ritareframed.com

Trauma Therapy

I integrate the work of Dr. Peter Levine - Somatic Experiencing® and the NeuroAffective Relational Model (NARM), by Dr. Laurence Heller, to transform traumatic memory and enhance nervous system regulation.

Hello! My name is Rita.

I’m a Somatic Trauma Therapist, and a curious being who has fallen in love with our bodies' wisdom.

The human body is an organic and very wise system capable of self and co-regulation.

My intention is to co-create a safe space that allows you to:

  • Release survival stress energy stuck in your physiology;

  • Meet and honor your boundaries;

  • Overcome the wounds left by trauma and past conditioning;

  • Develop mind/body consciousness and get more familiar with your true needs;

  • Bring more capcity and regulation to your nervous system;

  • Embrace a more embodied life experience.

This project was born out of my desire to contribute to a more compassionate, inclusive and tolerant world, where conscious and sentient individuals become more self-aware and empowerd about their own adaptive survival mechanisms and able to give back movement to the fixed survival energy that is conditioning their beliefs, behaviors and choices.

When the connection between mind and body is fractured, our transformative nature is constricted under protective layers.

Our life force energy is inhibited and this trapped energy causes an internal physiological imbalance that leads to psychological and physical symptoms.

“Somatic Experiencing® is a body-oriented modality that helps heal trauma and other stress disorders. Developed by Peter Levine, Ph.D., it is the result of the multidisciplinary study of stress physiology, psychology, ethology, biology, neuroscience, indigenous healing practices, and medical biophysics, with more than 45 years of successful application.” 

traumahealing.org

The body holds the wisdom to transform our lives.

How can we work together?

  • Somatic Trauma Therapy

Through the sessions you will be able to:

  • Develop the capacity of your social engagement system;

  • Expand your capacity to stay present with your feelings by practicing exercises and following your sensations;

  • Get familiar with the language of your body — sensations and movements;

  • Gradually understand and honor your nervous system;

  • Learn effective ways to ground yourself;

  • Develop emotional competence and resilience;

  • Release traumatic stress energy stuck in your physiology;

  • Restore boundaries.

I offer 60 min sessions (in person and online) where we work together to transform old patterns of beliefs and behaviors that no longer serve you, by regulating the nervous system, developing body awareness, increasing neurophysiological capacity and experiences of safety in your own skin. This will provide your biology with the safe container to complete unresolved survival responses and release the trapped energy generated by the trauma.

Somatic Experiencing® is a mind-body method of stress renegotiation and re-balancing of the autonomic nervous system (which is primarily responsible for our emotional and physiological regulation), that uses sensations and our felt-awareness as main tools.

We will work with the mind through the body!

  • Each session happens in a very organic way to meet the client’s individual needs. As those needs can differ from day to day and client to client, a session can follow many different paths.

    Having that said, here’s a general idea about how the process can flow.

    The client can bring a theme, a general or specific discomfort that will be adressed by inviting the atention to the experience of the body.

    My commitment is to give impartial, non-judgmental and compassionate support to help you feel safe and facilitate the re-organization of the traumatic energy present in your physiology.

    You will not be asked to tell your full story, the details of your traumas or analyze the past. Instead, you will be guided to gently find a way back to your physicality, learning to feel safe with your inner experience (sensations and natural movements of your body) and gradually create the resilience to complete the survival responses that were not safe to be experienced in the past.

    These can include movements, following impulses, experiencing and expressing emotions or even just imagining situations.

  • Touch may be offered as a possibility in specific situations for the purpose of grounding, containment, support, increasing awareness or to stimulate mobilization. You will always be asked before being touched and have the right and my full support to decline. If you do not feel comfortable with touch, or if the development of the session does not call for it, touch will not be used.

  • There is no prescribed answer to this, as it differs from person to person, and individual needs can also change depending on where one is in life. This work comprehends a deep process of personal development and self-discovery that requires the creation of a safe environment and time. The time we were never allowed before.

    The number of sessions will depend on personal experience and history. Immediate solutions are unlikely to provide long-term change.

  • If your conscious interoception (the ability to consciously perceive sensations in yoru body) has been conditioned in some way - the disconnection between mind and body is often necessary in order to survive - we will dedicate some time to somatic education and the practice of exercises that will help you to expand the mind-body connection.

    After that, we will be able to support your system to release the trapped stress energy that is blocking you to move forward.

This work might be for you if you experience…

  • Anxiety or panic;

  • Feeling stuck or lost;

  • Difficulty making decisions;

  • Difficulty in developing authentic relationships or engaging in social gatherings;

  • Lack of control in your life, in your body or in your reactions/behaviors;

  • Repeating patterns of behaviors/beliefs that drain you instead of nourishing you;

  • Resistance to changes that you would like to call into your life;

  • The need to embrace a life more aligned with your truth;

  • Health chronic conditions;

  • Chronic pain or muscular tension;

  • Emotional unbalance;

  • You have experienced one or more situations that challenged the relationship with yourself and the world.

Heal from within.

Scheduling and Cancellations

I offer a free 30-minute meeting call on zoom for each new client in order to introduce ourselves, clarify some doubts and set the intentions of our work together.

The sessions begin at the time of the scheduled appointment. If you decide that you need to cancel or amend an appointment, please email me at least 48 hours before.

IMPORTANT!

*

IMPORTANT! *

From August 2023, I will be in São Miguel (Azores) most of the time. Presencial sessions in Lisbon are very limited and will only be possible if booked in advance.

If you are in Azores, this might be a great opportunity to try this transformative approach!

For more information or booking a free meeting call:

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