Welcome

“What happens when people open their hearts? They get better.”
― Haruki Murakami

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Welcome to Desert Somatics & Psychotherapy. In this practice, I endeavor to create a healing space for people to break free from past traumas that have kept them hostage in order that they may become whole. This sacred process where individuals learn to self-regulate, to confront their histories and difficult experiences, and to re-discover and re-integrate the most authentic, essential parts of themselves is both beautiful and transformational. 

People can emerge from their often-painful journeys and can live glorious, meaningful, deeply joyful, loving, and fulfilling lives. I am proof of this, and I want the same for you.

I believe in healing and becoming whole because I have walked my own healing path, which has brought me here to serve you.  

As a therapist, a Somatic Experiencing Practitioner, an ontological coach, and an attorney, I use my varied, though interconnected, skill sets to support and guide you on your healing path. I come from a person-centered, relational, and experiential healing philosophy. Healing becomes possible when people are given safe, empathetic spaces to share their traumatic and challenging experiences. This is what I hope to bring to you.

Services

“A crisis highlights all of our fault lines. We can pretend that we have nothing to learn, or we can take this opportunity to own the truth and make a better future for ourselves and others.”

- Brene Brown

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Psychotherapy

Who I Work With
  • Adult Individuals 18 and older
  • Groups
  • Work Places and Other Communities
  • Couples
Issues I Work With
  • Trauma & Complex Trauma; PTSD & CPTSD
  • Childhood Abuse & Childhood Trauma
  • Grief & Loss- Life losses, Death Losses
  • Anxiety & Depression
  • Sexuality & Sexual Trauma Healing
  • Career & Life Challenges and Transitions
  • Relationships
Treatment Therapies & Modalities
  • Cognitive Behavioral Therapy
  • Somatic Experiencing®
  • Trauma-focused therapy
  • Person-centered therapy
  • Grief and Loss
  • Attachment and Bonding
  • Experiential Therapy
  • Integrative Therapies
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Somatic Experiencing

What is Somatic Experiencing?

Somatic Experiencing® is a body-oriented therapeutic model 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 clinical application. Essentially, Somatic Experiencing® helps people who have experienced trauma to regulate their own nervous systems and to process trauma, often after years of having experienced anxiety, stress, depression, and other disorders secondary to dysregulation from the unprocessed traumatic event(s) they experienced.

Symptoms that Somatic Experiencing Addresses
  • Shock, being startled easily, being 'jumpy' or hypervigilant
  • Denial and disbelief
  • Changes in mental abilities, such as confusion or difficulty concentrating
  • Anxiety and unexplainable panic, terror, or fear 
  • Irritability, frustration, and being quick to anger
  • Lethargy, depression, lack of motivation, fatigue
  • Social isolation
  • Overwhelming sense of guilt or shame
  • Feeling hopeless or despondent
  • Dissociation, feeling disconnected, empty, or numb
  • Insomnia, nightmares, or night terrors
  • Headaches, stomach aches, autoimmune disorders
  • Dizziness, vertigo, balance issues
  • Substance Use/Abuse
Examples of Events Typically Addressed by Somatic Experiencing
  • Car accidents
  • Falls
  • Birth trauma
  • Medical and Surgical trauma (preparation for upcoming surgeries or healing from past surgical traumas)
  • Sexual trauma
  • Emotional Abuse
  • Domestic Violence
  • Inescapable attacks (Sexual assault, physical assault/abuse, kidnapping)
  • Developmental trauma
  • War
  • Natural Disasters
  • Loss of loved ones, grieving
  • Chronic Stress and Overwhelm
  • Intergenerational Trauma
  • Survivor Guilt

 

Why I use Somatic Experiencing

I have found Somatic Experiencing to be an incredibly powerful model for healing. First, people often feel overwhelmed by the ‘bigness’ of their past experiences and even making the first therapy appointment can feel daunting. Somatic Experiencing is a modality that focuses first on creating a safe place from which people can begin looking at their past experiences and traumas. Feeling safe and having good resources allows people to go deeper into their healing journey than they might otherwise be able to go.

Second, Somatic Experiencing is a body-centered trauma healing modality. This is important because trauma is experienced in the body, not cognitively—or in the brain. When we address trauma where it originates, we get right to the heart of the physical and emotional experience without having to necessarily re-tell the whole traumatic story over and over again. Many people find that working with traumatic experiences this way helps heal those experiences in a way that traditional talk therapy has not been able to.

Finally, once I teach my clients how to use the Somatic Experiencing skills in their own lives, they have a greater sense of independence, autonomy, and agency. As people learn to regulate their own nervous systems, they take their power back from the traumas that robbed them of that power for so long. Most importantly, as individuals heal from traumatic experiences, they create room for their most authentic selves to come online in a way that they may never have been able to before. 

 

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Group Therapy

Workshops

Workshops can be a great opportunity to set aside a block of time during which you gain new skills and have new experiences. I am passionate about helping people to create strong foundations in resourcing, mindfulness, and self-regulation so that they have a greater capacity to handle what life throws at them. Join me for a workshop to add some new coping skills to your current skill set!

Retreats

Sometimes, we need a break from the unhelpful patterns and habits of our normal lives. Taking a day or two to go 'on retreat' where you step out of these patterns and habits can lead to greater perspective, increased awareness, and deeper healing. Call or email me to see if creating a custom-tailored, deep-dive retreat is right for you at this point on your healing journey.

Group Counseling

It's no secret--healing is relational. That means that we heal better when we are working with another or with others than we do if we are trying to go it alone. What do we learn from group counseling? That we aren't the only ones struggling. That support is available. That sometimes other people have really valuable things to add to our healing journeys. Check out the events box to see what groups are available right now, or contact me to request a group in the future! 

Therapy

individuals & groups

Envision

how would you like your life to look?

Support Group

healing is relational.  groups are available.

Events

Check back for upcoming events!

1:1

custom-tailored therapy, unique to you

Workshops & Retreats

create a deep-dive into your healing

Healing

...is possible.

Blog & Resources

My priority in working together is creating a safe container that provides the time and...
When you first start your healing journey, or perhaps begin a new chapter in your...
Somatic Experiencing “Trauma is not what happens to us, but what we hold inside in...

Let’s Connect

Just fill out the form below or email me at [email protected], and we can schedule a free consult to explore working together.

I look forward to hearing from you!

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Contact Us

Opening Times

Mon - Fri: 10:00 - 7:00 PM MST
Closed on Weekends

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This is a supervised private practice. It is owned and/or managed by a master’s level, a non-independent licensee under Board-approved clinical supervision pursuant to A.A.C. R4-6-211.

The Board-approved clinical supervisor of this practice is:

Name: Abra Arlinsky

Phone Number: 602.909.4663

Email: [email protected]