Counselling Approach
Body-Centered Therapy Connects
I use both talk and somatic (body-centered) therapy methods in my practice to help us tap into, hear and follow the wisdom you carry in order to heal.
Practicing body-centered therapy means that instead of only talking through issues and concerns in a therapy session, we will also use practices to assist you in feeling what responses your body is having to the topic brought up in session. Somatic, mindfulness, movement, and breathing practices are all forms of body-centered therapy.
Why Choose Body-Centered Therapy?
Research has proven that we have evolved to function through crises in order to survive difficult situations. Sometimes, that survival instinct can cause us to build many coping mechanisms and subconscious strategies to help us move through the world while or after experiencing difficulties. However, at times those strategies can be unintentional, no longer helpful, or even harmful. Body-centered therapy practices invites you to build safety, trust and compassion with your body in order to hear what it is experiencing behind those coping mechanisms.
Our bodies also hold memories and emotional wounds that our minds forget about or are unaware of when we are not yet equipped to address them. Body-Centered therapy can allow for a safe, contained, and facilitated space to face difficult emotions and memories in order to feel and heal the emotional wounds our bodies hold.
Safety and Consent
My practice is rooted in compassion, uplifting your strengths, and creating a gentle place to uncover and heal your whole Self. I aim to assist you to strengthen your understanding, compassion and connection between all the parts of yourself in order to live in a way that is aligned with who you are and who you want to be. My work is firmly built on consent and trauma-informed practice, meaning together we will build the path forward to where you want to go. The somatic practices we use are determined by what you’re interested in and what is effective for you.
What Does a Therapy Session Look Like?
Body-centered therapy methods I use can include mindfulness practices to regulate the nervous system, Focusing-Oriented practices to assist in listening to the body, and movement practices to allow for different expressions to emerge. The practices we use are determined by what you’re interested in and what is effective for you.
Mindfulness Practice
Mindfulness is used in the session to strengthen your relationship, awareness and trust in yourself and your body's wisdom. I may guide you through exercises that bring awareness to different parts of your body and your breath.
Focusing-Oriented Practice
Focusing-Oriented Therapy is a method that emphasizes the body's wisdom and encourages you to befriend and trust that small voice, feeling or pull that we may feel sometimes in life. The practice centers the "felt sense", similar to the one you feel when you forgot something at home, but you don't remember what it is.
Movement and Dance Practice
Movement therapy practices may be helpful to offer the body an opportunity to express itself when you feel stuck, unclear or have pent up emotions. We may use movement or dance exercises to explore an issue, to see what the body may express and interpret it afterward.
Shireen Soofi Counselling
Contact
123 Douglas Street, Port Moody, BC
Situated on the unceded traditional territories of the Kwikwetlem, Musqueam, Squamish, Stó:lō and Tsleil-Waututh First Nations.
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