About SE Touch
SE Touch aka Co-Regulating Touch, is a form of therapeutic touch that brings regulation and healing. Co-regulating through touch is part of what occurs in healthy human development. Methods that use touch as a way to support co-regulation are part of the body/mind traditions that focus on presence and connection to address the ways in which both physical and emotional pain are held in our physiology.
My training includes certificates in Touch Skills for Trauma (TST), a methodology for supporting the client in resolving various types of trauma. I’m also trained in Somatic Resilience and Regulation (SRR) which focuses specifically on healing very early trauma imprints from prenatal trauma, birth trauma, and trauma that occurs during the early years of a person’s development. I also serve as an assistant in these trainings.
In addition to hands on touch work in my office in Los Angeles, I offer what is called Intentional Touch which is done over distance via secure video.
Who Can Benefit from SE / Co-Regulating Touch
The simple answer is that anyone can benefit.
Touch is about presence and connection and ultimately, your healing. Touch supports what your particular body needs at the time. SE / Co-Regulating Touch is supportive of clients who are anxious, depressed, or have experienced big shocking experiences and/or very early trauma. Touch can support clients who have had surgery, experienced an accident or other types of physical and emotional disruptions in life. We can use touch in conjunction with TIST-Parts Work to support integration. A couple of my personal experiences of receiving touch include regulating support and trauma release after a fall that resulted in a concussion; recent processing of trauma from a car accident that happened more than 25 years ago; and processing / integrating / healing from a fall from a tree at age 5/6.
What is an SE / Co-Regulating Touch session like?
Our bodies crave touch. We need it to survive and to thrive. With that being said, an initial Touch session will involve slowly orienting to the idea of receiving touch. The client’s verbal as well as their body’s somatic consent to receiving Touch are very important first steps in the process. Many times the process of orienting to Touch and assessing readiness somatically are the first steps in the client’s healing. Where to receive Touch on the body is individual to each client. We may start with a kidney/adrenal hold as it’s a safe and supportive place to begin for most clients. Other clients do well starting with Touch at the joints or the brainstem. Throughout the process, I am checking in with the client. The client is always given the choice in the process. I work collaboratively with clients to support their healing.
A common theme of trauma is the loss of a sense of control that individuals feel. That feeling of ‘no control’ can continue if we haven’t had the support we need to process traumatic events. A great deal of the work I do, whether with Touch or another modality, is related to supporting clients in re-connecting to their sense of agency and control. Choice and the option to say no are very important in all of the work I do especially when it comes to receiving SE / Co-Regulating Touch or not.
With SE / Co-Regulating Touch, clients experience…
My Approach
My approach is collaborative and kind. I’m compassionate, intuitive, and nurturing and hold a great deal of respect for my clients’ conscious and unconscious wisdom and the imprints that resulted from their experiences. I enjoy the special healing alchemy that occurs when my mix of education, tools, and creative application of methods blends with the client’s experiences, preferences, and psyche. Clients improve and heal because they courageously engage with the education, skills, and practices that I offer.
My particular specialty is working with clients who’ve had a difficult childhood and/or a tough entry into the world. I have deep empathy and compassion for those who’ve had scary experiences early in their life (that is also my story). Some clients have experienced a single traumatic event, surgeries, or chronic illness. Others had lots of stress and frightening interactions in childhood. I often work with clients who’ve received diagnoses of PTSD or cPTSD. Some of my clients struggle with health syndrome(s) that seem to baffle the traditional Western medical system. I mainly work with adults and sometimes with children and adolescents. If my approach is of interest to you, please reach out.
My pronouns are she/her. I am married cis white female. My practice is located on unceded Tongva and Hahamonga lands in Los Angeles. My clients are from a variety of communities including white, BIPOC, cis, queer, non-binary, and neurodivergent. Ages 4-70+. I offer sliding scale / pro-bono rates to BIPOC communities and others as space allows.
