept other people calm. Therapy is often the first place that question gets asked for its own sake. #bravetherapy #bravetherapy™ #bravetherapyTM #courage #healing somaticexperiencing somatic psychodynamic brave therapy andreaszasz inspiration thedaringway healingtrauma trauma bodymind mindbody compassion selfcompassion connection connecting emotionalhealth attachment healingattachmenttrauma attachmenttheory fnd functionalneurologicaldisorder pnes fnsd holdyourbodyinmind
This PhD grew from my deep curiosity about attachment, the body mind connection and the healing possibilities of relationship. But like all meaningful work, it was never created alone.
At its heart are the fourteen participants who trusted us with their profound life stories. Their courage and generosity made this research possible.
I am deeply grateful to my supervisors, colleagues, mentors, friends and family who supported me through years of research, writing, persistence, doubt and growth.
During this journey, I also became a grandmother. Witnessing my grandchildren’s emerging secure attachment was a beautiful reminder of what becomes possible when our earliest relationships give us a foundation of trust and safety.
To Jonas, my children, my friends, my mentors, my writing companions, and Jedda, who stayed beside me through countless hours of writing, thank you. I could not have done this without your love, patience, humour and unwavering belief in me.
I also acknowledge my ancestors, who valued conversation, education and the craft of good writing. Their legacy hopefully lives in this work.
This NAIDOC Week, I keep coming back to something I heard sitting in a room on Bundjalung Country: “Healing is not meant to be done alone. It happens in relationship, in community and within the systems that hold us.” I had the privilege recently of taking part in Recreating Songlines from Trauma Trails at Lake Ainsworth, a program held with We Al-li and Restoring Resilience, led by Elder Prof Judy Atkinson (Aunty Judy). Alongside her was Dr Peter Levine, an elder in the field of trauma treatment and the founder of Somatic Experiencing, who came to learn from Aunty Judy and spoke with deep respect for First Nations knowledge and practice. Watching someone of Peter’s standing sit and listen to Aunty Judy, Carlie Atkinson and the rest of the We Al-li team, hearing and experiencing their work on the six stages of healing, was a reminder that generational trauma is real, and so is generational strength. This year’s NAIDOC Week theme is 50 Years of Deadly, honouring five decades of the Elders who stood firm, the organisers who made space, and the communities who keep showing up. Sitting with Aunty Judy, I felt that continuity in the room. Culture leading, community first, and knowledge carried from one generation to the next. It is a reminder that the strength on show did not happen by chance. It was built and held by people who refused to be silenced. To Aunty Judy, to the We Al-li and Restoring Resilience mob, and to everyone who sat in that circle: thank you. I am still learning, and grateful to be walking alongside you. Still deadly. Always. #NAIDOC2026 #NAIDOCWeek #50YearsOfDeadly #FirstNations #WeAlli
Budapest has a way of slowing you down. Mornings soaking in the Turkish baths, where people have been coming to rest their bodies for centuries. Long walks through the parks, quiet moments in the old churches, and in between all of it, time with family.
There is something grounding about being in a place where history sits in every wall, and where connection happens over shared meals and unhurried conversations. This trip reminded me how much healing there is in simply being with the people we love, in a place that holds meaning.
In my work with clients, I see how trauma settles in the body — not only as tension, but in patterns that persist long after the original threat has gone.
A recent review in Frontiers in Psychiatry has helped me think about this more clearly. The authors describe how chronic stress changes the fascia — the connective tissue running through every part of us. Over time, it stiffens. The layers stop gliding the way they should. The signals it sends to the brain become less clear.
This is one of the reasons that talk therapy, on its own, can take some clients only so far. Trauma is not held only in the mind. It is held in the tissues, the nervous system, and the connective web that links them.
If you work clinically with trauma, this is unlikely to surprise you. What the paper offers is a clearer account of something many of us have been observing for years.
I’ve written more about what it means for our work here: https://bravetherapy.com/fascia-and-trauma-why-the-body-belongs-in-the-mental-health-conversation/
https://www.eventbrite.com.au/e/one-off-group-supervision-tickets-1989284724160 One-off supervision groups Topping up your supervision hours? Curious to get a feel for how I work before committing to an ongoing group? My one-off supervision groups can do both. Same format as my closed monthly group — two hours, max six participants, $160 — but without the ongoing commitment. Open to PACFA, ANZAP and ACA registrants. You’ll get a real taste of how I supervise: relationally, with a body-based and nervous-system-informed lens, and as much attention to what’s happening in the room as to the case you bring. One-offs are genuinely useful in their own right. But the deeper relational and somatic work tends to unfold in the ongoing group, where the same small circle of colleagues meets month after month and the security between us has time to settle. That’s just the nature of group work. #bravetherapy #clinicalsupervision #groupsupervision #pacfa #anzap therapistsofaustralia somaticsupervision traumainformedsupervision
💛 For some… It brings warmth, gratitude, love, and connection.
💔 For others… It may bring grief, longing, distance, confusion, or the ache of what was missing.
Not everyone has a safe, nurturing, or uncomplicated relationship with their mother. Some are grieving mothers they deeply loved. Some are grieving the mothering they never received. Some are navigating estrangement, infertility, loss, or the complexity of becoming a mother themselves.
🫶 Your experience is valid
You do not have to force celebration if what you feel is sadness. You do not have to minimise your grief to make others comfortable. And you are allowed to care for yourself gently today.
🌱 Healing sometimes begins here
Sometimes healing begins with simply acknowledging the truth of our experience with compassion.
If today feels tender, I hope you can offer yourself a little extra care, rest, connection, or space.
Heading to the Northern Rivers this weekend for a workshop that feels quietly important.
A space that brings together: – First Nations wisdom and leadership – We Al-li’s 6 Stages of Healing – Somatic Experiencing® – Story, body, community, and nature
Not about adding more techniques.
More about remembering something.
That healing happens in relationship. That the body already knows. That stories need to be held, not fixed.
Looking forward to listening, learning, and being in it.
