Ariel is a body-oriented psychotherapist and trauma specialist with a particular focus on repairing developmental trauma and attachment wounds. Trained in a wide variety of somatic therapies, her work is primarily informed by Somatic Experiencing® (SE). She is a senior faculty member at Peter Levine’s Somatic Experiencing Trauma Institute and helps develop curriculum and specialty classes based on trauma treatment. In 2005, motivated by the tsunami in Asia, she and 3 other colleagues developed a short-term trauma relief and first aid program for natural disaster survivors. It has since been successfully used in Thailand, New Orleans, and most recently in China, Japan and Haiti. For 11 years she was on staff at the Esalen Institute in Big Sur, CA as a workshop and group leader, a private somatic therapist and a member of the bodywork and massage crew. Trained as a First Responder, Ariel was part of an emergency medical response team in the Ventana Wilderness. Ariel has presented numerous seminars to the Trauma Center and Emergency Room staff at Santa Rosa Memorial Hospital in California, focusing on secondary traumatisation as well as patient trauma prevention. She has also completed special training with Ray Castellino in pre-natal and birth therapy and has been a homebirth advocate, a "doula" and childbirth educator. She has a practice outside of San Francisco and frequently utilises therapeutic touch and SE bodywork in her sessions.

Hilary is a Mohawk/French and British American living in Switzerland since 1994. Her professional life interweaves mediation, advocacy and human rights, healing, adult education. Trained as mediator in 1979 and inspired in 1984 by Aikido Sensei Thomas F. Crum’s ‘magic of conflict’,  Hilary integrated the felt sense and a "centered systems" approach in her mediation work. Lifelong development in intuition, meditation and Qi Gong led her to an MSc.Traditional Chinese Medicine in 1992.  In Switzerland since 1994, Hilary lead the Qi Gong Teacher Training and Medical Qi Gong Training programs for the Tao Chi School for TCM in Zürich for 10 years. Parallel she directed and was primary supervisor for the school’s practicum clinic in Luzern for 8 years.  In Private practice since 2000, Hilary gives special focus to pro bono health support for asylum seekers and the ‘Sans Papier’ community.   Hilary was trained in SE by Peter Levine becoming an SEP in 2002.  She attended post advanced courses with Peter Levine, Lawrence Heller(ShockTrauma and Character Structure), Diane Poole Heller(Developmental Trauma), Raja Selvam(Developmental Stages and Shock Trauma), Marianne Bentzen(Neurology and Developmental Psychology),  Stephen Porges, Kathy Kain(Touch), Steve Hoskinson and Anthony ‘Twig’ Wheeler.  Assisting SE Intro’s from 2003 and Trainings since 2005, Hilary is Sr. Assistant and currently on SE Faculty mentoring track.   Hilary regularly assists Peter Levine’s Master Classes in Switzerland including Eye of the Needle, Polyvagal Theory and Bodywork, Trauma and Memory, and Prodromal work. She assists  as well Kathy Kain’s Touching Trauma Certificate Program, and the SOMA Training with Sonia Gomes and Marcelo de Souza Muniz. She has enjoyed assisting Lawrence Heller, Raja Selvam, Marianne Bentzen, Diane Poole Heller, and Stephen Porges amongst others. Hilary is a member of the Swiss SE Association Board since 2011 and currently chairs EASE, the European Association for Somatic Experiencing.  

Jeannette has been a body-centered psychotherapist for 25 years. Her clinical experience began in community mental health providing counselling to adults, many who had been severely abused. It was being with such deeply traumatised people that fuelled her commitment to working holistically, and where the importance of including the whole person in the healing process became deeply rooted in her belief system. Jeannette currently provides individual, couples and group counselling to clients who are primarily teachers, administrators and other specialised professionals in the educational system in Saskatchewan Canada. Areas of focus include personal and professional stress, grief, chronic pain and rehabilitation. Jeannette has received training in a number of therapies, many of which have integrated nicely with SE. They include Redecision Therapy (a joining of Gestalt and Transactional Analysis), Bio Energetics, Family Systems, Ego State therapy, Hypnotherapy, and EMDR. While these have provided a solid foundation for her clinical work, she has been heard to say on many occasions that SE was the missing piece in her work. Since completing the SE Training in 2006 with Dr. Peter Levine, Jeannette has attended the following courses; Eye of the Needle- Working with Near Death States and Anaesthesia (levels 1 and 2), and Working with Emotions and Memory in Trauma with Peter Levine, Touching Trauma Certification Program with Kathy Kain, Using SE with Children and Teens with Maggie Kline, Ariel Giarretto’s courses on Pre-Peri Natal, and Diane Poole-Heller’s DARe Training. Jeannette is passionate about SE and utilises humour and playfulness while offering a compassionate and caring healing experience. She has co-ordinated several SE trainings in her community and has assisted at a number of trainings in Canada and the US.

With over 30 years of experience using a holistic approach to healing and an M.A. in Counselling Psychology, Leigh specialises in Somatic Psychotherapy with adults. She has a private practice near her home in the Minneapolis/St. Paul metro area.   She began her career in a clinical setting providing assessments and therapeutic treatment for infants and children and consultations/presentations to educators. Her past experience as a Health Co-ordinator with Family Physicians using a body/mind approach to medicine deepened her appreciation of working holistically.  Membership in the Minnesota Jung Association and participation in the Jungian Seminar has expanded her training in depth psychology both personally and professionally.   Since becoming an SEP Leigh went on to complete the Integral Somatic Psychotherapy (ISP) training which is based on Eastern and Western Psychology. This has helped her to integrate and access methods for the body, energy and consciousness (including dream work and movement) into psychological process with her clients thus allowing for more open, available, regulated and balanced experiences.     Leigh co-coordinated the SE training in Minnesota from 2009-2013 and has assisted trainings at all levels in St. Paul, Chicago, Florida, Connecticut and California and ISP in Chicago. She has also completed "Advanced Bodywork: Polyvagal Theory and Complex Syndromes" and Trauma First Aid.   She is married and enjoys yoga, travelling, skiing and scuba diving with her husband Steve and visiting their adult children in the mountains of Utah.

Mihoko (Manami) is a Somatic Experiencing and Cranio Sacral Practitioner. Her strong interest in SE bodywork led her to Kathy Kain’s work and she has completed Touch Skills Training for Trauma Therapist, Somatic Resilience and Regulation: Early Trauma. Her nervous system regulation work is complemented by her 15 years experience as a bodyworker. Mihoko also completed the NARM training with Dr. Laurence Heller, co- author of “Healing Developmental Trauma” and is currently attending ISP Integrated Somatic Psychotherapy training with Dr.Raja Selvum in USA and Organic Intelligence®.  Mihoko integrates all her learning, which include Shintoism, Mindfulness practice, Hypnotherapy, Brainspotting, Esalen massage therapy and various knowledge gained from Japanese and Indonesian holistic healing cultures.  Through her work she has been fascinated by Neuroplasticity and has enjoyed supporting client’s innate wisdom of movement towards coherence. Mihoko works in collaboration with the Integrative Embodied Psychotherapy team at Abeles Consulting in Sydney and has a private practice on the NSW Central Coast. She has also worked as an interpreter, assisting at Esalen Institute courses and setting up well-being study courses in Bali and Tokyo. 

Neal is a Licensed Marriage and Family Therapist with a thriving private practice in California. He started his career as a Massage Therapist in 1979, and quickly added a certificate in Rolfing in 1980. In 1983 he first studied with Peter Levine, and again in 1988-89. He received his MFT license in 1991 and SEP in 2010. He is a certified NARM practitioner, and has also studied Touch Training with Kathy Kain. He participated in numerous workshops with Ray Castellino and attends Peter Levine’s Master Classes. Neal is a committed assistant in both SE and NARM, assisting in 9-12 modules a year and also leading study groups for both SE and NARM. He is doing independent research on the changes in ‘quality of life’ as SE students go through the three year training process. He also serves on the Board of the International Trauma-Healing Institute in Los Angeles and is working to raise money for a large research project on the effectiveness of SE on healing PTSD that ITI is sponsoring. Neal’s favorite area of focus in his practice is on relationships, with couples, individuals and within individuals. He has found that facilitating trauma healing, both shock and developmental, helps the person to re-establish connection with others and self and so is effective in healing relationships Neal had a full career as an Electrical Engineer, loves woodworking, metalworking, landscaping, home re-modelling, video editing and many other hands-on hobbies. He has done over 15 years of spiritual study with Edgar Cayce’s Association for Research and Enlightenment. He has been with his wife, Ginny (also an SEP) for over 40 years, and has two daughters, and two grandsons.

Tracey has a Somatic Experiencing & Biodynamic Craniosacral Therapy practice in Melbourne with a focus on both shock and developmental trauma symptoms. Her passionate interest in the cause and effects of trauma in the body led Tracey to enhance her trauma resolution skills by qualifying as a SE practitioner in 2009. This, plus additional qualifications in Natural Nutrition, Facial Reflexology, Emotional Freedom Technique and Brain Spotting have deepened further her understanding of the holistic nature of complementary healing and the body/mind relationship. Tracey continues to build on her knowledge by regularly attending post-graduate courses in both the craniosacral and SE fields with leading figures such as Franklyn Sills, Michael Shea, Dr. Peter Levine and Kathy Kain. SE based courses with Dr. Peter Levine include Working with Syndromes, Trauma and Memory, The Polyvagal Theory, Working with Diaphragms, The Eye of the Needle (near death states) and Depression, Aggression, Triumph & Breath. She has also completed both the Touch Skills for Trauma and Somatic Resilience after Early Trauma body-based courses with Kathy Kain and the NARM developmental trauma training with Dr. Larry Heller. Tracey is currently undertaking Diane Poole Heller’s DARe Attachment training and the ISP Integrated Somatic Psychotherapy training with Raja Selvum. As well as assisting on all the SE Professional Trainings in Australia, she was previously a tutor assistant on a Biodynamic Craniosacral Therapy training. Tracey enjoys sharing her diverse experience and knowledge to support and encourage students throughout the training process.

Angela is a Licensed Psychologist and a Somatic Experiencing Practitioner. She received her Bachelor of Arts in Psychology from the University of California, Los Angeles and her Doctorate of Psychology in Clinical Psychology from the California School of Professional Psychology, Los Angeles. She has extensive training from several well-known agencies and centres in the area including: the UCLA Autism Project, Airport Marina Counseling Service, Dorothy Kirby Center, Glendale Adventist Hospital, and Enki Health & Research Systems, Inc. Since 2000, Angela has provided mental health services for adolescents and adults in the Los Angeles area with diverse backgrounds, experiences, and needs. Currently, she sees clients in her private practice office in Pasadena. Angela believes that the mind is intricately connected to the body. Through her work, she combines Somatic Experiencing with her many years of individual and couple’s counseling, as well as incorporating traditional psychological methods to fully attend to her client’s needs. Angela utilises therapy as a vehicle for change, helping clients understand the effects of past experiences and invites them to move towards a resolution so that life can be enjoyed more fully. Angela is grateful that her career choice has allowed her to be a part of the human healing and growth process. She continues to assist SE trainings at all levels in Florida, Taiwan, and Los Angeles.

Angi is a Licensed Mental Health Counsellor, a Certified Alcohol and Drug Abuse Counsellor and a National Board Certified Counsellor in the USA. She has a private practice, A Healing Approach, Inc. in Iowa where she practices somatic psychotherapy.  Angi is excited to be using Somatic Experiencing in her healing work. She is a member of the United States Association for Body Psychotherapy. Angi specialises in working with adults and adolescents who have experienced trauma: abuse as a child and/or adult, pre- and perinatal trauma, cult & ritualistic abuse, medical experimentation, attachment issues, car accidents, divorce and other life changes, parental substance abuse and other addictions. Angi takes a holistic approach and includes SE touch in her healing work. She attended Peter Levine’s Master Class on sexual trauma and is expanding her knowledge through SE Touch Training for Psychotherapists with Kathy Kain and Integral Somatic Psychology with Raja Selvam. Angi welcomes women and men of colour, Native people, and LGBTQ individuals and couples. Individuals from marginalised groups and communities have experienced traumatic impacts on the mind and body due to overt and covert oppression and discrimination. Angi holds this in her awareness as a SE Practitioner.

Catherine has 30 years of experience working as an educator, body worker and  personal coach. She started out in the field of Early Childhood Development and holds a Montessori teaching credential from the Maria Montessori Learning Center in San Francisco.  She worked with pre-school and adolescents for eleven years in the San Francisco Bay Area and Colorado.   She founded Zest Productions in 1994 working to help couples and families navigate the high pressure and stress that comes with planning a wedding.   In 1991 she completed her training as a certified Therapeutic Massage Practitioner, and had a private practice for 6 years.  Additionally, Catherine has been a student of the Enneagram for 25 years and has trained in The Enneagram of The Narrative Tradition (ESNT).  She has been part of an ongoing Enneagram study group in the San Francisco Bay Area for the last eight years. Catherine is currently assisting Somatic Experiencing trainings in Northern California, Australia and Korea.  She has a private practice in Sebastopol, California, where she combines Somatic Experiencing with her extensive training in developmental trauma and light-touch body work.  In addition, she has participated in workshops with Twig Wheeler, Ray Castellino’s Womb Surround Process Workshops, and Ariel Giarretto's Attachment Wound Healing, Pre and Perinatal Trauma, and Sexual Embodiment workshops.

Joy is a body-centred psychotherapist and has provided individual therapy to children and adults for over 15 years. Joy believes healing comes from the mind, body and spirit and her work is about helping people foster resiliency, empowerment and healing. In 1994 Joy completed her Bachelor of Arts Degree, majoring in Elementary Education. She taught elementary school for three years before returning for her graduate degree. Joy received her Master’s of Social Work from the University of Minnesota in 2000. She has also received specialised training for working with children. She has completed Raja Selvam’s Integral Somatic Psychotherapy (ISP) professional training and assists on SE trainings in the States. Joy is involved in the Building Capacity for Equity and Belonging initiative for Somatic Experiencing trainings in Minnesota. With Somatic Experiencing, Joy uses a mindfulness approach which draws from the wisdom of the body and recognises our own innate capacity to heal. Joy recognises how social, collective and historical traumas play a part in one's nervous system.

Julie works as a yoga teacher and Somatic Experiencing practitioner.   Julie teaches yoga classes for students healing from trauma and chronic pain.  After receiving her teacher training from the Kripalu Centre for Yoga and Health in the USA, Julie has continued to study with renowned teachers in the tradition of Hatha yoga, completing advanced studies in restorative yoga, yoga nidra, and an embodied approach to the interception and proprioception of anatomy and physiology with the teachings of Body-Mind Centering (BMC).   Julie enjoys assisting at SE trainings and developing a connections with a network of other SE practitioners.  She specializes in using a hands-on approach to healing trauma, with fully-clothed seated or table work.  Her style is informed by the Touch Skills Training for trauma therapists with Kathy Kain and David Berger in the USA.   Julie works as a Body Therapist with the NGO Refugee’s as Survivors, and she also has a private practice in Auckland were she works with people recovering from trauma, chronic pain, addiction, depression and anxiety.  Julie is passionate about creating environments where people can feel safe and be in relationship with themselves and others.

Kate is committed to supporting people in their journey of personal and/or professional growth, through both group and individual work. She has practised as a psychologist and psychotherapist for twenty years, in both public and private settings. After making a ‘tree change’ from Melbourne to beautiful East Gippsland fifteen years ago, she established a private psychology practice where she works with a wide range of clients, particularly those experiencing the effects of developmental trauma, PTSD, anxiety and chronic pain. After participating in a workshop in 2007 that introduced her to Somatic Experiencing, Kate began incorporating SE principles and practices into her therapeutic work. She found that clients gained great benefit from this work. She was excited to be part of the first cohort of Somatic Experiencing training in Australia, and has found it to be immensely enriching both personally and professionally.

Libby is a Counselling Psychologist with over 27 years experience working as a psychotherapist and counsellor. Over these years Libby has worked with many different people in both public and private settings. She currently works with adults in private practice.   As a psychotherapist Libby’s primary focus is to assist people to develop their awareness of themselves and their processes. She is particularly interested in supporting people to inquire into their internal and embodied experiences, and to be curious about their patterns of relating to others. Libby trusts that this sustained focus is an accessible and transformative means through which a person may grow and develop. Libby’s approach is centred on experiential explorations via conversation, somatic processing, systemic constellation work and expressive processes. Her theoretical influences include somatic experiencing; gestalt, systemic, and psychodynamic therapies; and, the Diamond Approach to spiritual unfoldment.

Noel works as a psychologist and psychotherapist in full-time private practice and enjoys working with individuals and couples as well as providing supervision to allied and mental health professionals. He has worked extensively in a wide variety of counselling and psychological services since 1995, including family counselling, drug and alcohol, sexual assault, problematic gambling, mental health and the men’s behavioural change fields. Most recently he worked for the Department of human services in Youth justice as a Senior Psychologist for 4 years. Since 2001, Noel has been a teacher and faculty member of Gestalt Therapy Australia. Having been trained and mentored as an equine psychotherapist Noel also co-facilitates and runs an Equine Psychotherapy training program with his wife in Daylesford, Victoria. Noel has a special interest in working with shock and developmental traumas and integrating SE, relational Gestalt therapy, spiritual and non-dual perspectives into his psychotherapy practice. He has been an ongoing student of the Diamond Approach since 2003, a western psycho-spiritual school that integrates mindfulness, western depth psychology, Sufism and Buddhist approaches to personal and spiritual development.

Based in beautiful environment of East Gippsland, Vikki has worked for the past twenty years as psychologist. Along side a private practice, she has worked in hospital, community and educational settings as a researcher, child & adolescent mental health clinician and school psychologist.  Vikki has a passionate interest in working with people across the lifespan helping them seek a deeper understanding and awareness. She helps people with a range of mental health conditions including, depression and anxiety disorders, complex trauma and chronic pain conditions. In the search for safe trauma-informed clinical approaches, Vikki was introduced to Somatic Experiencing in 2011. Finding SE has been a way to finally work with the mind and the body in a way that makes sense at a deep level and can profoundly help people move on from the hold the past has had on them.  

Wendy initially worked with adolescents as an outdoor education teacher & expedition leader. With organisations, such as the World Health Organisation, she led groups in Nepal, British Guyana, The Solomon Islands and Australia. She also worked in residential schools as the outdoor education teacher. Her main interest in this process was the personal development of each individual and the individuals working together in difficult circumstances, whilst helping others. In 1999 Wendy returned to University to complete her postgraduate studies in Clinical Psychology, whilst at the same time studying Buddhism and attending many retreats. Through this time she combined her interests by working with children/adolescents with life threatening illness, utilising the outdoors and meditation alongside psychological principles. In 2006 Wendy was with a Not for Profit organisation helping people with anxiety, depression and tranquiliser addiction. Wendy now brings this wide experience to her own Melbourne based private practice where she works with individuals and runs groups for mindfulness, relaxation & mindfulness and compassion. Wendy came to Somatic Experiencing looking for a way to work with difficult feelings in a manageable way, and found this practice to be highly beneficial for both herself and her clients.

Yarn has worked for over 20 years in public health and works from a human rights framework. She currently works in a teaching and supervision role in creative art therapy at MIECAT as well as running a small private practice. Her career began as a health worker at the Kirketon Road Center in 1994; one of the first needle exchanges and primary health centres established in Australia. Enjoying the complexity, rawness and challenge of the work, Yarn re-trained in social work and has since worked primarily with adults contending with difficult life circumstances such as: homelessness, addiction, developmental trauma, enduring mental illness, sexual assault and family violence. Over the last 8 years Yarn worked as Drug and Alcohol Counsellor in St Kilda. Yarn also holds a Masters in Creative and Experiential Arts Therapy. She has an abiding interest in embodiment, collaboration, and the potential of the arts to express the things we find the most difficult. She has a particular interest in social justice and outreach work to support people who might otherwise be excluded from services. Yarn trained with Maggie Kline and Berns Galloway in the first Australian Somatic Experiencing training. She is grateful for the personal and professional benefits and finds SE enriches interconnection. She is passionate about contributing to the SE community in Australia.

Berns's first professional incarnation was as an elementary teacher in New Brunswick and Northwest Territories, Canada. After 12 years of being in front of the classroom his focus shifted to psychotherapeutic group work. He studied various humanistic approaches and bodywork at PD Seminars, then earned a Masters degree from the University of Victoria in 1995. He has worked as a mental health therapist for a non-profit community agency, providing short term therapy to adults, training and supervising volunteers, and supervising graduate students. Berns also has a private practice. Somatic Experiencing entered his life in 2000 and has since been a major focus in his professional orientation. He completed the SE Touch Training for Psychotherapists and finds that incorporating SE bodywork/touch has deepened his experience and strengthened the impact of the therapeutic process. Early in this learning process Berns was privileged to be part of a gifted training team working with First Nations peoples on Vancouver Island. "The depth of the trauma and commitment to change foreshadowed the transformation through the healing process. I am grateful and humbled to have witnessed this. They reinforced how organic somatic work is, the power of connection, and the necessity of embodying the full range of life's energy. Collaboration and connection is key. We are not meant to go-it alone." Berns continues to marvel at, and be awed by, the continuous richness Somatic Experiencing offers...

Linda Stelte is an SE Trauma Institute Faculty Member and a Trauma Counsellor and Educator in Canada. Linda teaches the Beginning and Intermediate levels of SE in Canada and the US. Linda will begin teaching in Australia in 2015. She offers case consultation at all levels of the SE training. Linda was introduced to Somatic Experiencing during her graduate work at the University of Victoria in 1998. Since the completion of her graduate degree in 2000, Linda has applied and integrated SE principles into both her clinical practice and her teaching of the Human Development and Counselling courses at City University and Grant Macewan University in Alberta, Canada where she taught for many years. Since 2014 Linda has been the lead Clinician and teacher in the development of a trauma and attachment home at a residential treatment centre. The children who reside in the treatment Centre have complex early trauma histories combined with various mental health diagnosis. The integration and application of SE principals and interventions has guided the development and formation of this specialised treatment program. Linda has a clinical practice in her home town of St. Alberta, Alberta. For several years she has been contracted to offer clinical support to people who live in an isolated First Nation Community on the West Coast of British Columbia, Canada. Her work with the First Nation Community has profoundly influenced her personal and professional life. In both locations Linda works with people of various ages and cultures. This on-going experience, combined with her experience of learning and teaching SE, has heightened her passion in using SE to support people as they heal from trauma and continues to inform Linda’s private practice, teaching, and personal life.

Tracey has a Somatic Experiencing & Biodynamic Craniosacral Therapy practice in Melbourne with a focus on both shock and developmental trauma symptoms. Her passionate interest in the cause and effects of trauma in the body led Tracey to enhance her trauma resolution skills by qualifying as a SE practitioner in 2009. This, plus additional qualifications in Natural Nutrition, Facial Reflexology, Emotional Freedom Technique and Brain Spotting have deepened further her understanding of the holistic nature of complementary healing and the body/mind relationship. Tracey continues to build on her knowledge by regularly attending post-graduate courses in both the craniosacral and SE fields with leading figures such as Franklyn Sills, Michael Shea, Dr. Peter Levine and Kathy Kain. SE based courses with Dr. Peter Levine include Working with Syndromes, Trauma and Memory, The Polyvagal Theory, Working with Diaphragms, The Eye of the Needle (near death states) and Depression, Aggression, Triumph & Breath. She has also completed both the Touch Skills for Trauma and Somatic Resilience after Early Trauma body-based courses with Kathy Kain and the NARM developmental trauma training with Dr. Larry Heller. Tracey is currently undertaking Diane Poole Heller’s DARe Attachment training and the ISP Integrated Somatic Psychotherapy training with Raja Selvum. As well as assisting on all the SE Professional Trainings in Australia, she was previously a tutor assistant on a Biodynamic Craniosacral Therapy training. Tracey enjoys sharing her diverse experience and knowledge to support and encourage students throughout the training process.

Ali is a licensed clinical psychologist in private practice as well as a physician specialising in pain management and mind-body medicine. He has advanced post-graduate training in psychoanalytic and Jungian psychology as well as somatic approaches and techniques including Somatic Experiencing, Bodynamics, Bioenergetics and Five-Element Chinese Medicine. He has also completed the Touch Skills and Resilient Child trainings with Kathy Kain. Ali is passionate about psychological liberation and healthy self-development, especially in those who have been marginalised in their families of origin and/or society. He has dedicated his life as a gay man and a clinician to exploring how race, culture, gender, sexuality, religion, immigration, and socio-economic status intersect to form individual identity. In sessions, Ali brings particular attention to understanding the impact of early childhood development and the ways it can be disrupted by dysfunctional family dynamics or various traumas. He has a deep and longstanding curiosity for understanding what it means to be a psychological human being.

Daniel has over 20 years of clinical experience in individual and marital counseling as well as extensive experience in group psychotherapy. Daniel has a Master's Degree specialised in Marital and Family Counselling as well as a post graduate externship in Systemic Family Therapy. He has also received extensive training in Brief Hypno-Psychotherapy at the Milton Erickson Foundation in Phoenix, Arizona. His clinical approaches include Cognitive Behaviour Therapy (CBT) and Solution Focused Therapy. Daniel is specialised in Post Traumatic Stress Counselling. After receiving certification as an SEP he completed the post-advanced ‘Touch Training for Psychotherapists’. He has assisted at several Somatic Experiencing training events in Canada, the USA as well as internationally. In 2014, he was a member of an international trauma training team led by Dr. Raja Selvam in Sri Lanka.

Puja is a Biodynamic Craniosacral and Remedial massage therapist. She is currently in private practice in Fremantle Western Australia where she focuses on Somatic Experiencing, bodywork and touch skills to address developmental and shock trauma in her clients. Puja has successfully worked with clients whose symptoms present as complex syndromal patterns such as chronic pain, chronic fatigue and PTSD.  Puja travelled to France to study Somatic Experiencing in 2010. She has subsequently completed workshops and post graduate trainings with Maggie Kline (Trauma Through a Child’s Eyes) Anthony Twig Wheeler (Building Fluency with the SE Language and The Polyvagal System) Patricia Meadows (DARe1 Somatic Attachment)  and most recently with Kathy Kain (Somatic Resilience and Regulation : Early Trauma). The essence of Puja's work comes from a deep value of our true nature and our inherent capacity to heal and transform. Her intention for her clients is to free the spirit enabling a life lived more fully and freely. Puja brings to her sessions a quality of warmth, presence and sensitivity.

Sage’s sessions offer intuitive, collaborative and skilled facilitation of SE to support shifts, transformation and deepening into the heart and the body’s truest alignment.  Sage is an SE Trauma Institute Basics Provider and has been utilising SE since 2006 as a bodyworker, workshop facilitator and yoga teacher.   Sage offers a full-time SE, biodynamic craniosacral and life coaching practice in Maine. Originally trained in bodywork, Sage has built on 10 years of body-based practice with a wide-variety of clients to assist deep change and inspire evolution.  Sage comes to SE with a passion for social justice, curious about how to apply trauma modalities for collective healing. Sage also runs a small by-donation community wellness centre which invites the community to explore justice in their body through classes, talks and workshops.   Recently, Sage co-wrote curriculum and facilitated a ten week SE research based psycho-educational group application with the transgender community. In the spirit of collective healing, Sage also designed and offers a justice-informed yoga class for the LGBTQ community called YoGay as an invitation to wring out the residual fight/ flight energy of homophobia. Sage is currently transitioning private practice to collective practice, offering and designing workshops to support somatic practitioners, social service providers and activists to explore the Somatics of Justice, deepen intuitive practice, reduce vicarious trauma and ultimately, embody liberation.

Starr is a licensed clinical social worker in Massachusetts, USA.  She has worked as an integrative change agent in private practice since 1981.  She loves offering forums for holistic growth to individuals and groups to discover and unlock their own natural capacities and connect with themselves, others and their environment.   Her work has included psychotherapy, coaching, mindfulness, community & outdoor education, systemic constellation work, shamanic, & energetic bodywork. She has been influenced by cranial sacral and energy psychology, EMDR & other alternative healing modalities. Since 2003, SE has been integrated into her work, further evolving with SE Touch & Somatic Regulation work, Integral Somatic Psychotherapy & Trauma First Aid.   She was on SE disaster relief teams in 2005 in Thailand and 2006 in Louisiana.  Starr’s ongoing, current interest is in finding ways to expand joy & resiliency and to address social justice issues, particularly the disconnections and discrimination around race, gender, sexual orientation, immigration/refugees. Reaching people beyond the therapy office and synthesising the gifts of various perspectives and approaches is her passion.

Anita is a Counselling Psychologist, currently employed as the Co-ordinator of the Counselling and Psychological Services at the University of Western Australia. She completed a Doctorate titled “A Hypnotherapy (Ego-States) Model for Survivors of Sexual Crimes: a Psycho-Educational Perspective” in 2003. Her specialist trainings include Ego State Therapy; Somatic Experiencing; Medical Hypno-analysis; Ericksonian Hypno-Therapy; EMDR; EMI; and SFT. She is a supervisor and trainer for Ego State Therapy and Hypnotherapy and has been involved in the supervision of trainee psychologists since 2008. Anita has also facilitated workshops and presented papers and publications at national and international level on trauma and resiliency related topics.

Dr. Chris Walling is a clinical psychologist based out of Los Angeles California.  He is an emotionally focused couples therapist, trained by Dr. Sue Johnson and a Certified Trainer for the HeartMath® Institute. Chris is the owner of an addiction recovery company, also based in Los Angeles, that helps rehabilitate former prisoners in recovery from addiction to drugs and alcohol.   His interests in SE focus upon supporting developmental trauma survivors looking to overcome chronic fatigue, chronic pain, somatoform disorders, and other auto-immune disorders.   Dr. Walling is a former academic medical executive, and is Chairman of the Alzheimers Research & Prevention Foundation’s Education Committee, where he lectures internationally on topics of longevity, resilience and psycho-spiritual well-being.  His research and clinical interests are in the psychophysiology of affect regulation, somatic interventions and developmental trauma.

Idi is a clinical social worker, counselling in public agencies in the areas of addiction, domestic violence, and sexual trauma since the late 1990′s.    IdI is currently in private practice at Heart Matters, a heart centred counselling practice, and is also a senior counsellor, clinical supervisor and educator at a sexual assault crisis centre in Perth. Idi specialises in assisting people with emotional distress, trauma and life transition issues to move out of pain and return to a sense of aliveness, relaxation and wholeness. Her background is in humanistic, family systems and narrative psychotherapy.   Idi believes that the body holds the key to what is unfinished and needing to heal and, that knowing how the body and brain react to trauma opens powerful tools that can offer hope to those who have been stuck in cycles of reactivity, shame, and hopelessness. Idi credits SE as a methodology that provides a ‘holding environment’ for working through traumatic or emotional wounding that helps people get back in control.   Idi trained under Maggie Kline and Berns Galloway in the first Australian SE training in Melbourne. She has assisted Maggie Kline and Linda Stelte at the Brisbane training and is passionate about building a local Perth SE community.

Julia has been a counselling psychologist and psychotherapist in the mental health field for over 25 years. She enjoys working with clients, as well as providing clinical supervision and education to allied and mental health professionals. Alongside private practice, she is an adjunct psychotherapist in both a hospital and at a centre for families with children of special needs. She is also an approved supervisor and an assistant lecturer, practice consultant in a university. Julia is compassionate and patient in working with people in trauma. With her passion and sensitivity, she accompanies people in their journey to live through pain and suffering to reach a transformed and enriched life. Julia works extensively with adults, adolescents and children with developmental trauma, mental and emotional disturbance (depression, anxiety, PTSD), self-esteem issues, sexual trauma, sexual orientation conflict, personality issues, dissociative disorders, difficulties in relationships and parenting issues on children with special needs. Her training background is psychodynamic and humanistic in approach, basing the work on object relations theory, attachment theory and developmental psychology. She has been receiving post-graduate training in psychoanalysis, Jungian psychology and sand play therapy. Since learning Somatic Experiencing in 2008, Julia has been exploring and integrating Somatic Experiencing in her psychotherapy practice. She has been assisting the SE training in Hong Kong and Taiwan since 2012. She has taken the following workshops: SE for Kids from Maggie Kline; Tune in to Children, Somatic Integration from Ale Duarte; Pre and Peri-Natal Psychology from a Somatic Perspective from Yiri Dollekamp; and SOMA I/II from Sonia Gomes.

Sandy is a registered social worker in Ottawa Canada since 1989, offering psychotherapy and mindfulness based stress reduction programs to individuals, groups and organisations. She has maintained a successful private practice since 1999. Sandy has always believed in the wisdom of the body to transform, heal and grow in friendly ways and has integrated a SE approach with her clients since 2009. Along with her SE training, Sandy has participated in professional training from Dr. Jon Kabat-Zinn (Mindfulness Based Stress Reduction) and holds a graduate degree in social work, certification in grief counselling, in mindfulness and psychotherapy and in yoga teacher training. She has assisted in trainings in Montreal and Ottawa and looks forward to assisting in future trainings all over the world.

Barbara has developed a unique and holistic approach around grief and trauma recovery over the last 20 years working as an accredited Mental Health Social Worker. She has a private practices in the heart of Albany and Denmark in Western Australia; trusting her intuition and her body’s fine tuned feedback system has changed how she works completely. She feels very humbled and honored witnessing moments of grace with her clients, which at times feel a lot bigger than just herself.  Barbara studied Social Work in Germany and immigrated to Australia 15 years ago. Somatic Experiencing, EMDR resource building and gentle Emotional Release in conjunction with Mindfulness and Visualisation build the foundation of her work and she loves bringing her aliveness, humour, creativity and authenticity to her sessions. Barbara nourishes her own senses via writing, going for walks, enjoying the beach, yoga, singing, chain-sawing fire wood, creativity, her little family and friends and community around her.

Julie has been in private practice as a Clinical Psychologist for more than 10 years. During this time she increased her skills and learning by qualifying as a Logotherapist. Logotherapy is an approach that facilitates the exploration of new avenues towards meaning and purpose, in enriching people’s lives. In addition, Julie has studied Advanced levels in both Eriksonian Hypnotherapy as well as Ego State Therapy and Sports Psychology. She recently qualified as a supervisor and finds supervising others and mentoring, is a meaningful new area of work for her. Somatic Experiencing 'found her' in a significant manner which led to her studying and obtaining her SE Practitioner certificate. Interpersonal relationships, trauma and personal empowerment, are areas of particular interest to her. Julie is also passionate about assisting people to to step into their potential and maximise their full psychological, spiritual and physiological capacity. Assisting professionals, such as medical and allied workers, who may be experiencing burn out, severe stress or vicarious trauma, is an area where she sees value in offering a safe talk space, of care and support.

Based in beautiful environment of East Gippsland, Vikki has worked for the past twenty years as psychologist. Along side a private practice, she has worked in hospital, community and educational settings as a researcher, child & adolescent mental health clinician and school psychologist.  Vikki has a passionate interest in working with people across the lifespan helping them seek a deeper understanding and awareness. She helps people with a range of mental health conditions including, depression and anxiety disorders, complex trauma and chronic pain conditions. In the search for safe trauma-informed clinical approaches, Vikki was introduced to Somatic Experiencing in 2011. Finding SE has been a way to finally work with the mind and the body in a way that makes sense at a deep level and can profoundly help people move on from the hold the past has had on them.  

Kathy Kain has been practicing and teaching bodywork and trauma recovery skills for over 30 years. She teaches in Europe, Australia, Canada, and throughout the US. She is a senior trainer of the SE Professional Training, an adjunct faculty member for Sonoma State University, former adjunct faculty for Santa Barbara Graduate Institute, former director of training and education for the SE Trauma Institute, and was a senior trainer for 12 years in the Somatic Psychotherapy training program based in Sydney, Australia. Kathy co-authored the book Ortho-Bionomy: A Practical Manual, and is the developer of both the Touch Skills Training for Trauma Therapists and Somatic Resilience and Regulation: Early Trauma plus other somatic based workshops.

Ariel is a body-oriented psychotherapist and trauma specialist with a particular focus on repairing developmental trauma and attachment wounds. Trained in a wide variety of somatic therapies, her work is primarily informed by Somatic Experiencing® (SE). She is a senior faculty member at Peter Levine’s Somatic Experiencing Trauma Institute and helps develop curriculum and specialty classes based on trauma treatment. In 2005, motivated by the tsunami in Asia, she and 3 other colleagues developed a short-term trauma relief and first aid program for natural disaster survivors. It has since been successfully used in Thailand, New Orleans, and most recently in China, Japan and Haiti. For 11 years she was on staff at the Esalen Institute in Big Sur, CA as a workshop and group leader, a private somatic therapist and a member of the bodywork and massage crew. Trained as a First Responder, Ariel was part of an emergency medical response team in the Ventana Wilderness. Ariel has presented numerous seminars to the Trauma Center and Emergency Room staff at Santa Rosa Memorial Hospital in California, focusing on secondary traumatisation as well as patient trauma prevention. She has also completed special training with Ray Castellino in pre-natal and birth therapy and has been a homebirth advocate, a "doula" and childbirth educator. She has a practice outside of San Francisco and frequently utilises therapeutic touch and SE bodywork in her sessions.

Joshua holds a master’s degree in clinical psychology (with an emphasis in somatic psychology) and is a marriage and family therapist. His clinical practice is grounded in SE and he also integrates psycho-dynamic perspectives, mindfulness approaches, a systemic orientation and a good deal of humour in his work. Joshua’s background includes participation in social change efforts, movements for social equality and ecological sustainability and he maintains a passion for encouraging and assisting communities working toward the creation of a just and healthful society. His study of nervous system regulation has incorporated inquiry into many disparate fields including ecology, philosophy, and neurobiology Joshua has been involved in Somatic Experiencing since 2004. He envisions Somatic Experiencing becoming an integral part of healing and transforming our world and feels greatly inspired when helping professionals integrate these simple principles for treating and transforming trauma and distress. Joshua resides in Portland, Oregon, where he maintains a private therapy and consulting practice and shares life with his partner and young daughter. Together, they enjoy music, unstructured play and spending time outdoors.

Anki has been in private practice for over 15 years as a psychotherapist and for many years she has had a genuine interest in how we can grow as human beings. She has experience with both group and individual therapy and has further skills in the treatment of drug and alcohol addiction. In addition, Anki has worked in co-operation with the local municipality and various private organisations. She has facilitated seminars and working groups for teachers in pre-schools and social welfare departments. Anki has also been a manager at a number of schools and a rehabilitation centre. Anki received her SEP certification in 2010 and since then has assisted at trainings in Sweden, Norway, Taiwan, UK and Australia. In 2010 she was a co-initiator in establishing the SE Association in Norway and is still a board member. Anki is also trained in Kathy Kain’s Touch Skills for Trauma, Family Constellations, the Twelve Step Method, the first year of the Bodydynamic and has reached level two in David Berceli’s Trauma Release Exercises. She has currently attending the NARM training with Dr. Larry Heller. Additionally she has attended various postgraduate classes such as Energy Wells with Dr. Peter Levine, Attachment with Diane Pool Heller and Shame and Guilt with Dr. Larry Heller. Having moved from Scandinavia to Singapore she has an active private practice and continues with her involvement in the SE community. In her free time Anki enjoys traveling, reading, Osho meditation and doing things that supports inner wellbeing.

Mahshid Hager is a licensed Marriage and Family Therapist and a Somatic Experiencing Practitioner with a full-time private practice in San Diego, California. Her clinical experience began at a non-profit organisation working with under privileged children with severe emotional issues and their families, in a variety of settings throughout San Diego County. Working with a diverse population and learning about the devastating effects of trauma, she became passionate about finding a safe treatment modality that respected the client’s pace and boundaries and offered a true healing. Mahshid was introduced to SE by seeing first-hand the effect it had on her husband. After reading several of Peter Levine’s books she decided to complete the SE training with Steven Hoskinson. Today, she employs SE on a daily basis, and finds it has been the missing link for many of her clients. She treats adults with symptoms of trauma, anxiety and depression, as well as couples who experience relationship conflicts and communication issues. She especially loves applying SE with children, as they are uninhibited in their exploration of it and she has seen great results. Mahshid loves assisting as it is such a joy and privilege to see the transformation in students going through the training. She has been assisting with Steven Hoskinson in San Diego since 2013 and she began assisting with Joshua Sylvae in Portland in 2015. Mahshid has also completed Steven Hoskinson’s Organic Intelligence Master classes and 2 modules of Kathy Kain’s touch Skills Training. Mahshid is married with two teenage children. In her free time she enjoys nature, hiking and live music. She is thrilled to join the Sydney, Australia assisting team and is excited about this new journey ahead!

Megan is a bodywork/touch oriented Somatic Experiencing® Practitioner who lives and works in Juneau, Alaska. She works with a wide range of trauma-based clientele, from shock and medical trauma to early/attachment based developmental trauma. With a busy private practice, Megan also makes time for travel to assist Steve Hoskinson's and Kathy Kain's Somatic Experiencing trainings, Steve Terrell's Touch Skills trainings and Steve Hoskinson's Organic Intelligence HEARTrainings.    Working as a freelance bodyworker, yoga teacher and healing arts practitioner, Megan entered Somatic Psychology course work looking for something deeper to offer both her clients and her Self. In this process she found and fell in love with SE.    Megan continues her somatic education through advanced studies with Peter Levine, Kathy Kain, Steve Terrell, Steve Hoskinson and others. She has also trained in Trauma-Sensitive Yoga with David Emerson and Jenn Turner from The Trauma Center in Brookline, MA.    She is happy to assist and share in the awe of education, healing, and transformation that the SE® trainings provide. 

Mihoko (Manami) is a Somatic Experiencing and Cranio Sacral Practitioner. Her strong interest in SE bodywork led her to Kathy Kain’s work and she has completed Touch Skills Training for Trauma Therapist, Somatic Resilience and Regulation: Early Trauma. Her nervous system regulation work is complemented by her 15 years experience as a bodyworker. Mihoko also completed the NARM training with Dr. Laurence Heller, co- author of “Healing Developmental Trauma” and is currently attending ISP Integrated Somatic Psychotherapy training with Dr.Raja Selvum in USA and Organic Intelligence®.  Mihoko integrates all her learning, which include Shintoism, Mindfulness practice, Hypnotherapy, Brainspotting, Esalen massage therapy and various knowledge gained from Japanese and Indonesian holistic healing cultures.  Through her work she has been fascinated by Neuroplasticity and has enjoyed supporting client’s innate wisdom of movement towards coherence. Mihoko works in collaboration with the Integrative Embodied Psychotherapy team at Abeles Consulting in Sydney and has a private practice on the NSW Central Coast. She has also worked as an interpreter, assisting at Esalen Institute courses and setting up well-being study courses in Bali and Tokyo. 

Ruth holds a doctoral degree in clinical psychology, and has worked in the field for 30+ years. Her initial training emphasised psychodynamic and humanistic approaches. Since 1992, Ruth has been in private practice in Cheyenne, Wyoming. Prior work settings include community mental health, inpatient psychiatric, residential treatment, university counseling and geriatric. Also trained as a mitigation specialist, Ruth has helped defense attorneys to educate jurors about the impact of trauma on defendants, such that life sentences were obtained in several death penalty cases. Ruth pursued Somatic Experiencing® to find more effective treatment for severely traumatised clients. With SE, Ruth finds that clients felt ‘seen’ in a way which supports profound healing, and she now utilises SE on a daily basis. Ruth continues to be in awe of the tremendous capacity for resilience within each individual. Assisting at SE trainings is an especially rewarding aspect of Ruth’s SE journey. Ruth experiences a sense of ‘coming home’ when she arrives at each training, and is grateful for the honor of holding space for participants as their SE journeys unfold. Ruth is passionate about her pursuit of continued learning in support of her own healing, and that of her clients. Most recently, she has completed Steve Hoskinson’s Organic Intelligence® Masters classes and is currently enrolled in Kathy Kain’s Touch Skills Training. Married with two sons, two stepdaughters, and two grandchildren; Ruth enjoys traveling, skiing, cycling, nature, reading, painting, ice hockey, and roller derby. Ruth is delighted to join the assisting team in Sydney, and looks forward to this next chapter of her SE adventure!

Tracey has a Somatic Experiencing & Biodynamic Craniosacral Therapy practice in Melbourne with a focus on both shock and developmental trauma symptoms. Her passionate interest in the cause and effects of trauma in the body led Tracey to enhance her trauma resolution skills by qualifying as a SE practitioner in 2009. This, plus additional qualifications in Natural Nutrition, Facial Reflexology, Emotional Freedom Technique and Brain Spotting have deepened further her understanding of the holistic nature of complementary healing and the body/mind relationship. Tracey continues to build on her knowledge by regularly attending post-graduate courses in both the craniosacral and SE fields with leading figures such as Franklyn Sills, Michael Shea, Dr. Peter Levine and Kathy Kain. SE based courses with Dr. Peter Levine include Working with Syndromes, Trauma and Memory, The Polyvagal Theory, Working with Diaphragms, The Eye of the Needle (near death states) and Depression, Aggression, Triumph & Breath. She has also completed both the Touch Skills for Trauma and Somatic Resilience after Early Trauma body-based courses with Kathy Kain and the NARM developmental trauma training with Dr. Larry Heller. Tracey is currently undertaking Diane Poole Heller’s DARe Attachment training and the ISP Integrated Somatic Psychotherapy training with Raja Selvum. As well as assisting on all the SE Professional Trainings in Australia, she was previously a tutor assistant on a Biodynamic Craniosacral Therapy training. Tracey enjoys sharing her diverse experience and knowledge to support and encourage students throughout the training process.

Anthony "Twig" Wheeler, SEP, Applied Human Ecologist and Cultural Animator, is an internationally recognised Somatic Experiencing® practitioner, consultant and educator known for his creative ability to help therapists understand the psycho-biological underpinnings of trauma and well-being. As a senior SE® training assistant Twig has helped graduate hundreds of SE practitioners and has facilitated the introduction of SE to helping care professionals on four continents. Over the last ten years Twig has created several internationally successful workshops relevant to bodyworkers, therapists, doctors, nurses and teachers who are exploring the psycho-biological literature and somatic therapies, particularly as exemplified by Peter Levine’s Somatic Experiencing®. One of Twig’s specialities is his animated presentations on Stephen Porges’s Polyvagal Theory and the subsequent scientific and therapeutic re-evaluation of the organisation and importance of the autonomic nervous system. Though recognised as being uniquely important by therapists world-wide, this theory is often thought of as difficult to understand by those unfamiliar with psycho-biology and evolutionary theory. Twig’s background as an Applied Human Ecologist gives him the generalist lens necessary to help non-scientifically oriented helping professionals grasp the value of this transformative theory. Additionally Twig has taken an active role in translating the science of traumatology to the general public: from war-affected communities in Central Africa to parent groups, domestic violence shelters and theatre going audiences in the US, Canada and Brazil. It is Twig’s ability to make complex ideas accessible to both lay and professional audiences that give his presentations a unique flavour of usefulness and ease. Twig recognises that truly systemic change, for individuals and society alike, will require a dramatic reduction in accumulated stress. Knowing how the psycho-biology of trauma behaves in the nervous system and how helping professionals can best put that knowledge to use is something that Twig is keen to share with you.

Camille is a Licensed Clinical Social Worker and Somatic Experiencing Practitioner. As a survivor of trauma herself and after years of raising her mentally ill son, Camille became a social worker to both further her own journey of healing and recovery and to help facilitate others to heal.   Camille works at the Sierra Tucson residential treatment centre in Tucson, Arizona and supports others towards healing who suffer with symptoms of PTSD, complex and developmental trauma. She also specialises in addiction, anxiety and mood disorders. Camille presents nationally on trauma and its impact on physiology, including a presentation on trauma and healing for the Ben Franklin Institute lecture series. Her personal work with Somatic Experiencing began in 2007 when she wanted to deepen her own healing and growth.  As this experience changed her life, Camille began training with Steve Hoskinson and has also gone on to complete Steve’s Organic Intelligence Master classes.  Camille has assisted for all levels of SE trainings including with Steve Hoskinson in Tucson and Joshua Sylvae in Scottsdale Arizona.  Camille is very passionate to assist for SE trainings as it feeds her soul and she is SO excited to be assisting in the beautiful city of Sydney Australia! Camille believes deeply in the body’s capacity to heal itself and utilises a very gentle and compassionate approach whilst working; meeting each individual where they are.

Catherine has 30 years of experience working as an educator, body worker and  personal coach. She started out in the field of Early Childhood Development and holds a Montessori teaching credential from the Maria Montessori Learning Center in San Francisco.  She worked with pre-school and adolescents for eleven years in the San Francisco Bay Area and Colorado.   She founded Zest Productions in 1994 working to help couples and families navigate the high pressure and stress that comes with planning a wedding.   In 1991 she completed her training as a certified Therapeutic Massage Practitioner, and had a private practice for 6 years.  Additionally, Catherine has been a student of the Enneagram for 25 years and has trained in The Enneagram of The Narrative Tradition (ESNT).  She has been part of an ongoing Enneagram study group in the San Francisco Bay Area for the last eight years. Catherine is currently assisting Somatic Experiencing trainings in Northern California, Australia and Korea.  She has a private practice in Sebastopol, California, where she combines Somatic Experiencing with her extensive training in developmental trauma and light-touch body work.  In addition, she has participated in workshops with Twig Wheeler, Ray Castellino’s Womb Surround Process Workshops, and Ariel Giarretto's Attachment Wound Healing, Pre and Perinatal Trauma, and Sexual Embodiment workshops.

A Somatic Experiencing Practitioner, Trauma Informed Pilates and Integrative Movement Practitioner, birth doula, Visionary Cranial Sacral Practitioner and infant massage educator; Cristal brings over 26 years of mindfulness and movement practice as foundational into her work with clients. She offers SE, hands on SE and Trauma Informed Integrative Movement sessions in her private practice. Cristal is an assistant for the Somatic Experiencing Professional Training Program and has a background as both a Suicide and Crisis Outreach Counsellor and Emergency First Responder. She has developed SE based programs in the school system, teaching children somatic skills to support resilience, empowerment and self awareness. Some of her volunteer projects have included teaching Vipassana meditation in the prison system and supporting the wives of deployed soldiers during childbirth. Cristal has been in private practice in Honolulu since 2000. She is an avid surfer, dancer and rescue dog owner.

Livia is a Licensed Clinical Social Worker, a Somatic Experiencing® Practitioner and Yoga Therapist. She also integrates her training in Dialectical Behavioral Therapy (DBT), Exposure and Responsive Prevention Therapy (ERP) and inspiration from the mindfulness trainings that she has received from Vietnamese Zen Monk, Thich Nhat Hanh. Livia is dedicated to collective and group transformation and healing. She sees our relationship to self and others as having an impact on the greater system’s capacity towards well being. She is committed to system change work that brings trauma-informed care from just a buzz word into organisational action. In her most recent leadership role, as Director of Trauma Services for a national treatment center, specialising in co-occurring addictive behaviours and trauma, she implemented therapeutic programs, a SE group therapy model, trainings and protocols that utilise body-centred treatments and a SE framework for organisational self-regulation. She presents and trains nationally on the use of body-centred interventions in the treatment of mental illness and the effects of trauma, as well the Yoga-Informed Psychotherapy training that she founded. When working with individuals, her approach is to support the awakening of an individual’s own healing potential towards the fullest expression of their aliveness. Her practice specialities are: addictive and compulsive behaviours (eating disorders, substance abuse, non-suicidal self-injury) intergenerational trauma, ritual abuse, refugee/displaced person’s trauma, the Full Embodiment Model, sexual well being and chronic pain. Livia has attended Syndromes - Working with the Somatic Side of Trauma with Peter Levine and B.A.S.E. - Concussions and PTSD with Dave Berger. Livia lives in Chicago, Illinois USA where she is attempting to grow a vegetable garden on her city front lawn. A good day is when its rained and the critters haven’t helped themselves to all of the lettuce. She receives daily mentorship on trauma and resilience from spinach, snap peas and squirrels.

Steve’s is beholden to his father who was a teacher and to his mother who was a nurse. From this nurturing setting, he headed out into the world to establish his own dance with these two family dynamics. During this time, he took up many pursuits that pertained to the Outdoors: Outdoor Recreation, Mountaineering, Wilderness Guide, Embodied Living Systems. Through these pursuits, Steve found that life experiences from the inside are just as important as those from the outside. His first bodyconscious turn towards the Inside came having been blessed with a gifted massage therapist. During his first session he quickly experienced the whirlwind of energetic forces residing inside himself. As a Bodyworker, coupled now with the subtle stabilizing effects of Somatic Experiencing®, SE Touch® and Organic Intelligence®, he is striving to help regenerate this crucial balance in both himself and those he now supports as a Somatic Experiencing Practitioner/Bodyworker/Naturalist. Residing in Juneau, Alaska the majority of his life, Steve divides his professional time as an SEP/Bodyworker, working with a cross section of destabilized adults wishing to restore their intrinsic capacity to be fully human. During the other time he works as a Naturalist helping to bring children more fully into their natural surroundings. Having found SE to be foundational to all experiences, Steve enjoys the challenges no matter where he applies his skills. He is very happy to be assisting in Sydney helping others deepen their understanding of this human adventure.

Trish Seek has over 20 years of experience in the field of Counselling.  She has a Master's degree in counselling, is a Licensed Professional Counsellor, a Somatic Experiencing Practitioner and a Reiki Master.  Trish currently works both in her private practice and at Sierra Tucson, an inpatient treatment facility. She has diverse experience, to include: Group and Individual Therapy, Adventure Therapy, Equine Assisted Therapy, Psychodrama and Somatic Experiencing. She has worked with a variety of populations. The focus of her career is supporting clients in their personal growth while helping them heal from various issues. These issues may include anxiety, depression, life transitions, grief and loss, addiction, body image, chronic pain and trauma resolution.

Amanda holds a masters degree in Counselling and applied Psychotherapy, which is securely embedded in the SE approach with a systemic framework in the background. Working somatically came naturally to her when in 2010 she trained as a meditation teacher and began sharing embodied practices to support others working with their felt anxiety. Amanda has a keen interest in early developmental phases, including attachment theory. Understanding that safety and connection are essential to our early development and the nervous system is a central component to feeling safety has cemented SE into how she works with her clients. Keen to enhance her knowledge, Amanda continues post graduate training in USA for Therapeutic Touch Skills for Early Trauma and Developmental Movement Patterns Amanda sees clients in private practice in Sydney.

Andrea is a clinical psychotherapist in private psychotherapy practice in Sydney, specialising in the treatment of trauma. Andrea has provided short, medium and long-term therapy for depression, anxiety, PTSD, personality disorders, eating disorders, relational issues and trauma. She has worked in mental health for more than ten years with extensive clinical experience in hospital settings and trauma settings. Andrea’s background includes six years as a Therapist at South Pacific Private (Australia’s leading treatment centre for addictions and mental illness), working within this period for four years as the Family Therapist. This experience strongly enhanced Andrea’s skills for running group programs and to be able to work with a systemic view in her practice. In her experience at the Wesley Eating Disorder Unit, she learnt skills to work with acute and chronic eating disorders. At the Aids Council Of NSW, she had the chance to work with the GLBT community to heal trauma, depression, PTSD and other mental health issues. Andrea has also worked in Community Settings with disadvantaged families to help facilitate the healing of generational trauma. In addition to being a SEP, Andrea has Brainspotting, EMDR, MATES and Daring Way™ Facilitator training as part of her current skill set. She is also passionate about live music, dancing and martial arts.

Jo is a Counsellor & Psychotherapist who works with individuals and families who have experienced developmental trauma. She is currently employed in a sexual assault counselling service in the NSW Illawarra area. In the past Jo has worked with young people and their families as an Adolescent and Family Counsellor and as an Alcohol & Other Drugs Counsellor. Jo has a Masters degree in Counselling & Applied Psychotherapy and has also studied Emotionally Focused Counselling. One of Jo’s main interests is in the long-term impact that trauma has on the nervous system and health in general. She is informed by an environmental approach which acknowledges the healing potential of nutrition and other lifestyle interventions. Jo is inspired by the way in which different scientific disciplines and wisdom traditions approach healing. She has encountered many useful innovations in the space where these belief systems intersect. She believes that the application of SE in a counselling setting is a powerful example of this type of innovation, which can be used to promote positive transformation in people’s lives.

Vanessa is trained as a Holistic Counsellor and Psychotherapist, a Breathwork Practitioner, a Family Constellation therapist, a Somatic Experiencing Practitioner and holds an undergraduate degree in Psychology. She has a passion and drive toward understanding how trauma affects human physiology, emotional and relational life and core belief systems. She works with clients who have experienced developmental trauma, PTSD and generational trauma. Vanessa discovered SE whilst studying one her qualifications and knew instantly that she wanted to learn more. She believes that SE is foundational for anyone who wants to work with trauma. By integrating all that she has learned, she has seen 'magic' happen in her therapy room. Vanessa seeks to learn more about pre-natal and birth experiences and how they may continue to influence people in their lives. She is currently attending Kathy Kain's Touch Skills for Trauma training held in Victoria, Canada. Each and every training that Vanessa has attended has been with the intention of healing her personal trauma experience as it manifests in her life and physical form. She therefore works with clients using first hand the techniques that have made a difference in her own life. SE has had a marked effect on Vanessa's healing and thus she integrates it with passion into her individual way of working. Vanessa works in private practice on the NSW Central Coast.

Abi Blakeslee, SEP, CMT, MFT, Ph.D., integrates Somatic Experiencing with clinical research, the psychobiological principals of attachment, psychodynamic therapy, and somatic bodywork in her practice and teaching. She has conducted original research on the role of implicit memory in Somatic Experiencing with a committee that included Dr. Daniel Siegel. Abi holds a Masters of Arts in Counseling and Depth Psychology, and a Ph.D. in Clinical and Somatic Psychology. She is interested in the intersection between neuroscience, current trauma research, and the psychobiological principals of Somatic Experiencing. Abi is faculty for the Somatic Experiencing Trauma Institute and teaches widely throughout the United States. She also leads workshops in Relational Repair Work. She has clinical experience with individuals, couples, children, and families and treats a broad base of issues. Abi currently resides in Bozeman, MT with her husband and two young boys. She focuses on providing faculty-level individual and group consultations to all levels of Somatic Experiencing students.

Anki has been in private practice for over 15 years as a psychotherapist and for many years she has had a genuine interest in how we can grow as human beings. She has experience with both group and individual therapy and has further skills in the treatment of drug and alcohol addiction. In addition, Anki has worked in co-operation with the local municipality and various private organisations. She has facilitated seminars and working groups for teachers in pre-schools and social welfare departments. Anki has also been a manager at a number of schools and a rehabilitation centre. Anki received her SEP certification in 2010 and since then has assisted at trainings in Sweden, Norway, Taiwan, UK and Australia. In 2010 she was a co-initiator in establishing the SE Association in Norway and is still a board member. Anki is also trained in Kathy Kain’s Touch Skills for Trauma, Family Constellations, the Twelve Step Method, the first year of the Bodydynamic and has reached level two in David Berceli’s Trauma Release Exercises. She has currently attending the NARM training with Dr. Larry Heller. Additionally she has attended various postgraduate classes such as Energy Wells with Dr. Peter Levine, Attachment with Diane Pool Heller and Shame and Guilt with Dr. Larry Heller. Having moved from Scandinavia to Singapore she has an active private practice and continues with her involvement in the SE community. In her free time Anki enjoys traveling, reading, Osho meditation and doing things that supports inner wellbeing.

Janie is a psychotherapist in private practice in Kensington, MD. She works with children, adolescents and adults, specialising in treating eating disorders, attachment issues and trauma. Janie is a facilitator for the EMDR Institute and an approved EMDRIA Consultant. Janie is especially interested in the development of trauma secondary to attachment ruptures and to medical interventions and related experiences. She is an assistant for Diane Poole Heller’s Somatic Attachment Training (DARE). Janie has also assisted for Raja Selvam’s Integral Somatic Psychotherapy(ISP). Janie contributed a chapter on eating disorders and EMDR in EMDR Solutions II, For Depression, Eating Disorders, Performance and More. She has presented nationally on the integration of EMDR and eating disorders. Janie believes deeply in the innate ability for people to heal through the mind/body/spiritual interconnection.

Jeannette has been a body-centered psychotherapist for 25 years. Her clinical experience began in community mental health providing counselling to adults, many who had been severely abused. It was being with such deeply traumatised people that fuelled her commitment to working holistically, and where the importance of including the whole person in the healing process became deeply rooted in her belief system. Jeannette currently provides individual, couples and group counselling to clients who are primarily teachers, administrators and other specialised professionals in the educational system in Saskatchewan Canada. Areas of focus include personal and professional stress, grief, chronic pain and rehabilitation. Jeannette has received training in a number of therapies, many of which have integrated nicely with SE. They include Redecision Therapy (a joining of Gestalt and Transactional Analysis), Bio Energetics, Family Systems, Ego State therapy, Hypnotherapy, and EMDR. While these have provided a solid foundation for her clinical work, she has been heard to say on many occasions that SE was the missing piece in her work. Since completing the SE Training in 2006 with Dr. Peter Levine, Jeannette has attended the following courses; Eye of the Needle- Working with Near Death States and Anaesthesia (levels 1 and 2), and Working with Emotions and Memory in Trauma with Peter Levine, Touching Trauma Certification Program with Kathy Kain, Using SE with Children and Teens with Maggie Kline, Ariel Giarretto’s courses on Pre-Peri Natal, and Diane Poole-Heller’s DARe Training. Jeannette is passionate about SE and utilises humour and playfulness while offering a compassionate and caring healing experience. She has co-ordinated several SE trainings in her community and has assisted at a number of trainings in Canada and the US.

Magna trained as a breath energy therapist since 1996 and holds a Master of Counselling degree (Curtin University). Over the last 20 years Magna has attended additional trainings in body, emotion and energy work. Meditation and mindfulness are also part of her professional background. After receiving her SEP in 2011 Magna has attended master classes with Peter Levine, studied with Babette Rothschild (trauma training) and has continued enhancing her SE by assisting in Taiwan from 2012 onwards. Magna works with both individuals and in a group format throughout Asia incuding Taiwan, Hong Kong, Japan and China. Since 2010 Magna has been a consultant for school counsellors and social workers throughout Taiwan. She has introduced Peter Levine’s (SE), Babette Rothschild’s (PTSD trauma therapy) as well as breath energy work within the counselling professions.

Penny is a licensed SEP, Chinese Five Element Acupuncturist, Auriculotherapist and Brainspotting Practitioner with over 12 years of working with stress and trauma and 7 years of Emotional Awareness work (sensing the affect of the emotions in the body). She works mainly with adults and occasionally with adolescents, focussing on physical symptoms of stress as well as specifically working in the areas of pre-/peri-natal and childhood trauma. Her working approach is based on experiential integration of the theories of SE, Taoism and trauma in the body. She runs a private practice in Brighton, UK. Penny began her SE training in 2006 under Raja Selvam in the first training in the UK. She has remained intimately involved with the UK SE community ever since; assisting on all UK trainings since 2009, co-founding and chairing the UK SE Association SEA UK and was Secretary of the Board of EASE (European Association of SE) 2012-2015. Penny continues to build her clinical knowledge by regularly attending post-graduate courses and workshops relevant to all her skill sets. SE related subjects include Developmental Trauma (Raja Selvam), Shame and Guilt (Larry Heller), Diane Poole Heller's Attachment Mastery Programme and Healing Trauma in Children with Play (Ale Duarte). Other areas of interest include Steve Porges’ Polyvagal Theory, Bruce Perry’s work on the effect of neglect and trauma in children, Dan Hughes’ and Jon Baylin’s Brain Based Parenting model and David Wallin's Attachment in Therapeutic Relationship.

Tracey has a Somatic Experiencing & Biodynamic Craniosacral Therapy practice in Melbourne with a focus on both shock and developmental trauma symptoms. Her passionate interest in the cause and effects of trauma in the body led Tracey to enhance her trauma resolution skills by qualifying as a SE practitioner in 2009. This, plus additional qualifications in Natural Nutrition, Facial Reflexology, Emotional Freedom Technique and Brain Spotting have deepened further her understanding of the holistic nature of complementary healing and the body/mind relationship. Tracey continues to build on her knowledge by regularly attending post-graduate courses in both the craniosacral and SE fields with leading figures such as Franklyn Sills, Michael Shea, Dr. Peter Levine and Kathy Kain. SE based courses with Dr. Peter Levine include Working with Syndromes, Trauma and Memory, The Polyvagal Theory, Working with Diaphragms, The Eye of the Needle (near death states) and Depression, Aggression, Triumph & Breath. She has also completed both the Touch Skills for Trauma and Somatic Resilience after Early Trauma body-based courses with Kathy Kain and the NARM developmental trauma training with Dr. Larry Heller. Tracey is currently undertaking Diane Poole Heller’s DARe Attachment training and the ISP Integrated Somatic Psychotherapy training with Raja Selvum. As well as assisting on all the SE Professional Trainings in Australia, she was previously a tutor assistant on a Biodynamic Craniosacral Therapy training. Tracey enjoys sharing her diverse experience and knowledge to support and encourage students throughout the training process.

Connie has been working in private practice as an SE trauma therapist since completing her SEP in 2008.  She continues to enrich her learning with taking Advanced Certification Programs by Kathy Kain in Somatic Touch Therapy; Resilient Child: Early Developmental Childhood Trauma, by Kathy Kain and Steve TerrelI; Emotions and Memory, by Dr Peter Levine; Dare 1 & 2 by Diane Poole Heller; and Pre and Perinatal Disruption by Ariel Giarretto. Clients are referred to Connie, who are specifically seeking an SE approach for children, adolescents, and adults. She combines her experience in theatre and art to enhance the felt sense. Connie keeps the SE material fresh by regularly assisting at SE trainings (B.C., Quebec, Saskatchewan) She also finds assisting adds dimension to her life by meeting new people who are seeking this work with all the varied skills they bring. This work is constantly surprising and exciting, sharing in a deeper conversation, which taps into our body's wisdom and innate healing.

Based in Byron Bay, NSW, Coral enjoys working in private practice utilising Somatic Experiencing and Holistic Counselling as the underpinnings of her body-based approach for assisting people through life transitions, relational and sexuality issues, accidents, illness, attachment and developmental trauma resolution. Her passionate commitment to embodied mindfulness practices, meditation, sacred sexuality and holistic modalities that support human potential and well-being, offer a wealth of insight, practical life experience, and compassionate support in her work with people from a wide range of backgrounds. Coral is a facilitator for the transformational process ‘Path of Love/Path Retreats’, an ‘Embodied Intimacy’ coach/facilitator, and is an ongoing student since 2008 of the ‘Diamond Essence Approach’ (A.H.Almaas). Her work is also informed by a background in health, fitness & massage therapies, and over 25 years of participating & staffing on personal development processes & trainings.

Idi is a clinical social worker, counselling in public agencies in the areas of addiction, domestic violence, and sexual trauma since the late 1990′s.    IdI is currently in private practice at Heart Matters, a heart centred counselling practice, and is also a senior counsellor, clinical supervisor and educator at a sexual assault crisis centre in Perth. Idi specialises in assisting people with emotional distress, trauma and life transition issues to move out of pain and return to a sense of aliveness, relaxation and wholeness. Her background is in humanistic, family systems and narrative psychotherapy.   Idi believes that the body holds the key to what is unfinished and needing to heal and, that knowing how the body and brain react to trauma opens powerful tools that can offer hope to those who have been stuck in cycles of reactivity, shame, and hopelessness. Idi credits SE as a methodology that provides a ‘holding environment’ for working through traumatic or emotional wounding that helps people get back in control.   Idi trained under Maggie Kline and Berns Galloway in the first Australian SE training in Melbourne. She has assisted Maggie Kline and Linda Stelte at the Brisbane training and is passionate about building a local Perth SE community.

Katie is a cisgender female, third-generation Japanese American and Hawaiian by culture having been born and raised in Hawai’i. Besides completing her SE training in 2007, she is an RN with a master’s degree in Counselling, has a practice in mindfulness and Non-violent Communication (NVC), and trained in Eugene Gendlin’s Focusing, Levels 1-4, which is an integral part of SE. Katie has taken extensive post-graduate bodywork classes with SE® senior faculty Kathy Kain (Somatic Regulation & Resilience after Early Trauma Modules 1 & 2; Complex Trauma: Touch-Based Methods for Early Trauma, Syndromes, and Trauma Structures; Touch Skills Training) and done Prenatal and Birth Womb Surround Process workshop with Ray Castellino and Ariel Giaretto. Katie has been involved in Building Capacity for Equity and Belonging (BCEB) training since 2015 to build individual and collective capacity to become intentional, proactive, well-informed and skillful allies to those from marginalised and traumatised populations and thereby helping to fundamentally shift the dynamics and prevalence of racism, sexism, oppression against LGBTQ, and other forms of oppression. It is a privilege and an honour to work with people to see the inherent wisdom in their bodies heal themselves given the right conditions. Through this beautiful process, she helps facilitate people as they grow, develop resiliency and more capacity to hold whatever life brings with curiosity and non-judgment.

Robert is a counsellor, Breath therapist and family constellation therapist. Robert has also trained with James Coventry as a transcript therapist. He has and is assisting groups throughout the Oceania and Asian regions. He is currently attending the second year training in Somatic Trauma therapy with Babette Rothschild in England. Robert’s underlining principle is that the individual has the capacity to heal themself and the therapist is just a guide, a friend helping create the foundations and boundaries for the healing to happen.

Yarn has worked for over 20 years in public health and works from a human rights framework. She currently works in a teaching and supervision role in creative art therapy at MIECAT as well as running a small private practice. Her career began as a health worker at the Kirketon Road Center in 1994; one of the first needle exchanges and primary health centres established in Australia. Enjoying the complexity, rawness and challenge of the work, Yarn re-trained in social work and has since worked primarily with adults contending with difficult life circumstances such as: homelessness, addiction, developmental trauma, enduring mental illness, sexual assault and family violence. Over the last 8 years Yarn worked as Drug and Alcohol Counsellor in St Kilda. Yarn also holds a Masters in Creative and Experiential Arts Therapy. She has an abiding interest in embodiment, collaboration, and the potential of the arts to express the things we find the most difficult. She has a particular interest in social justice and outreach work to support people who might otherwise be excluded from services. Yarn trained with Maggie Kline and Berns Galloway in the first Australian Somatic Experiencing training. She is grateful for the personal and professional benefits and finds SE enriches interconnection. She is passionate about contributing to the SE community in Australia.

Arnaud teaches Yoga/Stretch TherapyTM classes and has a private practice. Since 1998 he has studied with Kit Laughlin, author of “Overcome Neck and Back Pain” and founder of Stretch TherapyTM. Both his classes and private sessions are SE informed and trauma aware and accessible to everyone from all walks of life. His private practice incorporates SE, Yoga/Stretch TherapyTM, body/touch work, and is infused with his passion for the non-dual wisdom traditions that he has been exploring for over 28 years. Arnaud’s sessions offer a heartfelt facilitation of SE to support transformation, healing and the embodiment of our innate ever present natural state of wholeness and Being. He continues exploring SE and other related modalities. He would like this beautiful healing and transformational work to be accessible and available to all. Arnaud lives and practices around the Byron Bay Region. He enjoys being in nature, connecting with friends and family. He also enjoys playing music in chanting and sound healing groups, which facilitates community, healing, celebration and joy.

Carissa Rodgers is a Stress & Trauma Therapist, and Facilitator of Sacred Practices. She holds a Masters Degree in Gestalt Therapy and works in her own private practice in Bargara, Queensland. Carissa recently finished her 3-year SE training, which has dramatically improved the results she’s getting for clients. In her practice Carissa serves clients from the Queensland Ambulance Service, Queensland Fire & Rescue and the State Emergency Service, as well as women who have experienced early developmental trauma. For the past 8 years Carissa has led resilience and mindfulness workshops for a diverse range of clients and she’s worked as a counsellor in community organisations for 11 years. She is passionate about helping people transition from trauma to triumph, step on their authentic path, live with more presence and manifest their potential. Carissa is married with 3 girls, and loves to dance in her spare time. She is actively involved in her commitment to keep up with the latest practices in therapy.

Miles brings a wealth of experiential knowledge of working with people to SE across several modalities – group facilitation, bodywork and SE practitioner. He is a big believer in learning through experience and is passionate about passing on knowledge in a way that is easy to absorb, understand and embody. In his group work, teaching people to become Ka Huna Bodyworkers, he sees the organism of the group as one entity and thus integrates the principles of SE to the group, as well as individuals within it. He is artful at meeting people where they are, as well as helping them to identify how to move forward in a comfortable and positive way. As a bodyworker, Miles is masterful at weaving SE into his sessions to create a sense of curiosity and expansion within, which promotes a greater of a sense of wellbeing. Miles is playful, witty, bright, sensitive and solidly gentle – he manages to bring all of this into his work so that time spent with him is enjoyable and profoundly liberating.

For the last 12 years Nirupa is teaching Hatha Yoga and Movement Intelligence in her private practice in Mullumbimby, NSW. Nirupa has been involved in the Healing Arts for 30 years with study in various modalities of Healing, Meditation and Reconciliation work. Nirupa has a background of Political Science/ International Relations, Massage Therapy, Hands on Healing, Hatha Yoga, Cleansing, Advaita Non-Dual Meditation, Dance and Somatic Movement.  Born in the Midwest of the United States, Nirupa has travelled and lived throughout Asia, Central America, Israel, immigrating to Australia 15 years ago with her husband and son where she makes her home in the magical Byron Shire of NSW, Australia.  Nirupa has a deep interest and passion for SE and Meditative practices and how these interface with one another. In her private practice she works with people recovering from chronic illnesses, pain, anxiety, depression and the whole range of human experiences and expressions of accumulated stress. SE has revolutionised her experience of meditation, her classes and daily life.   Nirupa loves to walk, travel, sing, write and dance Salsa!

Paula first started working with clients in 1999 and has been in Private Practice in Northern Rivers NSW region since 2004. She started her SE training in 2014 and became an SEP in June 2017. Paula works uniquely and intuitively with each individual, combining her clinical psychology skills within a holistic approach. Her warm, sensitive and accepting presence has a way of making people feel comfortable, safe and supported. Paula combines a range of approaches including Interpersonal Neurobiology, neuropsychotherapy, somatically based approaches (which explore the mind-body connection e.g. Somatic Experiencing), Acceptance & Commitment Therapy (ACT), mindfulness and Compassion Focused Therapy. Paula has a particular interest in working with trauma including childhood trauma, medical trauma and other traumatic events (motor vehicle accidents, sexual trauma, etc).

Silvana comes to Somatic Experiencing after 25 years as an Occupational Therapist (OT), with experience in a variety of sectors inclusive of and intersecting with homelessness, mental health, alcohol and other drugs, chronic pain and traumatic brain injury, along with core OT fields of physical, neurological and developmental health for children, adolescents and adults. Since graduating from the University of South Australia in 1989, Silvana has deepened and developed her practice via various studies inclusive of family and systems therapy, addictions, dual diagnosis, mindfulness, yoga and meditation. Currently Silvana co-ordinates Transcultural Mental Health Education across Victoria in conjunction with a small private practice offering supervision, consultancy, group and individual counselling and wellbeing support. Her SE training began in 2012 in Melbourne, with Maggie Kline - it was like coming home. Silvana is deeply interested in and continues to explore ways of bringing the experience and practice of SE into public health programs both at individual and community levels. SE reminds Silvana that there is no destination but rather a (re)connection with the ever present experience of just being in the world; in connection, ever changing – assisting to create space for the flow of life. Wherever you are.

Sonia is a Clinical Psychologist and a Somatic Experiencing Practitioner who currently works in private practice in her beautiful home town of Hervey Bay in Queensland. Sonia has worked across a diverse range of settings and comes with experience in youth work, addictions, and working with families and children. Her current clinical practice utilises a trauma-informed framework in understanding and treating clients with mental health problems. Sonia also works with people who experience chronic health and pain problems such as fibromyalgia and chronic fatigue syndrome. Sonia uses therapies such as Acceptance and Commitment Therapy (ACT), Cognitive Behavioural Therapy (CBT), Schema Therapy and EMDR. She also uses trauma informed yoga practices in her clinical work to bring about regulation of the nervous system. Sonia is passionate about helping others manage the impact of trauma and chronic stress using somatic experiencing. She regularly presents on the impact of stress on women’s health in her local area. She is passionate about building the SE community in Queensland and establishing the use of SE within the psychology profession. In her personal life, Sonia resources herself by regular ocean swims, running marathons, mountain bike riding and adventure racing as well as spending time with family and friends.

Doris Rothbauer is a licensed psychotherapist and has been working in private practice in Munich for more than 20 years. Originally trained in communication psychology and holding a trainer certificate in NLP, Doris used to teach professional workshops for social institutions in leadership, teambuilding, communication, conflict resolution, self-management, and other behavioral skills. Besides SE and communication psychology training, Doris has completed educational trainings in cognitive psychology, learning psychology, developmental psychology, and essential psychology. In addition, Doris has learned and hold in-depth experience in NLP, Ericksonian Hypnosis, body-oriented psychotherapy, various approaches of humanistic psychotherapy and attachment theory. Doris was introduced to SE in 1998, and has since deepened her understanding through many years of assisting SE trainings and clinical practice. SE, in combination with developmental psychology, has become the major focus of her clinical work. As an SE teacher, Doris desires to create an environment that inspires people to venture into new learning territory about themselves and others with alertness, curiosity, and joy and thus support social engagement and connection. Doris' personal and professional life is grounded in meditation and awareness practice.

Anki has been in private practice for over 15 years as a psychotherapist and for many years she has had a genuine interest in how we can grow as human beings. She has experience with both group and individual therapy and has further skills in the treatment of drug and alcohol addiction. In addition, Anki has worked in co-operation with the local municipality and various private organisations. She has facilitated seminars and working groups for teachers in pre-schools and social welfare departments. Anki has also been a manager at a number of schools and a rehabilitation centre. Anki received her SEP certification in 2010 and since then has assisted at trainings in Sweden, Norway, Taiwan, UK and Australia. In 2010 she was a co-initiator in establishing the SE Association in Norway and is still a board member. Anki is also trained in Kathy Kain’s Touch Skills for Trauma, Family Constellations, the Twelve Step Method, the first year of the Bodydynamic and has reached level two in David Berceli’s Trauma Release Exercises. She has currently attending the NARM training with Dr. Larry Heller. Additionally she has attended various postgraduate classes such as Energy Wells with Dr. Peter Levine, Attachment with Diane Pool Heller and Shame and Guilt with Dr. Larry Heller. Having moved from Scandinavia to Singapore she has an active private practice and continues with her involvement in the SE community. In her free time Anki enjoys traveling, reading, Osho meditation and doing things that supports inner wellbeing.

Magna trained as a breath energy therapist since 1996 and holds a Master of Counselling degree (Curtin University). Over the last 20 years Magna has attended additional trainings in body, emotion and energy work. Meditation and mindfulness are also part of her professional background. After receiving her SEP in 2011 Magna has attended master classes with Peter Levine, studied with Babette Rothschild (trauma training) and has continued enhancing her SE by assisting in Taiwan from 2012 onwards. Magna works with both individuals and in a group format throughout Asia incuding Taiwan, Hong Kong, Japan and China. Since 2010 Magna has been a consultant for school counsellors and social workers throughout Taiwan. She has introduced Peter Levine’s (SE), Babette Rothschild’s (PTSD trauma therapy) as well as breath energy work within the counselling professions.

Mihoko (Manami) is a Somatic Experiencing and Cranio Sacral Practitioner. Her strong interest in SE bodywork led her to Kathy Kain’s work and she has completed Touch Skills Training for Trauma Therapist, Somatic Resilience and Regulation: Early Trauma. Her nervous system regulation work is complemented by her 15 years experience as a bodyworker. Mihoko also completed the NARM training with Dr. Laurence Heller, co- author of “Healing Developmental Trauma” and is currently attending ISP Integrated Somatic Psychotherapy training with Dr.Raja Selvum in USA and Organic Intelligence®.  Mihoko integrates all her learning, which include Shintoism, Mindfulness practice, Hypnotherapy, Brainspotting, Esalen massage therapy and various knowledge gained from Japanese and Indonesian holistic healing cultures.  Through her work she has been fascinated by Neuroplasticity and has enjoyed supporting client’s innate wisdom of movement towards coherence. Mihoko works in collaboration with the Integrative Embodied Psychotherapy team at Abeles Consulting in Sydney and has a private practice on the NSW Central Coast. She has also worked as an interpreter, assisting at Esalen Institute courses and setting up well-being study courses in Bali and Tokyo. 

Suzanne has a private practice, called Integrative Bodywork, in Claremont, Southern California, and is dedicated to helping clients move from overwhelm to ease. A massage therapist for 25 years, Suzanne enjoys the diversity of clients in her current practice, where she utilizes  structural/functional Neuromuscular Therapy, Craniosacral Therapy, as well as SE.  A life-long study of Visceral Manipulation (Barral Institute) began in 1999, continuing in 2015 with Ron Mariotti, ND in Seattle.  Suzanne holds a BA, with majors in Biology and East Asian Studies, from St Olaf College. Since becoming an SEP in 2002, Suzanne has assisted at many SE trainings in the USA as well as the first SE training in Taipei, Taiwan. In 2009, Suzanne served in Sichuan, China, as part of an outreach team post-earthquake, training professionals in short-term stabilisation tools with the Trauma Resource Institute.   In addition to integrating Somatic Experiencing into her practice, Suzanne enjoys offering her skills and knowledge to SE participants from a bodyworker’s perspective.  Resources include her luscious garden, her lovely husband and two brilliant children, and plane tickets.

Tracey has a Somatic Experiencing & Biodynamic Craniosacral Therapy practice in Melbourne with a focus on both shock and developmental trauma symptoms. Her passionate interest in the cause and effects of trauma in the body led Tracey to enhance her trauma resolution skills by qualifying as a SE practitioner in 2009. This, plus additional qualifications in Natural Nutrition, Facial Reflexology, Emotional Freedom Technique and Brain Spotting have deepened further her understanding of the holistic nature of complementary healing and the body/mind relationship. Tracey continues to build on her knowledge by regularly attending post-graduate courses in both the craniosacral and SE fields with leading figures such as Franklyn Sills, Michael Shea, Dr. Peter Levine and Kathy Kain. SE based courses with Dr. Peter Levine include Working with Syndromes, Trauma and Memory, The Polyvagal Theory, Working with Diaphragms, The Eye of the Needle (near death states) and Depression, Aggression, Triumph & Breath. She has also completed both the Touch Skills for Trauma and Somatic Resilience after Early Trauma body-based courses with Kathy Kain and the NARM developmental trauma training with Dr. Larry Heller. Tracey is currently undertaking Diane Poole Heller’s DARe Attachment training and the ISP Integrated Somatic Psychotherapy training with Raja Selvum. As well as assisting on all the SE Professional Trainings in Australia, she was previously a tutor assistant on a Biodynamic Craniosacral Therapy training. Tracey enjoys sharing her diverse experience and knowledge to support and encourage students throughout the training process.

Jeanna is a Trauma and Relational therapist who utilises Somatic Experiencing including SE Touch work, Brain Spotting, EMDR, and Post Induction Therapy Model (PIT) in her work with clients. Jeanna has increased her knowledge of SE through her continued integration of the model into her work with clients, and through her participation in SETI's masters classes including Dave Berger and Abi Blakely's Relational Development, Rupture and Repair and Dave's Concussions & PTSD and BASE Touch Skills Training. Jeanna also conducts her own intensive workshop with clients entitled Mending Boundary Ruptures, a Somatic Healing Workshop. She is devoted to providing nervous system healing and has found these models to be most effective. Jeanna holds a Masters of Social Work degree from the University of Houston, and a Bachelor of Arts degree in Sociology from the University of Texas at Austin. She is a Licensed Clinical Social Worker, a Licensed Alcohol and Drug Abuse Counselor, Certified Professional Coach, a Somatic Experience Practitioner, Certified Brainspotter and Certified EMDR therapist. Jeanna is approved to provide Beginning and Intermediate level Personal Sessions.

Elspeth’s private practice integrates psychotherapy, Somatic Experiencing and the Comprehensive Resource Model, alongside a life-long spiritual practice of contemplation and a belief in, and highly valuing, the interconnectedness of all life. She is increasingly fascinated in working with people with Asperger’s and all forms of chronic acute anxiety, characteristic of early years developmental trauma. She works in Edinburgh Scotland, and assists at SE trainings in London, Edinburgh and India. Before private practice, she worked as a psychotherapist for a number of counselling agencies in Edinburgh + Glasgow; and from 2004-2008 practised in Lagos, Nigeria, as a trauma therapist with people who had been held at gun-point, attacked, severely endangered, and/or had addictions often arising from chronic acute anxiety and developmental trauma. She also worked there as trainer in counselling, particularly for people living and working with HIV. Elspeth’s aim as an assistant is to support the unique learning and development of the participant’s SE practice in a manner that is encouraging, kind, openly curious, clear, trustworthy and appropriate to the stage of training reached.

Robert is a counsellor, Breath therapist and family constellation therapist. Robert has also trained with James Coventry as a transcript therapist. He has and is assisting groups throughout the Oceania and Asian regions. He is currently attending the second year training in Somatic Trauma therapy with Babette Rothschild in England. Robert’s underlining principle is that the individual has the capacity to heal themself and the therapist is just a guide, a friend helping create the foundations and boundaries for the healing to happen.