I am very excited to introduce Anita Whelen Somatic Experiencing Practitioner who joined my practice in January. While we practice in different ways, our work highly compliments each-other. Anita’s background is in body work, while I am a psychodynamic and somatic psychotherapist. Here is a conversation I had with Anita about her work.
As a Somatic Practitioner, I work with your nervous system. To help find and grow resilience, reducing your experiences of overwhelm. Overwhelm is anything your physiology cannot tolerate, the symptoms of overwhelm can be varied and complex. Chronic nervous system overwhelm may be due to shock trauma, surgical trauma, developmental trauma and/or chronic stress.
Some symptoms are:
Ongoing, niggling pains and aches, depression, anxiety, PTSD and CPTDS, chronic fatigue, migraines, adrenal fatigue, IBS and gut disorders, fibromyalgia.
Sessions are 55 minutes, taking place on the treatment table, or seated, they can involve movement and sound, always tailored precisely to the client’s needs at the time of the session. In resolving old hurts, traumas, pains or chronic stress, Somatic Practice restores health, vitality and resilience.
Why Somatic Experiencing®? What pulled you towards this modality?
I found the modalities I was working with fell short in being able to help people the way I felt they could be helped. But I didn’t have enough information. Those modalities are fantastic and can offer many a great deal of relief, but I wanted more. I was looking for deeper healing, not just relief. In looking to heal others, I found that healing for myself!
What is somatic practice?
It’s learning how to get to know what your nervous system is really telling you. It’s letting yourself try out the idea of being present and vulnerable with another human being. It’s learning to trust. It’s being brave enough to let go of all the old stuff that got you where you are, but is holding you back from being more, from being healthier, happier, kinder, freer.
It’s a big deal! In my opinion.
How does a session look like with you?
I hear your words and I listen to your body. We might explore movement or sound and get curious about how that feels – Pleasant? Scary? Joyful? Soothing?
Touch can bring about huge shifts for people. Some people love contact and some loathe it. I get curious about the individual’s relationship with touch and how we might be able to work with that, rather than change it. We might play with proximity, pressure, positioning, timing. Always, my aim is to respect and work with who and what is there in that moment, rather than try for or do something that the nervous system may really not want.
Do you combine the different modalities like craniosacral and SE?
I draw from all my trainings and use whatever best supports and encourages regulation and the expansion of the nervous system’s capacity for the client in that moment. Touch is always and only with permission. My practice is very Somatic Experiencing® oriented but it is built on my skills and experience as a body worker. So, I am always curious about the bodily experience and how that is for the individual.
How can people get in touch?
The best way to contact me is via phone or email. Please be sure to let me know how you found me, too!
Mob: 0422 469 570
Email: whelananita@hotmail.com
