PAST SE COMMUNITY CONVERSATIONS

Jared Anderson (he/him), LMFT worked with severely abused, neurodivergent, and LGBTQ youth of all ages for 20 years. He later specialized as a trauma therapist treating dissociative disorders in queer, creative, and neurodivergent populations. He facilitated individual and group therapy for patients recovering from addiction at La Fuente Hollywood Treatment Center, a comprehensive LGBTQ rehab. Jared has presented at a national conference on the developmental challenges affecting transgender youth transitioning. He is trained and maintains ongoing consultation in parts work, EMDR, and somatic experiencing. Jared sees clients (mostly out of Los Angeles) via telehealth and lives in Joshua Tree CA with his partner Mikel and dog Delta.

David Cato, LCSW, TCT, SEP, CCTP-II began working at Sierra Tucson in April of 2008 and has served many roles, beginning in the mailroom. He holds a Bachelor of Science in Criminal Justice from Texas A&M University and a Master of Social Work from Arizona State University. He is currently working on a Doctorate of Behavioral Health Management (DBH) at Arizona State University. He is a Somatic Experiencing® Therapy Practitioner (SEP), certified Transgender Care Therapist (TCT), licensed clinical social worker (LCSW), and Certified Clinical Trauma Professional (CCTP-II). Additionally, David is EMDR-trained and trained in DARe (Dynamic Attachment Repatterning experience). David completed his master’s coursework through an internship at Sierra Tucson. He has worked with substance use disorders, mood disorders, eating disorders, codependency, grief/loss, and trauma. David provides individual, group sessions, and consultations for residents as needed. David is a clinical supervisor and provides training for staff. David is the Associate Clinical Director of Trauma Services at Sierra Tucson. David enjoys presenting globally in-person and virtually on topics such as trauma disorders and recovery.

Colette Rausch has spent over 20 years working in war-affected countries around the globe to support justice and peace and witnessed firsthand the role of chronic stress and trauma in violent conflict and its effect on people and communities. These experiences inspired her to work at the intersection of trauma and peacebuilding. Colette’s work includes supporting individuals, organizations and communities on trauma awareness and resolution. She holds the position of Research Professor with the Mary Hoch Center for Reconciliation at George Mason University’s Carter Center for Peace and Conflict Resolution, and is the Director of Neuroscience, Trauma and Peacebuilding at the Think Peace Learning and Support Hub. 

Colette is the editor of NeuroPeace, an open source, on-line publication exploring the role of neuroscience in peacebuilding. She is a Somatic Experiencing Practitioner (SEP) on the neurobiology and resolution of trauma.  Previously, Colette was Senior Advisor for Neuroscience and Peacebuilding at the United States Institute of Peace (USIP).  Prior to USIP, Colette served in senior leadership roles focusing on human rights and rule of law with the Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe’s (OSCE) Mission in Kosovo. She also served in the Nevada’s Attorney-General’s Office, the U.S. Department of Justice, and the Nevada Federal Defender’s Office. 

Beth Cole served in leadership positions in and out of government working on conflict and disaster prevention and response for many decades. She is currently a trauma specialist and organizational consultant specializing in the effects of stress and trauma on the civilian (governmental and non-governmental) and military workforce responding to complex emergencies. After leaving government, Beth became a Somatic Experiencing Practitioner and Somatic Coach, joined the SETI Public Health Working Group originally working on Covid response now producing the CSS curriculum), assisted in trauma response efforts for disaster and conflict affected responders (e.g. Ukraine), and has advised and trained U.S. non-governmental and governmental institutions around trauma informed mental health care for their personnel and beneficiaries. Beth has also helped to spotlight the lack of mental health care for personnel working in or on high threat environments, contributing to legislative language requiring the U.S. State Department and the U.S. Agency for International Development to develop plans to care for their personnel. 

She was appointed by President Obama as a senior official at the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) and served on the Ebola, Syria, and Sahel Task Forces. She helped support the Senior Advisory Group that produced the USAID Assessment Report: Stress and Resilience Issues Affecting USAID Personnel in High Operational Stress Environments. She has also led non-governmental organizations and worked in the U.S. Congress, U.S. State Department and the U.S. Institute of Peace, where she focused exclusively on complex emergencies. For many years, Ms. Cole was an adjunct professor at George Washington University, authored numerous books, articles and reports, and spoke widely. 

PANELISTS

Ronald A. Alexander, PhD, MFT, SEP (Somatic Experiencing Practitioner), director of the Open Mind Training Program, specializes in the practice of Mindfulness and Somatic Experiencing (SEP) based mind/body psychotherapy, Core Creativity Training, Transformational leadership and executive coaching. He teaches clinical training groups for professionals in Integrative-Mind/Body therapies and Mindfulness based Psychotherapy both nationally and internationally. 

He is an adjunct faculty member at U.C.L.A. extension and Pacifica Graduate Institute in Santa Barbara, CA.

He is the originator of the Core Creativity Training as well as Open Mind Training®; a unique method of mind/body healing that integrates the wisdom teachings of the east and Integral psychology. He is a Creativity and Communication Consultant, and an Executive and Leadership Coach, with a private psychotherapy practice working with individuals, couples, families, and groups in Santa Monica, California. He is the Executive Director of the OpenMind® Training Institute, a leading-edge organization that offers personal and professional training programs in core creativity, mind-body therapies, transformational leadership, and mindfulness meditation. 

For more than forty-four years, Alexander has been a trainer of healthcare professionals in North America, as well as in Europe, Russia, Japan, China, and Australia. As a Mindfulness and Zen Buddhist practitioner, he specializes in utilizing mindfulness meditation in his professional and corporate work to help people transform their lives by accessing the mind states that open the portal to their core creativity. 

A longtime Buddhist practitioner who was ordained as a lay Zen Buddhist has studied and taught Buddhist Meditation including Mindfulness, Vipassana, Tibetan and the Non Dual approaches as well as Buddhist psychology and other healing disciplines for 46 years. He is active teaching and training psychotherapist’s applying the principles of Somatic Experiencing, Ericksonian and Mindfulness based Integrative psychotherapy in the U.S., Canada, Europe, Australia, Russia, Japan and Asia. 

www.corecreativity.com He is the author of Core Creativity: The Mindful Way to Unlock Your Creative Self, Rowman and Littlefield, NYC, Spring 2022 publication. Has a two CD series: Wise Mind-Open Heart and Mindful Meditation for Creative Visualizations. Chapter 33, Mindfulness Based Psychotherapy: Mindfulness, Trauma and Trance, Wiley Blackwell Handbook on Mindfulness 2014. 

Anne Kelemen, SE Student is the Director of Psychosocial/Spiritual Care for the Section of Palliative Care at MedStar Washington Hospital Center in Washington, DC where she conducts patient care, teaches, and participates in a variety of research activities. In addition to her direct practice work, Anne is the current chair of the Social Work Hospice and Palliative Network (SWHPN), a national organization of hospice and palliative social workers. Anne is also working toward her Somatic Experiencing certificate and just completed the Beginner 2 modules. 

Friday August 12, 2022
12pm – 1:30pm 

This group who are gathering for this month's SE Community Conversation are unique from others hosted in this series. They have been meeting routinely as a committed support resource for one another, exploring the rich tapestry of their shared embodied identity in these complex times. This month as a gathering, we will share in their experience and learnings, as noted here in their own words:  
 
“Who gets to decide who you are, where you belong, and how you should identify yourself? The 2020 racial reckoning brought a special emotional and psychological challenge to multi-racial/ethnic/cultural individuals having a white-bodied experience. Where did we belong as we did the hard work of dismantling white supremacy within ourselves? Neither white groups nor BIPOC groups felt appropriate. What did it feel like, in our bodies, to navigate numerous experiences of culture in a society that overvalues the white settler identity? Being the beneficiaries of white privilege, yet not feeling an authentic sense of belonging due to the loss of ancestral identity in a whitewashed binary world, led us to a rich conversation about reclaiming the unintegrated resources of our multiracial/ethnic/cultural heritage to support our anti-racism work. 

Because a fixation with consensus and an obsession with methodology are part of colonial, white supremacist culture, please know that the individuals engaging in this conversation don’t claim to be experts or have any answers. There is no roadmap, only the commitment to the messy process of curious exploration of ideas in a time of flux and collective cultural healing and transformation.” 

 Join us this month and share in the public health benefit of leaning in to challenging conversations, learning together, resourcing from the wellspring of embodied social and communal support. 

PANELISTS

Shireen June Ghanatabadi, MA, LPCC, SEP, NASM, is a trauma therapist, who comes from an eclectic background professionally and personally. She integrates somatic experiencing, intentional embodied movement, ecotherapy, parts work, art, plant medicine, and energy & depth work into her healing practice. Shireen has experience working with folks struggling with a variety of traumas, eating disorders and folks who identify as immigrants (including the generations that follow), multi-racial, mixed heritage, multi-cultural, and/or multi-religious/spiritual—as well as the challenges that may exists within those layers. 

As a Persian-American, mixed-heritage and multi-religious/spiritual human, Shireen is dedicated to using an anti-racist, decolonizing, and non-pathologizing  lens when working with fellow humans and moving through life. She received a BS in Psychology with an emphasis in Kinesiology from the University of MN, a MA in Counseling and Psychological Services from Saint Mary’s, and recently she competed a certificate program at the CIIS for Psychedelic Assisted Psychotherapy and Research. She is trained in Somatic Experiencing and is a certified personal trainer, which she integrates into her healing work. As an energy worker, she combines Shafaa (Persian healing) and Reiki (Japanese healing art form) when practicing energy work with others.  

Shireen’s passion for holding the unconditional and supportive space in the way she does stems from the ups and downs in her own healing joinery, and the magic that comes form unearthing our authentic and embodied inner healing wisdom. 

PANELISTS

Britt Frank, MSW, LSCSW, SEP is a clinician, educator, and trauma specialist. She is the author of the new book The Science of Stuck (Penguin Random House).  Britt received her BA from Duke University and her MSW from the University of Kansas, where she later became an award-winning adjunct instructor. She is a Somatic Experiencing Practitioner and Level 3 trained in the Internal Family Systems therapeutic model. Britt was a primary therapist at a drug and alcohol treatment center, an inpatient therapist at a children’s psychiatric hospital, and now owns a private practice. You can find Britt on Instagram @brittfrank or on her website www.ScienceOfStuck.com. 

Edward Ulm, BSc, CMT, SEP is an expert manual therapist and bodywork educator. Edward studied kinesiology at Arizona State University and has been a bodyworker or physical rehab therapist for 15 years. He is currently in the MS in Applied Neuroscience program at King's College London. He created the Science of Touch brand to better connect individuals and practitioners on understanding somatic memory and trauma in the body, and for championing the use of therapeutic touch as a crucial tool in the treatment of, and recovery from, posttraumatic stress. He has traveled the world and treated many different individuals with Neurobehavioral Reflex Therapies: a high-validation treatment that tracks the body’s natural reflexes to completion. 

SPECIAL SERIES (PART II): THE THREAT OF WAR AND SOMATIC REBALANCING – WITH RUSSELL JONES AND EFU NYAKI

Friday June 10th, 2022
12pm – 1:30pm MST

Around the world people everywhere are being impacted by war, directly and indirectly, at any given time. Last month, we hosted our first installment of this series “The Threat of War and Somatic Rebalancing” with Dr. Peter Levine and Dr. Abi Blakeslee. Join us this month in the 2nd part of this series with Russell Jones and Efu Nyaki to explore the ways in which war is impacting our communities, our sense of safety, and our collective futures. Founded by Dr. Peter Levine, this organization exists to educate and support helpers around the planet who are serving in the trenches and supporting the hearts and minds of persons dislocated by the threat of war. We believe it is possible to shift the physiology of upset, anxiety, and panic so that people can experience relief through the application of SE-informed resources. 

At time of publishing, this video is made in part as a support to our partner colleagues in the SE Ukraine Task Force, working throughout Eastern Europe and around the globe to bring a sense of healing, peace and safety wherever possible.

Stay tuned for future installments in this series on being supported when experiencing the existential and real threat of violent conflict.

SPECIAL SERIES: THE THREAT OF WAR AND SOMATIC REBALANCING – WITH DR. PETER LEVINE AND DR. ABI BLAKESLEE

Colette Rausch has spent over 20 years working in war-affected countries around the globe to support justice and peace and witnessed firsthand the role of chronic stress and trauma in violent conflict and its effect on people and communities. These experiences inspired her to work at the intersection of trauma and peacebuilding. Colette’s work includes supporting individuals, organizations and communities on trauma awareness and resolution. She holds the position of Research Professor with the Mary Hoch Center for Reconciliation at George Mason University’s Carter Center for Peace and Conflict Resolution, and is the Director of Neuroscience, Trauma and Peacebuilding at the Think Peace Learning and Support Hub.

Colette is the editor of NeuroPeace, an open source, on-line publication exploring the role of neuroscience in peacebuilding. She is a Somatic Experiencing Practitioner (SEP) on the neurobiology and resolution of trauma.  Previously, Colette was Senior Advisor for Neuroscience and Peacebuilding at the United States Institute of Peace (USIP).  Prior to USIP, Colette served in senior leadership roles focusing on human rights and rule of law with the Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe’s (OSCE) Mission in Kosovo. She also served in the Nevada’s Attorney-General’s Office, the U.S. Department of Justice, and the Nevada Federal Defender’s Office.

Tatjana Kaurinovic – RSMT, RSME, SEP

First and foremost, Tatjana considers herself a student of life. She works with individuals and groups as a Somatic Movement therapist, educator, and Somatic Experiencing Practitioner. She is the founder of Somatic and Expressive Arts International Non-profit organization based in California, currently running a professional  SE education program in the Balkans region. Tatjana herself has first-hand experience of the war from her native Sarajevo, Bosnia, in the 1990s. She Extensively worked with refugees and immigrants individually and in family settings. She was a part of the team at the center for women victims of war (Zagreb, Croatia), Survivors International (San Francisco), and IRC. She served as an assistant teacher for one semester in the trauma curriculum for Somatic Psychology at CIIS (California Institute of Integral Studies).

Since she is also Movement Based Expressive arts therapist, she integrates movement, dance, and expressive art methods based on legendary Anna Halprin with Somatic Experiencing. She is very passionate about bridging the cultures and countries, reclaiming what once was lost.

HIDDEN MENTAL HEALTH PROFESSIONALS: TEACHERS

Friday March 11, 2022
12pm – 1:30pm MST

This month’s community conversation is the second installment of our “Hidden Mental Health Professionals” Series! This month we will explore “Hidden Mental Health Professionals: Teachers”

Educators are tasked with the responsibility of teaching- children and adults- but time and circumstances have revealed that in many ways these professionals are responsible for much more. They have been tasked with guiding students and shaping their personalities, helping them endure stress, and providing early identification of mental health issues. Often, teachers are the first people to identify certain behavioral concerns and mental health concerns and connect students and families to additional school and community services, including mental health providers or social workers. Further, teachers are even sought out as the first source of support for students, acting as an unofficial counselor. In many ways, the current COVID-19 pandemic has compounded these issues, with many teachers reporting higher rates of burnout due to increased stress placed on them, as well as higher levels of student and family distress.

While teachers take on these responsibilities, many have said that traditional training for educators does not adequately prepare them for these additional duties.

In this month's conversation we will explore this impact on teachers, considering ways mental health professionals can support educators, methods for peers to support each other, and provide access to tools to minimize and avoid burnout.

Mina Roustayi, Ph.D., MS. Ed, SEP is an Integrative Learning Specialist in private practice. She has over 40 years of teaching experience. Recognizing that one’s stressed nervous systems can hinder higher cognitive brain functions, Mina incorporates mind-body, neurophysiology, and somatic experiencing to support individuals of all ages to access embodied learning. She leads workshops and presentations for teachers and related professionals to apply somatic (body) awareness and the Polyvagal language for insight into self, emotional regulation, and resilience in educational settings. Mina’s  broad teaching experiences allow her to create a new paradigm for learning. She has taught as an adjunct professor at Columbia University and New York University, as a museum educator at major New York museums, as an elementary school teacher, and as an independent Special Education Itinerant Teacher (SEIT) from birth to Kindergarten. Mina also assists in the somatic modality of Transforming Experience-based Brain that addresses early developmental imprints. A team member of the internal work group at the Somatic Experiencing Training Institute, she is an advisor for the newly created disaster response and crisis stabilization curriculum. Mina views the ability to learn and communicate as a human right and a foundational life skill to pursue one’s goals, dreams, and ambitions. 

https://wecanlearn2learn.com. 

Michael Simard, RTC, SEP now works full time as a counsellor and Somatic Experiencing therapist.  Previously, he also worked as a substitute teacher and an education consultant in Victoria BC. While teaching, he worked in various grades from Kindergarten to grade 6 in exotic places with equally exotic sounding names such as Iskut, Hsinchu, Tashkent and Baku. Preferring the ratios of private practice, where there is at most a 2:1 chance of being outnumbered, versus teaching, where a teacher is grateful to be outnumbered 20:1, Michael has recently exchanged the energetic classroom lifestyle for the peaceful tranquility of his counselling space. You can reach Michael at soulsilhouettehealing.com.

HIDDEN MENTAL HEALTH PROFESSIONALS: EDUCATORS & TEACHERS

Katie Jones, LMSW, Advanced SE Student 

Katie practices as a bilingual LMSW in Kansas City, working with English and Spanish speaking teens and adults. She will complete her advanced SEP training and gain her LSCSW this year. Katie specializes in depression and anxiety, grief, and both single incident and complex trauma. She has experience working with immigrant & refugee communities, survivors of sexual assault and abuse, and teens in the Kansas City Kansas public school district. In addition to her private practice, Capaz Counseling, she provides therapy in both alternative education & inpatient psychiatric hospital settings. 

Find Katie at Capazkc.com 

Patsy Ippolito, B.Ed, MA, CCC, SEP 

Patsy retired in 2019 from a 30 year career in Education as a Teacher and School Counsellor and now works in private practice in Saskatoon, Saskatchewan, specializing in trauma resolution (shock and developmental) with older adolescents and adults.  She also does some consulting and supervision with local counselling agencies, as well as presentations on various topics. 

Patsy completed her Somatic Experiencing training in 2007 and has been assisting with SE trainings ever since. Additionally, she has developed a keen interest in Early Developmental Trauma and has participated in additional trainings to further her skills and knowledge in this area. 

In her spare time, she leads a very active lifestyle, spends a lot of time in the outdoors, and loves to travel and meet new people. She may be contacted at patsy.ippolito@gmail.com

THE NEUROBIOLOGICAL MECHANICS OF MOTIVATION

Friday January 14, 2022

12pm – 1:30pm MST

When life gets challenging, motivation to get up and go can come to a heavy halt. In these pandemic times, or any time of personal crisis, people are wanting to get back to “normal” and re-engage with life, but finding the energy seems impossible. We may make New Year's resolutions in attempt to force a change. And yet, virtually every study tells us that approximately 80% of New Year's resolutions will get abandoned by February. Cutting edge advances in neurobiological studies identify that motivation is not just a psychological condition, but rather, is deeply rooted in engaging the active energy of a high-functioning regulated nervous system. In this month’s community conversation, we will explore what drives motivation, what happens to the polyvagal and autonomic nervous system responses when it wanes, and ways to support others and yourself to stay energized, supported, and resourced for the outcomes you aim to achieve.

Uma Armengol N., SEP, Msc TA Psy 

Uma was born and raised in central Mexico, a shamanic arid land of terra-red-copper tones and magnetic beauty. She’s been travelling intensively for the last twenty-five years, living, working and experiencing 10 different countries and many cultures. She has trained in Relational Transactional Analysis Counseling and Psychotherapy, Somatic Experiencing, Somatic Sexological Bodywork, Psychosomatic Body Therapy, Active Meditation, Family Constellations Therapy, Essence Work and Art Therapy. 

Her research has continued further into the exploration of how the flow of life force is interrupted by burnout, CPTSD, depression, addictions, and sexual trauma. This has led her to be immersed into the fields of Sexual trauma-healing, Boundaries & Consent, Sacred Sexuality and Tantra Therapy, Ritualism and Shamanism. She has also recovered from a Near Dead Experience that lead her to explore the existential realm of transpersonal spiritual life.  

She has gained European recognition as a gifted, highly skilled, sensitive, and trusted therapist. 

Her work and practice of Somatic Experiencing Trauma Healing, relational therapeutic approach and grounding nature is directed towards supporting the integration in body, mind, heart and soul integration.  

Her practice is based at The Open Door Clinic, Lewes, Sussex and at Unity Centre in Oslo. She gives regular workshops, trainings and private consultations in London, Helsinki, Spain and Mexico and she also offers sessions and consultations via Online Skype. 

Welcome to inquire: uma.traumatherapy@gmail.com 
Mobile: +44 07494239051 
www.theopendoorlewes.com
www.alchemyoflove.vision 

Datong (Tom) Liu, LCSW, SEP, EMDR 

Datong (Tom) was born in Beijing China and moved to the US at age eight. He earned his degree in Applied Psychology from New York University and a master’s degree of Social Work from the University of Southern California. While at NYU, he worked on two research teams. One being the NYU Immigration team, studying the psychological, anthropological, sociological, and educational impact of immigration on children in schools, and the other team studying the longitudinal emotional, social, and psychological effects of toxic masculinity in Chinese children. While at USC, he studied the effects of trauma on active duty soldiers and veterans. 

His post-graduate main interest is how to heal trauma from a holistic perspective – using cognition, body, somatic experience, and change in behavior. He has over 400 hours of post-graduate education in the matter and holds certifications in: Trauma-Focused Cognitive Behavioral (TR-CBT) Therapy, Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing (EMDR) Therapy, Internal Family Systems (IFS), and Somatic Experiencing (SE). He uses these modalities to help support multiple underserved communities in dealing with domestic and physical violence, substance abuse, emotion regulation, depression, anxiety and PTSD.  

Datong's journey to becoming a therapist started after working as a broker in NYC and realizing his true passion lies in helping people change their lives. He quit the brokerage profession to follow his dream of becoming a therapist in his thirties. Since then, he's helped hundreds of people heal and transform their lives. He believes in self-actualizing – living a life where one discovers their passions, and chases after their dreams to flourish. The first step is healing from their trauma. 

Affiliations:

Asian Mental Health Collective, Asian American Resource Center, Raksha, National Association of Social Workers, Somatic Experiencing Institute, Clinicians of Color. 

The Neurobiology of Chronic Pain and Advanced Approaches to Resolution and Relief

It is estimated that chronic pain affects one in five people, or nearly 1.5 billion globally. Chronic pain is a complex symptom that can stem from a variety of physical and mental conditions. In this month’s SE Community Conversation, we will hear from several experts in the field who specialize in working with chronic pain and utilizing somatic techniques to support resolution. These experts will discuss the effects of chronic pain on the nervous system, resources for chronic pain management, and things providers should know when working with clients experiencing chronic pain. 

In every SE Conversation series, you can count on some lively discussion, some tips and tools, and some group exercises. The insights and perspectives on this topic of mental health for medical professionals, the challenges, opportunities, and specific issues prevalent to this field all promise to be more worthwhile than ever, worldwide.  

Sam Del Vecchio MA, L.Ac., SEP 

Sam is a Somatic Experiencing Practitioner and Licensed Acupuncturist, holding a BA in Philosophy and Religion and an MA in Acupuncture and Herbal Medicine, in practice since 2005. In the past 6 years, his work has moved away from acupuncture and toward somatic therapy; and most of the last 2 years he's worked exclusively on Zoom. He is also a farmer, carpenter, musician, and poet; and lives with his wife and children in the mountains of Western North Carolina. 

Sam Del Vecchio – SEI Practitioner Directory (traumahealing.org) 

Jon Aaron, SEP 

Jon teaches meditation, Buddhist dharma, and is a Somatic Experience Practitioner® in New York City.  He is well known as a teacher of Mindfulness Based Stress Reduction (MBSR) as well as a trainer of new teachers of this seminal 8-week curriculum. Among his primary interests are the use of meditation and somatic work in healing trauma and working with individuals with chronic pain and grief. Recently he has been teaching for the New York Police Department in an 8-hour intervention called Cultivating Mindfulness: expanding the capacity of mind and body to work with stress, anxiety and trauma.    He is a co-founder of the MBSR Teacher Collaborative of Greater New York and a founding member of the Global Mindfulness Collaborative and is a long-time teacher at New York Insight Meditation Center. When the pandemic hit, along with his partner he co-founded Space2Meditate, an online community of meditators which is still going strong six days a week. 

JonAaron.net,  Space2Meditate.com 

Rural Resiliency: Mental Health in Rural Communities

Friday November 12, 2021
12pm – 1:30pm Mountain

Panelists:

Amanda Huffman, LCSWS, SEP, BASE, NARM
Laura Symon, MSW, LCSW, CSAT, SEP
Diane Stadnichuk, MSW, RSW
Myndi Hemphill, MSW, LCSW

Rural communities across North America and around the world are home to some of the strongest, most resilient people. Cultural roots, social expectations, and shared mindsets create distinct rural identities. There can be unique challenges when it comes to mental health in rural communities both in terms of access and interest, as mental health stigmas can run high in remote communities favoring self-reliance. In this special session we have assembled practitioners who live and work in these communities share their experience. This event is free to attend.  
 
In every SE Conversation series, you can count on some lively discussion, some tips and tools, and some group exercises. The insights and perspectives on this topic of mental health for medical professionals, the challenges, opportunities, and specific issues prevalent to this field all promise to be more worthwhile than ever, worldwide. 

Diane Stadnichuk, MSW, RSW 

Diane works in northern Manitoba and Saskatchewan as a clinical social worker.  She retired from SaskHealth June 1st, and started a private practice, which brought her back to the front lines of crisis.  

Her thoughts on rural communities: Our northern communities are an amazing juxtaposition of breathless beauty and breathtaking pain. The basics of living a good life are not available for many indigenous people, the living conditions are overcrowded housing in very poor condition, poverty, addictions, violence, access to these communities is another story, paved roads do not exist, and many don’t have a vehicle, so they don’t get to leave often, and loss are all normalized in these communities. Bringing an SE lens has been a struggle, I have moments of success and failure.   

Diane completed her Intermediate SE training in spring 2021 and looks forward to Advanced.  She was brought to SE when she started working in northern Saskatchewan in 2005. The first book she read was Waking the Tiger but was unable to enroll in training at that time. She worked hard to gather other tools for clients with trauma, but as retirement drew near, she realized she wanted to learn more about SE. She now has moments of insight and clarity in her own nervous system, recognizes moments of activation and has a new awareness of what she sees in her clients. 

Myndi Hemphill, MSW, LCSW

Myndi is a psychotherapist in private practice specializing in treating trauma.  She lives in the Wild West Frontier, where cowboying and cowgirling are legitimate careers, where kids wear cowboy boots to play soccer, and where folks wear their spurs when going to the doctor and grocery shopping.  For over a decade she has been a Pilates Instructor which informed her mental health practice to move toward principles of healing through the body's wisdom.  Working, for a time, in a critical access hospital and its conjoined health clinic provided the unique opportunity to use SE, as well as other body-based techniques, to address medical trauma.  Specifically, enabling people who had experienced medical, or other past traumas, to go through medical procedures with such wisdom that the trauma would transform into empowered healing.   

Over the course of her career, she has worked with children, families, criminal offenders, LGBTQIA+ individuals, and adults who have survived some of life’s horrific experiences. She finds herself most rewarded, in her work, when her clients land a perfectly timed joke (don’t take themselves too seriously), when they realize their personal power in their lives, and when they can feel a profound sense of self love and admiration. 

Myndi spends her non-professional time being schooled by her three high energy children, exploring the nuances of US history, training her two labradoodles, restoring a set of historic buildings, practicing and teaching Yoga and Pilates, learning new cooking techniques, and eating as much interesting food as she can find. 

moving through trauma: how fitness can deliberately heal us

Friday August 13, 2021
12 – 1:30pm Mountain

August's SE Community Conversations assembled mental health professionals who are also fitness professionals, sharing perspectives and practices that can make a difference for getting through those stuck spots in life. Dr. Alice Kerby, Margaret Rennerfeldt and Lauren Taub Cohen shared about their path and what they have learned in helping bring trauma resolution to the world through working with the physiology of the nervous system their various fitness modalities.

Alice Kerby, DPT, SEP

Featured Guests:

Chanti Smith, SEP, LM, CPM (she/her)
Chanti is a SEP, home birth midwife, prenatal, birth, and attachment therapy practitioner, and bodyworker specializing in craniosacral therapy and holistic pelvic care®. She specializes in the field of pre and perinatal psychology, and is committed to supporting families, mothers, and individuals in preconception through postpartum — in preventing, healing, and making sense of deeply impactful experiences in the childbearing years. Chanti also is passionate in supporting reproductive trauma healing (pregnancy loss, abortion, fertility, and reproductive health). In the last few years Chanti’s work has naturally evolved into supporting parents in the early years of parenting, perhaps now that she is a mother. Chanti is a solo mom by choice to a terrifically feisty three and a half year old boy and has experienced first hand the joys and challenges of parenting in today’s world. You can find her at embodiedbeginnings.com or email her directly at chanti@embodiedbeginnings.com

Sara Werner, MA, LP, RPT-S, SEP
Sara received her Masters in Counseling from St Mary’s University in 1995. She is a Licensed Psychologist, Registered Play Therapist-Supervisor, and Somatic Experiencing Practitioner and has been in the counseling field for 26 years. Sara specializes in working with trauma with all ages, with specialized training in play therapy, EMDR, AIR network, and Somatic Experiencing. Due to her passion for helping others recover from trauma, Sara has immersed herself in the Somatic Experiencing trainings and has been a coordinator for local trainings for many years, as well as an assistant since 2010. She also was a lead assistant for a Somatic Experiencing training 2015-2016. With her colleague Missy Wetterlund, Sara has co-developed Somatic Experiential Play Therapy, a type of play therapy designed to work with children to support their nervous system regulation through experiential play. Sara was the founder and first president of the MN Association for Play Therapy, which has now become a vital and exciting resource for play therapists in the community. Sara is also a frequently requested seminar and workshop presenter, and enjoys presenting on such topics of children, parenting, trauma, and nervous system regulation. In addition, she has also served as an adjunct professor (since 2010) at Bethel University and has helped to develop a program designed to assist therapists in acquiring the necessary educational requirements (as set forth by the Association for Play Therapy) in their journey to become Registered Play Therapists. A link to Sara’s trainings can be found at http://www.watershedpsych.com/training/ 

Kate O’Shaughnessy Nulty, LCSW SEP
Kate is a psychotherapist and somatic experiencing practitioner who has been in private practice in Long Beach CA for over 20 years. She received her Masters in Social Work from the University Of Southern California in 1997. Following her graduation she worked with Traumatized Foster youth in residential Placement at Hathaway Children and Family Services and served as the clinical director of the Los Angles Commission on Assaults Against Women. In her practice she specializes in shock trauma and complex developmental trauma and works with children, adolescents and adults. Having been trained in many different therapeutic modalities she now uses Somatic Experiencing almost exclusively with her clients. She is a long time Assistant for SE trainings, Mom to 5 kids ages 27-13, and has 3 rescues dogs. Her website is KateNultyLCSW.com.

substance abuse, addiction recovery, and frontiers in neuropsychology

Friday May 14, 2021
12 – 1:30pm Mountain

Welcome to SEI's public health series, SE Community Conversations, where we gather to have robust conversations about relevant topics that affect the realm of health outcomes and the world of mental health and wellness. Advances in neuroscience are rapidly affecting how we understand addiction- how it affects the brain, the body, and the nervous system. Recent advances in brain science and body- based therapies have transformed approaches to healing trauma in the nervous system and methods of crisis stabilization and are making an impact in traditional approaches to for dealing with substance abuse and addiction recovery. In this gathering, professionals from recovery facilities, therapists, and one-on-one support programs will explore successful interventions and new frontiers in addiction recovery.   

Featured Guests:

Robert Hong, BFA, SEP, CAIS II Robert is Assiniborne, Chinese, Métis and Two Spirit.  Robert works as a Counsellor at Native Court workers and Counselling Association of BC in the Downtown Eastside of Vancouver. Robert uses First Nation’s Traditional Healing practices and culture as part of his counseling practices.  He facilitates a Sweat lodge Ceremonies on Squamish Capilano Reserve. He is the Chief of the Four Feathers Society that promotes wellness in Indigenous 2SpiritLGBTIQ+ community.  

Robina Silva, MB, BS FRANZCOG, Current trainee SE New Zealand/Australian program. Robina Silva is an Australian currently living and working in New Zealand for 25 years. Robina previously worked in Australia, United Kingdom and Nepal over  a 15+ year period. She currently serves as medical officer in an addictions service and opioid substitution program with the district health board and local residential rehab program. She has previously worked as clinician in women’s health, family medicine and psychiatry. Robina is generally interested in a wholistic orientation to healthcare including medical practice, homeopathic and energy medicine and psychotherapies – especially in the context of the impact of trauma in a generic sense and in its causative correlation with addictions including substance addictions.       

Greg Struve-MA, SEP Greg Struve received a Master’s in Counseling from the Adler Graduate School in 2006.  He trained at one of the top trauma treatment centers in the world until 2008, when he became a faculty member at Grand Canyon University.  From 2011 to 2016 Greg directed a program that led the field in terms of innovative treatment of anxiety and trauma.  During that time, he made several appearances on A&E’s Intervention. Greg currently an owner and clinical director of a 118 bed, Medicaid-based addiction treatment program located Prescott Arizona.   

Lindy Devine, M.ED., SEP, RCC   Lindy Devine is a graduate of the University of Victoria with a Bachelor’s degree in Psychology and Sociology and a Master’s Degree in Counseling. Lindy is a Registered Clinical Counsellor in British Columbia, Canada as well as a Somatic Experiencing Practitioner. Lindy has been counseling others since 1995 and is a client centered practitioner that uses a multitude of counseling theories, strategies and tools. Coming from a strength based, body orientated and holistic philosophy, she creates safety and support to assist people to overcome obstacles and life’s challenges. Lindy specializes in working with gambling and other addictions, PTSD, interpersonal trauma, sexual abuse, stress management, relationship issues and grief and loss. Lindy completed her SE training in 2004 and has been integrating the principles into her work since then. Assisting in SE trainings has been a helpful process for Lindy as she continues to deepen her knowledge about how trauma influences our nervous system. Lindy completed Kathy Kain’s Touch Skills for Trauma Therapists program and is registered for and looking forward to the Somatic’s of Emotions online program in June 2021with Kathy Kain. Currently Lindy is doing an online book study with Deb Dana exploring Polyvagal Theory. When not working, Lindy can be found cooking, gardening, swimming, hiking, tending fire or hanging out in nature.   Check out Lindy’s website at lindydevinecounselling.com or send her an email at lindydevine@shaw.ca

Featured Guests:

Kathy Allan RN, HN-BC, HTCP/I, SEP Kathy is the Founder and Director of Trauma-Free Nursing, an education program designed to teach nurses how to take healthcare acquired trauma out of nursing practice. She is a Board Certified Holistic Nurse who served as an instructor in the Healing Touch Program and on the faculty of Beyond Ordinary Nursing where she taught Integrative Imagery to nurses. Her trauma studies include graduation from the Somatic Experiencing Trauma Institute where she serves as an Assistant in their practitioner training program, the two year Touch Training For Psychotherapists, and two programs for healing developmental trauma: NeuroAffective Relational Model (NARM) and NeuroAffective Touch (NAT). She currently serves on the Advisory Group for the Crisis Stabilization and Safety Aid for Front Line Workers and First Responders at the Somatic Experiencing Trauma Institute. Kathy can be reached at info@traumafreenursing.com or at 619-564-0482

Dr. Aimie Apigian, MD MS MPH Dr. Aimie is a Double Board-Certified Physician in Preventive Medicine and Addiction Medicine who specializes in the chronic effects of trauma on the biology. She entered the attachment world first after adopting her son from the foster care system and struggled to find effective solutions for his severe emotional and behavioral issues. She earned her medical degree from Loma Linda University, has a Masters in Biochemistry, a Masters in Public Health, trained 3 years as a general surgeon. and then hit a wall with her own health and discovered her own trauma and attachment issues at the root of her health issues. She runs an intensive Intentional Parenting for Attachment program for families and helps adults accelerate any trauma therapy process by addressing the biological imbalances in trauma. She can be contacted at www.draimie.com or tha@traumahealingaccelerated.com

Mary Jane Beavis, MA, RP, CCC. Mary Jane Beavis, MA, RP, CCC works as a Certified Spiritual Care practitioner and registered psychotherapist in an acute care setting at the Ottowa Hospital. As a cancer survivor, Mary Jane believes in the power of a holistic approach in the healing process by using a person’s spirituality in her therapeutic approach. Her niche is working with palliative patients on the oncology units and providing support for their families. Mary Jane and her colleague published a journal article on their quality improvement called Chart Audit of Spiritual Care Documentation: Continuous Quality Improvement, which can be found in the Journal of Pastoral Care & Counseling, vol. 74, 4: pp. 280-289.

Dr. Russell Kennedy, MD, BSc, RYT Dr. Russell Kennedy, aka “The Anxiety MD” has scientific degrees and advanced training in medicine, neuroscience and developmental psychology. It's not all science though, as he rounds out all that academic training and experience as a certified yoga and meditation teacher and professional stand-up comedian (no joke!) He specializes in treating anxiety in teens and adults and is a medical intuitive. Dr Russ is the author of the book “Anxiety Rx” in which he blends the latest in mainstream practical neuroscience with the more diverse and ethereal insights he gained while living and studying at a temple in India and immersing himself in mind-body practices and somatic therapies once he arrived back home to Victoria BC, Canada. His wife Cynthia is an SEP with two master's degrees with a background in inherited family trauma and developmental psychology, so theories and methods surrounding trauma and somatic therapies are a steady topic of conversation around the house! Russ is among a new wave of medical doctors that are blending in a deeply somatic approach to treatment —because it works!

The State of Men’s Mental Health

Friday February 12, 2021
12 – 1:30pm Mountain

Welcome to SEI's public health series, SE Community Conversations, where we gather to have robust conversations about relevant topics that affect the realm of health outcomes and the world of mental health and wellness. The audience for these events is everyone from therapists and coaches, to the specified subject groups, and anyone interested in exploring more ways to access resilience and mental health and wellness for these times. We have a particular focus on neurobiological methods of resolving and supporting people in crisis, in this case, the many varied crisis facing men and male identified persons.

Featured Guests:

Michael Kane has trained and studied intensively with many of today’s most insightful teachers. In his private practice, Michael is a trained mindfulness, personal development coach and Somatic Experiencing Practitioner (SEP) specializing in trauma resolution (both shock and developmental trauma), body centered Somatic therapy, SE healing touch and is an Emotional Connection Facilitator. Michael has also completed many courses and trainings including Kathy Kain's SE Touch Skills training, Raja Selvam's Integral Somatic Psychotherapy (ISP) Training, Body Work & Somatic Education (BASE) training with Dave Berger, Master Classes with Peter Levine, yearlong Non-Dual Teacher and Therapist Training with Peter Fenner, Emotional Connection Certification with Raphael Cushnir and Meditation and Psychotherapy Training Program by Tara Brach. He has over 15 years of experience as a meditation teacher and is the founder and facilitator of the Natural Meditation Community.  Michael is also the author of the book “Pointing To Nothing” (2015). You can view Michael's book at: pointingtonothing.com or purchase at Amazon.com or visit www.naturalbodhi.com.

Burt Rogers, LPC, SEP specializes in mental health and substance use concerns. He enjoys helping others gain insight into their problems and empowering them to make positive changes in their lives. He is a graduate of University of Missouri-Columbia with a Bachelor's in Psychology and completed his Master's in Counseling at Stephens College. He predominantly works with homicide survivors in the inner city of Kansas City, using a combination of DBT skills and his training as a Somatic Experiencing Practitioner (SEP). Burt was born and raised in the inner city of Kansas City, and his experiences give him a unique insight into the concerns of people from backgrounds like his. The Somatic Experiencing Truma Institute is also proud to call Burt an advisor to of internal work group of Somatic Experiencing Practitioners who are developing adapted SE curriculum with inclusivity of lived experiences in mind. www.psychologytoday.com/us/therapists/burton-rogers

Thayer Kyusan Case (he/him) has been practicing Somatic Experiencing for 12 years and has assisted all over the country. He weaves SE into all his clinical, coaching, supervision and consulting work with organizations. He works with all ages and identities, as well as families and couples and organizations. These days, Thayer is especially drawn to exploring the work around resilience, cultural trauma, all forms of shock trauma, military veterans/law enforcement, helping heal the wounds of sexual violence, near death experiences, disasters, parenting (and child-ing), spirituality, attachment patterns, aggression, masculinity, and play. Thayer has also been working with Somatic Experiencing Training Institute in the development of a disaster response and crisis stabilization curriculum. During the onset of the COVID-19 crisis he assisted on a team that developed the new Somatic Experiencing SCOPE Crisis Stabilization Safety Aid: traumahealing.org/scope. Thayer (Kyusan is his Buddhist name) has been practicing Zen Buddhism for 23 years and is a senior student in the Mountains and Rivers Order.  His spiritual practice in addition to his practice of Brazilian Jiujitsu deeply informs his SE work. Thayer is also Co-Director of Maverick Psychotherapy Group, a New York group of over 30 psychotherapists who are deeply informed by SE.  www.maverickpsychotherapygroup.com

Sergio Ocampo is a Board Director of the Somatic Experiencing institute and a Licensed Marriage and Family Therapist and Somatic Experiencing Practitioner based in the financial core of Downtown Los Angeles, California. Sergio focuses on renegotiating the effects of anxiety, depression and trauma emerging from physical, sexual or emotional difficulties. His work includes both somatic and cognitive interventions such as Somatic Experiencing, Generational Trauma Resolution, Narrative Therapy, Affective Neuropsychology, and EMDR. Sergio’s approach is gentle and humanistic in permanently resolving trauma and emotional overwhelm. Sergio researches and writes about how early life adversity, overwhelming experiences and generational trauma affect the nervous system and emotional wellness. Sergio proposes that anyone can achieve happiness, not matter how difficult or traumatic their lives have been. Sergio’s moto is:  Anxiety and Depression are not a life sentence, but a temporary discomfort. Having immigrated at an early age from México, Sergio has a lived experience of poverty and marginalization. Having worked and studied abroad for several years, acquiring four languages fluently, Sergio brings a worldly and experienced approach to therapy and connection to others. Being of a varied and well-travelled cultural perspective, Sergio is able understand diverse points of view and lifestyles, being open to diversity, non-vanilla, LGBTQIA+ and those feeling marginalized. Sergio holds a Master’s degree from Antioch University Los Angeles Clinical Psychology program with a focus on Narrative and Depth Psychology. www.somaticandemdrtherapy.com

Host: Amie Leigh, Director of Public Health Initiatives

Featured Guests:

Ilene Antelman, RCST, RPP, LMT, SEP centers her practice on Biodynamic Craniosacral & Polarity Therapy. Her work readily gravitates across the spectrum from Polarity and Craniosacral work to soft tissue release, structural alignment, reflexology, Ayurvedic-based meridian and point manipulation and assisted-stretch and release techniques. By focusing on how the body moves, how it holds patterns of old injuries or traumas in the physical, mental or energetic dynamics of the body she addresses not just the symptom of pain but detects the root cause for effective results; unwinding patterns of tension, chronic pain, injury or stress to restore the body to its natural balance and ease. www.SomaticDetective.com

Dan Rindler Dan Rindler GCFP, SE™ Student, is a Guild Certified Feldenkrais Practitioner since 2006, with a passion for using SE to inform his work with clients from infants through elders. Dan focuses on leading people to refine body awareness, alignment, and coordination as an approach to addressing chronic pain, neurological conditions, balance issues, anxiety or trauma and for improving overall wellbeing. In addition to private practice with the general public, Dan also routinely works with musicians and dancers with injuries. Dan’s Feldenkrais-based program for babies and new parents, “We Grow Together,” has been attended by over 2,500 families, and was the subject of a research study through Vassar College with results published in the Infant Mental Health Journal. The program aims to lead parents and caretakers to bond with their infants through touch that supports development, as they become more attuned to their baby’s bodies and their own somatic experience as a new parent. Dan is currently in the Philadelphia SE training, and will finish Intermediate III in January 2021. www.brooklynfeldenkrais.com www.wegrowtogether.com

Nikita Gupta, MPA is a Certified Health Education Specialist, Registered Yoga Instructor who specializes in Transforming Trauma through Healing and Resiliency in educational as well as public and private settings. She is a recognized leader and educator and has worked nationally with at-risk communities, educational leaders and community service providers. Nikita is the founder of the innovative GRIT Coaching program at University of California, Los Angeles. The GRIT (Guidance, Resilience, Integrity, and Transformation) Program is nationally recognized as a model for excellence in mental health promotion, advocacy, and transformation for students, staff and faculty. As a 2020 Fellow of the National Center for Free Speech and Civic Engagement, Nikita designed educational frameworks that are adaptable to various contexts for engaging communities in Trauma-Informed Practice and Embodied Leadership. Nikita’s methodology is interdisciplinary and includes Neurobiology, Positive Psychology and Somatic Education through prisms of Community Health and Social Justice. www.nikitagupta.com

Kirsten (Kaye) Wilkinson, MA, TCTSY-F, E-RYT, RCYT, Mind/Body Practitioner Executive Director, Legacy Motion Legacy Motion is a 501(c)3 organization that promotes sustainable, collaborative programs for survivors of trauma worldwide through restorative movement-based practices. Projects and work are global. If you want to start a yoga, dance, or somatic program in your community contact us at director@legacymotion.org Kaye is also owner of Healing Motion, a place where together we will discover your innate wisdom, restore your embodied strength, and transcend to holistic wellbeing through private sessions, community classes, and free offerings of yoga, somatic practices, and breath work. www.legacymotion.org www.healing-motion.org

Elyn Selu, PhD, is an SEP in training and SE™ Member. Selu began her studies in Chinese medicine, and then switched to Somatic Depth Psychology to further explore the connection between psyche and symptom. In her practice, Selu combines Somatic Experiencing, Authentic Movement, Reiki, acupressure, and Jungian dream and image work. She has taught qi gong, creative writing, Authentic Movement, Reiki, and has created movement meditation classes for those with multiple sclerosis and other autoimmune diagnoses. Having studied with Indigenous and Afro-Caribbean teachers and healers, Selu combines epigenetics and ancestral medicine to help clients and students heal family patterns and trauma through a combination of Somatic Experiencing, movement, and mesa work. www.seluhealing.com

Host: Amie Leigh

DEALING WITH DISASTERS, BRINGING RELIEF TO A WORLD OF DISTRESS

Tuesday October 20, 2020
12 – 1pm Mountain

Welcome to SEI's public health series, SE Community Conversations, where we gather to have robust conversations about relevant topics that affect public health, mental health, and wellness. 

This gathering featured several disaster relief organization founders and thought leaders in disaster relief and response who, by combined experiences, have served in over 100+ natural disasters. We discussed the kinds of scenarios and challenges we have witness and worked to support around community mental health and wellness. The discussion featured Q&A throughout and participants engaged the panel with interactive dialogue and inquiry. Watch the replay and leave inspired and motivated to respond in your community and beyond!

Featured Guests:
Aaron Titus of Crisis Cleanup and Mountain West VOAD Chair
Lisa LaDue of LionPath International & Team Rubicon
Dr Jen Riegle & Jenny Harrow of IHAN, Integrative Healers Action Network
Jen Silacci, Founder, Therapy Aid Coalition

Host: Amie Leigh

telehealth in covid-19 times: 6 part series

SE International offered this free 6 week series to be a resource to wellness practitioners everywhere who are making the transition to providing telehealth services to adapt to the current conditions of being in a worldwide pandemic that limits our ability to offer in-person mental health and wellness support. This is not a seminar on how to start a telehealth program, nor is it about laws and regulations. It is designed to be a complement to our partner associations who are offering those outstanding programs.

Each session is designed to be a conversation with faculty of Somatic Experiencing International, founded by Dr. Peter Levine, to provide training for practitioners in neurobiological resolutions for trauma. Somatic Experiencing is a powerful mind-body practice that can transform and resolve the over-activation of our nervous systems, which can lead to fight, flight, or freeze reactions, or manifest in the body in other ways when experiencing crisis. SE™ is uniquely valuable to the world in this time of global pandemic, and we are happy to share it with you to support your good work in these challenging times.

At this time we wanted to gather colleagues to share wisdom and to resource one another for the changes we are all making. This series is a community gathering around robust conversations between our esteemed faculty, who are full of wisdom, experiences, and insights as to how the neurobiological principles and the practical applied practice of SE™ supports and enhances a provider's connection with self and with clients in an online context. It is designed to assist therapists, body workers, coaches, wellness practitioners, and the array of people drawn to the deep embodied wisdom of Somatic Experiencing® to be able to regulate nervous systems and restore a sense of safety and wellbeing.

Session 2: Tracking in the Wild, Connecting in Virtual Space

April 10, 2020

12 – 1pm Mountain

Linda Stelte is one of the SE Canadian faculty who has the opportunity to teach SE in multiple locations around the world. In addition to teaching, for over 15 years Linda has been part of a multidisciplinary counselling team that supports people in a variety of challenging and crisis situations in a small rural community. Linda looks forward to connecting in the following ways: individual online consults or online group consult with SE Students at any level and SEPs. Consults with me, will count towards the required credits to be an SEP. She also has limited space for individual sessions with SE students and SEPs, sessions will also count towards the required credits to be an SEP. She can be reached at: lindastelte@shaw.ca or lindastelte@traumahealing.org.

Session 4: Finding Freedom in COVID-19 Containment

April 24, 2020

12 – 1pm Mountain

Watch Efu and Glyndie touch on an array of topics and techniques and principles for working with our nervous systems through the challenges of physical distancing, both for ourselves, our practices, and working with our clients. Considering aspects of how SE™ relates with boundaries and freedom, and embodiment, this folly of a conversation, and the Q&A, opens space for inclusivity where we all collectively experience the freedom of nervous system regulation and modulation.

Euphrasia “Efu” Nyaki, MED, SEP, Holistic Healing Therapist, Science Teacher, and Family Constellations Facilitator is a body-oriented therapist, trainer, Family Constellation Facilitator, and an international speaker on holistic healing. Originally from Tanzania, Efu lives and works in Brazil. She is a founder of two NGOs including the Afya Holistic Healing Center for Women where she is currently the coordinator training women in holistic healing methods. Efu teaches the SE™ Professional Training in Brazil. She is an International Faculty member of SE™ International, working with Peter Levine & Family Constellations. With Berth Hellinger, she responded to natural disasters in Haiti and South Korea. Efu teaches SE™ & Family Constellation in India, South Korea, Egypt, Hong Kong, China, Uruguay, Brazil, Bolivia, and Tanzania. She gives sessions online through Skype and Zoom in both SE and Family Constellations for generational trauma. Contact information email: efunyaki@gmail.com Whatsapp: +55 83 988882441 Face time: +55 83 988882441

Session 6: Touching into the Resonance- the Art of Listening

May 8, 2020

12 – 1pm Mountain

Kathy L. Kain has practiced and taught bodywork and trauma recovery skills for over 30 years. She teaches in Europe, Australia, Canada, and throughout the United States. Kathy’s trainings cover various interwoven focus areas, including trauma recovery, somatic touch, self-regulation skills, and resilience. These focus areas ultimately weave together into a unified somatic approach to touch, awareness, and relationship. Her educational approach encourages students to engage an ongoing practice that deepens their skills and expertise as they gradually embody the work and make it their own. Kathy is a senior faculty member in the Somatic Experiencing training program, an adjunct faculty member of Sonoma State University, and was a senior trainer for 12 years in the Somatic Psychotherapy training program based in Sydney, Australia. She co-authored the books The Tao of Trauma: A Practitioner’s Guide for Integrating Five Element Theory and Trauma Treatment and Nurturing Resilience: Helping Clients Move Forward from Developmental Trauma. http://www.somaticpractice.net/

Dr. Abi Blakeslee is faculty member at Somatic Experiencing International and is additionally Dr. Peter Levine’s legacy faculty at Ergos Institute for Somatic Education. Dr. Blakeslee holds a Ph.D. in Clinical and Somatic Psychology and is a licensed marriage and family therapist. Her dissertation, with a committee that included Dr. Daniel Siegel, generated original research on the role of implicit memory in healing trauma. Dr. Blakeslee integrates SE with clinical research, secondary trauma interventions, and the psychobiological principles of attachment and shock trauma. She treats individuals, couples, children and families in her clinical practice. Her most recent publication is in the Journal of Neuropsychology (Vol 7 Issue 3) with Dr. Joseph Riordan and Dr. Peter Levine titled, “Attachment Focused Somatic Experiencing, Secure Phylogenetic Attachment, Dyadic Trauma and Completion Across the Life Cycle.” Dr. Blakeslee teaches and consults worldwide. Dr. Blakeslee has ongoing online individual and group case consultations for all levels of Somatic Experiencing students and SEPs. She is involved with developing and implementing evidence-based SE research with non-tribal and tribal communities in rural Montana for the prevention of secondary trauma. She published a chapter in a study on the prevention of secondary trauma from Montana State University: Center for American Indian and Rural Health Equity. This research forms the basis of the book Secondary Trauma in the Workplace: Tools for Awareness, Self-Care, and Organizational Response in Montana. Dr. Abi Blakeslee co-wrote a chapter entitled, “Restoring the Nervous System.” She lives in Bozeman, MT with her husband and enjoys the snow, mountains, and rivers with her three young children. If you are an SE student, sign up for SE group and individual consultations. If you put your name on the list, she will send out webinars and research articles that she is involved with. Abi also runs a Somatic Developmental Workshop: Rupture and Repair once or twice a year they can sign up for (postponed until 2021). www.abiblakeslee.com Email: ablakeslee@traumahealing.org