Somatic Counseling

A gentle approach to Trauma Integration, Attachment Healing, and Nervous System Restoration

I support you to remember your biological design of physiological safety, secure attachment, and your template for a fulfilling life.


My counseling sessions are somatic, relational, trauma-centered, and developmentally-informed.  We work together to slowly and gently heal core patterns and beliefs.  My approach centers nervous system health, and supports you to build more resilience as we work together, over time, to move beyond deep subconscious patterns so that you can create a life beyond these limitations.

My training includes working with all layers of trauma - adult, preverbal, and intergenerational - to move past the influence of these imprints so that you can access and live the life that you’ve always known is possible - a life of resilience, joy, and ease of connection.

 
What's the Transformation?
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I support you to remember your biological design of physiological safety, secure attachment, and your template for a fulfilling life.

My counseling sessions are somatic, relational, trauma-centered, and developmentally-informed.  We work together to slowly and gently heal core patterns and beliefs.  My approach centers nervous system health, and supports you to build more resilience as we work together, over time, to move beyond deep subconscious patterns so that you can create a life beyond these limitations.

My training includes working with all layers of trauma - adult, preverbal, and intergenerational - to move past the influence of these imprints so that you can access and live the life that you’ve always known is possible - a life of resilience, joy, and ease of connection.

 
What's the Transformation?
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The wisdom of your body leads the way to the life that’s longing to be lived

You know that feeling that you get when you’re in flow with the world around you, when you feel connected to yourself in an empowered way, and you feel calm and trusting?

This is your body remembering its inherent design of feeling regulated, secure, and in touch with your essential state of emotional wellness.

What would it be like for life to unfold from here?

For your relationships to be a reflection of this state? I will help you find your way home to your original design, so that you can  create your life and your relationships from a state of regulation and security.

I am trained in somatic trauma and attachment therapy that centers nervous system regulation, as well as a somatic approach to pre-perinatal psychological healing, which helps us access preverbal material that set our nervous and attachment system patterns and beliefs about the world, as well as our relationship to conception, birth, and parenting.  I combine the modalities of Somatic Experiencing, Pre-Perinatal Birth Imprint Healing, and Dynamic Attachment Repatterning, all somatic approaches to trauma and nervous system healing, from a growth oriented perspective. My counseling work is also defined by my background and current practice as a Craniosacral Therapist, the philosophy of which is the foundation to my approach, and my experience of which gives me a direct understanding of the physiological change possible from somatic therapy and how the body integrates this change.

I help my clients to heal from trauma, increase nervous system regulation, and create more secure attachment patterns. I also support clients navigating (pre)conception/birth journeys through healing pre-perinatal imprints.

 
 

My journey with Somatics

After years of talk therapy, I had developed enormous insight into my patterns and challenge areas, but contuined to struggle with the impact of long-term nervous system dysregulation, past trauma, and the effects of having an insecure attachment style.  Through eventually shifting to a somatic approach, I have been able to go deeper than the cognition to heal these patterns, gaining access to a quality of life that did not seem previously accessible.

Despite the depth of my own personal transformation that was made possible for me by this work, as a practitioner now I am continually amazed and truly honored to witness how powerful yet gentle it can be to heal from even the most entrenched patterns, traumas, or attachment distress with a somatic approach.  I hold your stabilization, safety, and capacity to integrate as my highest priority, emphasizing in our sessions the role that joy and fun have in nervous system regulation.

I can’t wait to see what will be possible for you as you heal!

About Nisa

What’s the Transformation?

  • You can feel and trust your intuition and inner impluses

  • Boundaries feel easier to set and hold

  • Your life is finally becoming a reflection of your dreams

  • You notice responses in your body before you react, giving you choice

  • You feel more present, trusting, and centered 

  • Your relationships feel easier and more fulfilling

  • The past finally feels resolved, even when you think or talk about it

  • You reconnect with lost parts of yourself and feel more whole

 
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 Process

 

Step One

To get started, book a free 20-minute Discovery Call, where we can get to know each other and I can learn your treatment goals for Somatic Counseling.  Here, we can determine if we’re a good fit and discuss logistics such as scheduling availability.  If you want to skip the discovery call, feel free to go ahead and book your first session!

Step Two

If we meet for a Discovery Call and want to move forward with working together, I will schedule you for your first 55-minute online session.  Though my Somatic Counseling sessions are intended to be a treatment approach that requires a deeper commitment for maximum results, one session alone can be powerful, and will give you a sense of the depth and potential of this work to support you in your goals.

Step Three

At the end of our first session together, we will look for an ongoing weekly or bi-weekly time to meet.  Though I don’t offer “package deals” because I work on a sliding scale, committing to ongoing regular sessions will give us both a trajectory to orient ourselves around for our work together.

 Frequently Asked Questions

 

  • Somatic counseling focuses less on understanding and talking about our issues and past experiences than talk therapy does. Instead, we become more interested in how the body is holding trauma, experiences, and patterns. In our sessions together, I invite you to become curious about the sensations or images that arise as we discuss the material that is at the forefront of your present moment awareness. Through the body, we get to the core of our imprints, from childhood experiences, to later adulthood. This way of working is transformative for the patterns that feel stuck and are not shifting no matter how much understanding we have around them. A somatic approach is also highly effective in healing trauma, by allowing us to access the body memory related to past events, and gently resolve and renegotiate these memories through releasing the body’s holding patterns around them.

    Watch my YouTube video to learn more: https://youtu.be/Di4o8wrBPhc?feature=shared

  • Somatic counseling/therapy is gaining international recognition for its effectiveness in healing trauma, both from one-time events, as well as early developmental trauma. Working somatically can allow for past traumas to become integrated into our body and our experience of ourselves, so that they no longer leave us in a state of ptsd or fight/flight/freeze within our nervous system. Somatic approaches bolster nervous system health, creating more resilience within the nervous system as we heal. My training also highlights working with our attachment patterns, meaning that we can shift the strong responses that may feel habitual within our romantic or overall relationships, giving us more choice with how we want to relate and more access to secure attachment within ourselves and our relationships with others.

    Watch my YouTube video to learn more: https://youtu.be/Di4o8wrBPhc?feature=shared

  • Similar to talk therapy, somatic counseling supports a process of change that happens over time. Making a weekly or bi-weekly commitment for a period of at least 6 months will get you the best results, allowing for the time needed for your nervous system to come out of habitual stress patterns and learn new pathways. During our first session together, I am primarily learning about your goals, and understanding your nervous system. As we work together ongoing, we are able to form a secure relationship of trust, which acts as a base for our work together. We are able to do deeper work together as more trust is established, and as your nervous system builds more capacity. Though I’ve often been surprised by how much change can happen for my clients after even just one session, nervous system and trauma healing take time, and I recommend that all clients expect to be working together weekly or bi-weekly for several months.

  • My sessions combine the modaillties of Somatic Experiencing (SE) and Dynamic Attachment Repatterning (DARe), which are both somatic and trauma-informed trainings that compliment each other well. My style of work is also informed by my studies of Pre-Perinatal Somatics through the Castellino Foundation, and my somatic coaching studies with Anna Chitty of the Colorado School of Energy Studies. My in-person sessions also include the option for bodywork. My bodywork combines Craniosacral Therapy and Somatic Bodywork (through the lineage of Kathy Kain’s Touch Skills for Trauma Therapists), to support the interruption of trauma signaling in the body, nervous system restoration, and attachment repair through safe embodied touch.

  • “Working with Nisa has restored me to myself.”

    “Working with Nisa allows me to connect with my visceral experiences and gain clarity I couldn't achieve with cognitive therapies alone. Nisa helps me move from defending my experiences logically to connecting with myself through somatic and visualization exercises so I can discern what life choices feel right for me. Her techniques support and strengthen trust in my intuition and empower me to lean deeper into pursuits that enliven my whole self - mind, body, and spirit. She's helped me fundamentally shift how I see myself in the world. Working with Nisa has restored me to myself. I wish everyone time with Nisa!”

    ~ Denise A.

  • "Her ability to recognize and make sense of various patterns is unmatched"

    "Nisa has been an incredible support in helping me process and release deep-seated childhood trauma from both my body and thought patterns. Her ability to recognize and make sense of various patterns is unmatched, as she expertly identifies the root causes of current issues that stem from past experiences. Nisa's patient, kind, and thoughtful nature, combined with her deep knowledge of emotional trauma and strong intuition, has been instrumental in my healing journey. For the first time in 22 years, I’ve been able to let go of the depression, anxiety, and fear that have been with me since adolescence. Her guidance has allowed me to choose new ways of thinking and reach a deeper understanding of my past, finally putting it behind me. I am so thankful to have found Nisa, who has helped me transition into living a healthy and empowered life."

    ~ Brandi S.

  • "I feel so safe, seen and supported."

    "I can't say enough great things about Nisa and the work I've been doing with her for the past 7 months. I've recently gone through a lot of traumatic life events and changes and have been working with Nisa to process, heal and grow from everything. I feel so safe, seen and supported during this work with Nisa and it's been truly life changing. I'm learning so much about myself through this process and my experience in life and feeling more connected to myself than I ever have been. If you are ready to process the scary and sad things that have happened in your life and challenge yourself and grow, Nisa is an incredible practitioner that can guide you through it all."

    ~Mindy M.

  • "I have had many personal breakthroughs as a result of sessions with her."

    "Nisa is incredibly knowledgeable and skilled in supporting her clients through their individual healing process with kindness, compassion and deep understanding, which can be a huge struggle while dealing with active PTSD.

    I have seen Nisa many times during acute activations and she has helped me immensely recover and regulate during those times, in addition to working with her outside of acute activation while living in a chronic state.  Nisa is truly a gem, she is so skilled in what she does. I have had many personal breakthroughs as a result of sessions with her. I always leave with some kind of deeper understanding of myself."

    ~ Mallory G.

  • “She gracefully helps restore the connection between the mind and the body.”

    “Nisa is an exceptionally skilled counselor, with a gift for healing trauma and attachment wounds through deep attunement, powerful somatic techniques, and loving presence. She gracefully helps restore the connection between the mind and the body, helping me feel more whole, centered and clear. I’ve experienced her work as profound and life-changing, and her devotion to her craft is matched only by the depth of her talent.”

    ~ Nathan T.

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Understanding your issues can be helpful, but eventually it can evoke feelings of helplessness when nothing is changing, or it feels as if the change you’re hoping to see is just inching along.  

It’s time to try something different.  

Somatic therapy is the leading edge for healing trauma, shifting attachment patterns, nourishing the nervous system, and creating a new life story born out of physiological safety - the story you’ve been longing for and were always meant to live.

Counseling / Bodywork sessions are $190 for 80 min

101 Morris st
Sebastopol CA 95472

Online Counseling Sessions are $165 for 55min
 
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