Expert trauma researcher Dr. Bessel Van Der Kolk writes in his book titled “The Body Keeps the Score,” that “Trauma results in the fundamental reorganization of the way the mind and brain manage perceptions. It changes not only how we think and what we think about, but also our very capacity to think. We have discovered that helping victims of trauma find the words to describe what has happened to them is profoundly meaningful, but usually it is not enough. For real change to take place, the body needs to learn that the danger has passed and to live in the reality of the present.”

EMDR is a structured therapy in which the patient focuses on the thoughts, feelings, emotions, sensations and beliefs associated with traumatic memories or distressing patterns of behaviors often associated with anxiety, trauma, complex PTSD, and anxiety and addictions while simultaneously experiencing bilateral stimulation of the brain through bilateral eye movements or tapping. This process helps significantly reduce the vividness, emotional distress and negative beliefs associated with the traumatic memories allowing the brain to resume its natural healing process

Stress responses are part of our natural instincts for safety but when the distress from a trumatic experience remains, the upsetting images, thoughts, and emotions may create an overwhelming feeling of being trapped in the past reliving the trauma over and over again. EMDR therapy helps the brain reprocess these memories in an adaptive way. The experience is still remembered, but the fight, flight, or freeze response from the original event is resolved.

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Somatic Therapy engages body awareness as an intervention in psychotherapy and addresses the connections between the brain, the body, and behavior. Somatic interventions include therapeutic yoga, breathwork, grounding exercises , using descriptive language and developing body awareness. EMDR Therapists with training in somatic interventions have advanced tools to work with the dysregulation of the nervous system associated with post traumatic stress.

Expert trauma researcher Dr. Bessel Van Der Kolk has endorsed, both Somatic Psychology and EMDR Therapy as the best approaches for the treatment of PTSD.

Somatic EMDR, is a new therapeutic approach that combines two powerful therapy modalities:

EMDR (Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing), which helps people reprocess traumatic memories and resolve traumatization by stimulating bilateral brain activity (like side-to-side eye movements, tapping, or sounds).

Somatic Therapy, which focuses on the body's felt sense — meaning the sensations, tension, movements, and energy in the body — to help release trauma that's "stored" physically, not just cognitively.

Resilience-informed therapy is a strength-based, integrative approach to mental health, especially trauma recovery, that shifts focus from "What's wrong with you?" to "What's right with you?" and "How can we build on your strengths?"

It integrates multiple therapies (like EMDR, somatic, parts work, relational) to foster innate healing capacities, helping individuals "bounce back" by developing emotional adaptability, finding new purpose, and creating meaningful lives even after adversity, rather than just treating deficits. 

Dr. Schwartz developed this model to move beyond deficit-focused trauma treatment and emphasize clients’ innate capacities and growth potential.

Natural processing* is a form of process-oriented somatic therapy with bilateral stimulation developed by Craig Penner, MFT, EMDRIA Consultant and SE Practitioner. The main difference between traditional EMDR therapy and Natural Processing* is the enhanced focus on body sensations through real time physical awareness and the easier detection client dissociation. The human mind tends to dissociate when it is faced with distressing thoughts, emotions and sensations. It’s a protection mechanism, so that a person can function on a daily basis and avoid the trauma.

The foundation to this work is a deep understanding of our core “drive for completion” (resolution, growth and healing), on every level. However, our inherent dilemmas between our “drives for completion” and our primal drives for safety and survival, need to be acknowledged, expressed and resolved in order to build resilience, our spontaneous ability to learn, grow and adapt to our new circumstances. Use of bilateral stimulation further enhances the client’s ability to grow towards resolution.

What is Mantra Meditation? 

These practices offer a powerful experience of chanting sacred sounds collectively with musical accompaniment, breathing practices and asanas (yoga Poses) fostering healing, spiritual growth, and inner peace. Rooted in the Vedic traditions of ancient India, the practice later spread to other religions, such as Buddhism, and has since become part of many global spiritual practices, as well as personal physical and emotional wellness, and nervous system regulation. Chanting mantras is a central practice in Bhakti Yoga (Yoga of Devotion) and Kundalini Yoga (Yoga of Awareness).

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