Notice how when you think of a certain event or story your eyes look off into a specific direction?

This technique utilizes focal eye positions to activate different parts of the brain that are storing various traumatic memories or incomplete emotions. When we think or talk about a highly charged or traumatic event, we often feel some discomfort in our body and naturally look in a certain direction (a “brain spot”).

Brainspotting relies on these natural processes, body sensations, and eye positions.​ We combine this with bilateral music, focused awareness, somatic orienting, and, most importantly, compassionate presence.

Emotions, which are natural reactions to human experiences, are meant to flow, being expressed in a compassionately present manner so they can resolve and thus release from the body-mind. Otherwise, this blocks the life force or openness of the individual, manifesting as parts of us that feel stuck, stressed, or tense.

Both EMDR (Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing) and Brainspotting work with the eyes to process and resolve trauma. The primary differences are that Brainspotting focuses on using specific spots to look at (“brain spots”) rather than guided eye movements, and EMDR is a much more structured framework, offering less client-specific or present moment specific flexibility.

Somatic healing is based on the understanding that the body, not just the mind, holds memory, emotion, and lived experience. Unresolved trauma or overwhelm can live in the nervous system, shaping how we feel and relate, often without us realizing it.

Notice how we get butterflies in the belly when nervous, teary eyed when sad, flush when angry? These are the body’s physiological responses to emotions moving through us.

Emotions are physiological. But when we're overwhelmed, that natural flow gets interrupted, and the nervous system can become stuck in survival states. Somatic work helps complete what was once interrupted, supporting the body’s innate ability to release, resolve, and return to presence.

Unlike talk therapy (a “top-down” approach), somatic healing is “bottom-up” using movement, breath, sensation tracking, co-regulation, and compassionate awareness to restore safety and alignment from within.

See also my:

• somatic trauma resolution breathwork offering or

• general somatic healing here.

Trauma isn’t a pathology, It’s an adaptive, protective response wired for survival. Healing trauma means restoring a sense of safety so you can be present with yourself again. Presence is the gateway back to your true self, because trauma creates barriers to the heart, which is inherently self-healing.

While trauma can stem from acute events (“big T”), trauma healing work also works with chronic, developmental, or relational wounding (“small t”) - the subtle yet lasting ways we disconnect from ourselves to survive. These survival strategies become protective identities that mask the authentic heart.

True healing supports the completion of what was once interrupted: stored impulses, repressed emotions, and unresolved stress. As we meet those parts with compassionate presence, the nervous system can slowly restore its natural flow.

Not everything in us is a trauma response, and it’s important not to reduce ourselves to that. But by honoring the ways your body and psyche once protected you, you can now choose a new path, grounded in safety, wholeness, and self-trust.

Whether or not you identify with the word trauma, you may relate to chronic stress, emotional suppression, or grief. Whatever the name, healing means returning to the body, to presence, and to your innate resilience.

Start by booking a free 20-minute consultation call to learn more, see if it’s a good fit, or get started.

Sessions are either online from anywhere in the world via live Zoom, or in-person in NYC.

In-person sessions are in Chelsea, Manhattan and carry a small additional fee.