Things people actually want to know

Why do I still feel stuck even though I understand my patterns?

Most people I work with are highly self-aware. They've read the books, done some therapy, and can describe their patterns in real detail. And they're still stuck.

That's not a failure of insight. It's where insight runs out.

Understanding happens in the thinking brain. But the patterns we're talking about live somewhere else entirely, in the parts of the nervous system that were shaped long before we had words for any of it. You can know you're safe and still have your body react as if you aren't. That's not irrationality. It's just the wrong tool for the job.

Cognitive approaches hit a ceiling because the pattern was never a thought to begin with. It was a survival response. It got wired in through experience, and it changes through experience too, not through understanding it better.

That's what this work does differently. We slow down enough to work with what's actually happening in the body, the sensations, the impulses, the places that brace or go quiet. And over time, with enough of those experiences, something genuinely shifts.

It tends to feel less like an insight and more like something settling that hadn't been able to.

How many sessions does it take to see results?

Most people notice something shifting within the first three to five sessions. Early on that looks like a bit more space around a reaction that used to be instant. For deeper work with complex or long-held patterns, six months to a year of regular sessions is a more honest horizon. How long it takes depends on the kind of pattern, the stress you're under, and how consistent the work is.

There's a fuller answer in this guide to how many sessions somatic therapy usually takes.

What is Somatic Experiencing and how is it different from talk therapy?

Somatic Experiencing (SE) is a body-based approach to healing trauma and chronic stress, developed by Dr Peter Levine. It draws on neuroscience, biology, and observations from the animal world about how living creatures move through threat and return to safety.

The central idea is that trauma isn't really about the event. It's about what happens in the body when an experience is too overwhelming to process. The nervous system braces, freezes, or collapses. That incomplete response gets stored. And it keeps running in the background long after the original situation has passed.

Talk therapy works with meaning and narrative. That's valuable and I use it too. But SE goes somewhere talk can't easily reach: the sensations, impulses, and involuntary responses that are running before any thought forms.

In a session, rather than reviewing what happened, we track what's happening now. We work slowly, with close attention to physical experience, building capacity incrementally rather than pushing through. It's not cathartic or dramatic. Most clients describe it as quiet and precise, and the change as gradual and then suddenly obvious.

It tends to work well for:

• Complex or developmental trauma
• Chronic anxiety and hypervigilance
• Feeling numb, flat, or cut off from yourself
• Stress that doesn't shift with rest or thinking your way through it
• The physical residue of difficult experiences

What is IFS (Internal Family Systems) and how does it work?

Internal Family Systems (IFS) was developed by Dr Richard Schwartz. The core idea is that the mind is naturally multiple. We all carry different internal parts, and each of them has a history, a perspective, and a reason for doing what it does.

You probably know this from experience. Part of you wants to set a boundary; another part can't bring itself to. Part of you is ready to move on; another part keeps circling back. These aren't contradictions or signs that something is wrong with you. They're parts, and they each developed in response to something real.

IFS works by building a relationship with these parts rather than trying to override or manage them. Instead of fighting the anxiety or the people-pleasing or the shutdown, we get curious about what it's protecting. What happened that made it feel like it needed to work this hard? What would it do differently if it trusted it didn't have to?

The model is built around what Schwartz calls Self, a grounded, curious, compassionate presence inside you that most people can access once the protective parts feel safe enough to step back. Healing happens through that relationship, not through me as the therapist doing something to you.

In my practice I work with IFS and Somatic Experiencing together. Parts often live in the body, in a tightening in the chest, a contraction in the belly, an urge to disappear. Tracking those sensations while working with what the part needs tends to move things at a level that sticks.

What's the difference between Somatic Experiencing and EMDR?

Both work with trauma below the level of talk, and both have real evidence behind them. The core difference is the entry point. EMDR starts with a specific memory and reprocesses it using bilateral stimulation; Somatic Experiencing starts with the body and the nervous system. EMDR has the stronger formal evidence base for single-incident trauma, while SE is often the gentler starting point for complex or developmental trauma. The two can also complement each other.

Read the full comparison of Somatic Experiencing and EMDR →

How much does it cost?

There's no fixed price list here, and that's a deliberate choice. The right shape of work varies a lot from one person to the next, so rather than quote a number out of context, I talk it through with you on the first call and set everything out in writing before we begin.

The initial consultation itself is free. If we decide to work together, you'll get a simple services agreement that includes the fee, so there are no surprises.

How long are sessions, and how often will we meet?

Your first session runs 90 minutes, which gives us room to understand your history and what you're hoping for without rushing. Sessions after that are 60 minutes.

Most people start weekly or fortnightly, then space things out as capacity grows. There's no fixed package or minimum commitment. We work to what your system actually needs and keep reviewing it together.

Do you work online or in person, and where are you based?

Both. I see clients in person in Thornbury and Elsternwick, across Melbourne's inner north and south-east, and I work online with people across Australia and internationally.

Somatic work translates well to video once we've established how to track your body together, so an online session is a genuine option rather than a lesser one. Plenty of my ongoing work happens that way.

How do we get started?

It starts with a free conversation, around 30 minutes, to talk about where you are and whether this feels like the right fit. No pitch and no pressure.

If we decide to go ahead, I'll send a short services agreement and an intake form. Once those are done, we book your first session. You can start that conversation whenever you're ready.

Book a free consultation →

Are you a psychologist? Is this therapy or coaching?

No, I'm not a registered psychologist or psychiatrist. I'm a certified Somatic Experiencing Practitioner, trained in Internal Family Systems, and an ICF-certified coach, and I'm currently completing a Master of Counselling and Psychotherapy.

In practice I work in two ways. With individuals, the work is therapeutic: trauma, stress, and nervous system patterns. With leaders, it's coaching, focused on how you show up under pressure. The methods overlap, since both work with the nervous system, and we'll be clear together about which frame fits what you're bringing.

This work sits alongside medical and psychiatric care, not in place of it. If you're already working with a GP, psychologist, or psychiatrist, I'm glad to work in a way that complements that.

Will I have to relive my trauma? Is somatic work safe?

No, you won't be made to relive anything. Somatic Experiencing is built to avoid exactly that. We work in small, manageable amounts, staying within what your system can handle, and we slow down or pause well before things become overwhelming.

You don't need to retell the details of what happened for the work to do its job. We work with what's happening in your body now. The slowness is deliberate, and it's a large part of why this tends to be tolerable for people who've found other approaches too activating.

Is what we talk about confidential?

Yes. I'm bound by professional ethics and confidentiality. What you share stays between us, with a few limits I'm legally and ethically required to hold: if there's a serious risk of harm to you or someone else, or a child-safety concern I'm required to report.

Outside of those, your privacy is protected, including the fact that we're working together.

What if I'm in crisis or need urgent support?

Once things are more stable, this work can be a good place to turn to, and I'm happy to help you think about the right mix of support.

Can Somatic Experiencing help with executive burnout?

Yes, and there's a specific reason. By the time most leaders reach burnout, the nervous system has been running in sustained activation for so long that it's lost the ability to come down, and rest stops registering as safe. That's a physiological state, and it doesn't resolve through better planning or stronger boundaries alone. It shifts by working directly with the body rather than reasoning around it, which is also where regulation becomes a genuine leadership capacity.

Read the full answer on Somatic Experiencing and executive burnout →