Because sometimes talking just isn't enough ..
I only offer an embodied approach through those therapeutic tools that I have found to be most effective and deepening. These are TRE (Tension and Trauma Releasing Exercises), Somatic Inquiry, and SSP (Safe and Sound Protocol) in the combination and style that serves the client’s unique journey.
My commitment lies in helping sensitive people who are suffering chronically (> 3 months), from mental-emotional or physical pain for which there is no clear medical explanation or remedy. Through these evidence-based practices, I offer a safe and transformative space for addressing issues to their root causes.
The symptom is the teacher
– Isa Gucciardi
Modalities
Trauma Release Exercises
TRE allows your body’s natural reflexes (like the neurogenic tremor) to restore a sense of safety and well-being on a grounded bodily level
Somatic Inquiry
Freeing emotional and physical tension patterns through guided inner dialogue
SSP
Experience the soothing power of your nervous system by listening to uniquely filtered sounds
The breathe is as shallow as the nervous system is overstimulated.
– Matt Kahn
1. TRE Trauma Release Exercises
2. Somatic Inquiry
3. SSP Safe & Sound Protocol
1. TRE Trauma Release Exercises
What is TRE?
TRE is a relatively simple neural exercise that releases deep tension and even traumatic charge through the body. It evokes a gentle trembling that occurs automatically (like when being nervous for a presentation), which is called a neurogenic muscle tremor.
This trembling is a very natural and adaptive reaction of the body to reestablish a calmer state after a moment of stress or shock. Other mammals have the same trembling reflex to discharge tension in their bodies, for example, a deer trembling after having survived an encounter with a lion.
Why TRE?
We humans can inhibit our natural stress-releasing reflexes when we have learned to socially override them and look ‘normal’ or ‘in control’. When we hold these responses in it causes the nervous system to stay over-activated much longer than necessary. When we allow the cycle of tension and release to fully complete itself, the body and mind naturally return to a state of calm and safety.
TRE allows for a whole spectrum of autonomic bodily and emotional responses that go beyond just shaking alone. The releasing impulse originates deep from within the core of the body and pelvis, reverberating outwards along the spine releasing and integrating tension in all possible directions. It often feels pleasant, but it also brings to the surface those energies and emotions that were not yet processed and that are more challenging to feel.
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Common benefits of TRE:
- Decreased anxiety
- Reduced symptoms of PTSD
- More energy
- Better sleep
- Increased flexibility
- Healing of old injuries
- Greater emotional resiliency
Why guidance?
Guidance during TRE sessions helps you to navigate the whole process in a safe and connected way. This way you build up a deep familiarity with your own body, with all the helpful reflexes, including the vulnerable stages and parts that might come up. I will teach you how to listen to your body, navigate intensity and form a foundation you can trust. You will soon gain the freedom to practice on your own. It is my aim for you to have this skill always available for the rest of your life in a way that truly supports you.
Does it work online too?
Yes, surprisingly well. Many clients have shared that they found an online guided session in their familiar home environment just as supportive as an in-person session. With a camera angle where I can see you fully from the side and a good audio connection, we can have close contact throughout.
My personal Experience of TRE
It was 2013 and I was following a fire safety training at the hospital I was working in at the time. The instructor showed us that when the body is in acute danger it switches to a fight-flight-freeze survival program. She pointed to a graph with a rising red line 📈 indicating rising stress levels. At that moment I knew; “I am on that red line chronically, I always feel like that!” Even without the threat of a fire I felt anxious, couldn’t focus well, breathe deeply, relax my body, or sleep well at night. But she only taught how to extinguish the fire, not the stress itself…
That night I stayed up investigating sources on trauma and stress relief and found one of the earlier explanations of TRE by Dr. Berceli. While forcing my body into some postures, having no idea how to do TRE, I gave up concluding that this doesn’t work either. Laying flat staring at the ceiling I suddenly noticed a slight shaking in my core. Normally I would have gotten up and ignored it, but now it had my attention. It traveled out to my legs, arms, and head, shaking my body quite forcefully. I felt the compulsion to laugh and cry (a release of the diaphragm), and after 10 minutes or so the movement calmed down and I felt exhausted.
Still lying there, I remember the ceiling somehow looked brighter and more friendly. I sat up and the whole atmosphere felt softer.. as if a sense of urgency had fallen away and an inner watchdog had fallen asleep. I felt also for the first time in a long time that I could breathe!
No two people have the same experience with TRE. All sessions are unique and depend on many factors. My first experience was particularly dramatic, motivating me to pursue the training. Please don’t compare my experience with your own. It will be different every single time and it will fit your body and your state at that moment.
2. Somatic Inquiry
"The body keeps the score"
– Bessel van der Kolk
What is Somatic Inquiry?
Somatic Inquiry is an extremely effective but simple process that gives your body and your symptoms a voice. Easy questions and suggestions lead you inwardly to the places you might usually not be aware of. It helps you to listen to yourself very deeply and free up the pent-up energy stored underneath the restlessness, the pain, stress, anxiety or any other symptom. It also helps you unravel the often distressing belief that there is something wrong with you or that you are not good enough.
Why Somatic Inquiry?
Conventional talk therapy might feel relieving temporarily but may not touch the deeper root of the issue. Somatic Inquiry connects the conversation directly to the felt-sense experience and to the bodies innate resourcefulness.
Those energies and emotions that are driving the symptom are usually pushed down, neglected or ‘controlled’. With Somatic Inquiry everything can finally be seen, felt and find completion.
You’ll often learn a lot about yourself from Somatic Inquiry, feel empowered, nurtured and free to express who you are. This process allows you to address any issue you are dealing with without losing touch with the present moment.
Concrete elements that might be part of a session:
- Inquiring into your felt sense experience.
- Giving thoughts and emotions explicit attention to be heard and seen.
- Describing a specific memory while tracing the body’s responses.
- Exploring the body’s response to a deepening question or a statement.
- Inquiries to retrieve any empowerment that has been lost, for example, due to trauma.
Does it work online too?
Yes, very well. There are no limitations to working online. The benefit of an online meeting is that you can be in the comfort of your own familiar home-space. Somatic Inquiry goes well in combination with the other modalities.
A review from a client with chronic pain who after several medical interventions tried Somatic Inquiry:
” I contacted Barbara because I had tried many treatments and nothing worked. I really liked the way she approached my problem because she did not try to solve it physically but looked for the underlying cause. I learned a lot and gained awareness about my thoughts and behavior. I no longer suffer from pain, which is such a huge relief. “
– Sally J.
3. SSP Safe & Sound Protocol
What is the SSP?
The SSP is a ‘filtered sound’ intervention that reaches the nervous system directly via the inner ear muscles. It was developed by the pioneering neuroscientist Stephen Porges and has a profoundly regulating effect on the core brain circuits that help us perceive safety, feel connected, and filter information better. It was initially developed for children with autism, who benefitted greatly, and was later found to be helpful for the wider public.
Why the inner ears?
Imagine a dog turning its ears towards a sound to detect what the sound is about. After the sound has passed the ears turn back, and the dog relaxes, letting his alertness go. In much the same way the whole inner ear structure of humans plays a huge role in our level of alertness and sense of danger. The SSP stimulates the inner ear muscles, eardrums, and vagus nerve in such a way that it lets go of a chronic perception of danger. Helping the whole nervous system to dial down and re-attune to a state of calm and openness.
What effects can I expect?
What I love about this method is how it stimulates our body’s internal control center, resulting in less overwhelm and more harmony in processing the many signals from inside and outside our body. Another common effect is that the SSP lowers anxiety and brings back the body’s natural tendency to feel safe and socially connected rather than defensive. Even deepening the sense of embodiment, like feeling grounded is a common side effect.
The effect noticed can be subtle or strong and can vary from session to session. Many people experience the SSP as a transformative journey over a longer time.
What is the SSP concretely?:
- You listen with over-ear headphones for a duration of 5 to 30 minutes per session.
- The SSP has 2 versions: A more intensive and lighter version. Each version has 5 hours in total.
- You do not have to finish the whole 5 hours. Although there is a cumulative effect.
- You can spread out the listening over several weeks or condense it over several days, depending on the impact you experience.
- You can listen via an app on your phone at home or as an integral part of a guided session.
* Listening via the app is only an option after you have had 2 guided sessions and we have determined it to be safe and beneficial for you to listen on your own.
The working ingredient of any method is the depth of awareness with which they are used.
– Barbara Linde