“Collaborative Somatic Therapy with Hayley has been amazing – her clear, loving and insightful approach helps me reconnect with womb and early body memories in ways that really move me and bring a poignant bliss in dissolving kinks in my development. After 40 years in psychotherapy and 30 years as a psychotherapist, this work has reached places in my early development that I haven’t managed to get to before. I totally recommend working with Hayley.“
Julian Russell
CST Client
‘When we listen to our bodies, we hear the stories of our lives’
Andrea Olsen
Collaborative Somatic Therapy is a trauma informed, process-oriented approach which supports the emergence, and welcoming, of your wholeness in authentic relationship with all life.
My approach is one of radically compassionate accompaniment and presence, rooted in a spirit of exploration into the lived experience of the body as it emerges.
In sessions, you will explore ways to tend to the present felt sense, anchor in inner resources and (re)connect with the innate intelligence of your body.
I will support you to compassionately meet your past with presence, recognise habitual patterns and ways of relating, and discover new pathways that support you to thrive with life.
At the heart of my practice lives an intention to support you in your own inner work with the knowledge that, as you deepen and your capacity widens, your inner work will support you to live your most authentic life in service of all life.
Contact Hayley to book a free 20 minute phone consultation
I am an ISMETA registered Somatic Movement Therapist and Educator (RSMT, RSME), Yoga Therapist and Singer. My trauma informed practice is informed by over three decades of personal exploration, and over two decades of somatic facilitation experience with both groups and individuals. I am currently training in Somatic Experiencing, alongside participating in the Circles of Four programme, the official pathway to teach the Discipline of Authentic Movement.
Please visit here for further information on my trainings.
“I found that Hayley’s gentle awareness allowed me to explore subtle aspects of my relationship to my body at a pace that felt comfortable and safe. Whilst working with Hayley, and since, my relationship to my physical self has changed significantly and I have become more at home within myself.”
C.I. (Client)
How: Depending on your needs, a session may be focused towards:
Somatic Movement
Somatic Movement meets your body as it is and gently explores its emergent potential from this place. It supports the cultivation of a compassionate and welcoming presence in relationship with your own body and seeks to bring the wisdom of your body into equal ground with the wisdom of your mind (which inhabits every cell of your body).
My approach to somatic movement is creative, drawing upon the principles of Authentic Movement, as well as the work of Miranda Tufnell, Andrea Olsen, Emily Conrad, Linda Hartley and Bonnie Bainbridge Cohen.
Somatic Psychology
Somatic psychology explores the interrelationship between body, psyche and the numinous, empowering the innate intelligence of your body in the therapeutic process.
Your earliest developmental experiences are some of the most formative. They lay the templates for later stages of development and can become the very impulses through which you relate with life. These impulses drive some of your habitual behaviour which may, or may not, be serving you in the longterm.
These key stages of development occur at a time when the language centres of the brain are still developing. These experiences are pre-verbal and / or pre-articulate.
The challenges you meet during these key stages of development can be stored in your body in ways that may not ‘make sense’ to your cognitive mind. This is why approaching them through talking alone can often satisfy only part of the whole and may even miss the new pathways that are trying to emerge through the innate intelligence of your own body.
Working with your body offers a direct route to working with these pre-verbal and pre-articulate experiences because you are working with the territory within which these experiences occurred and are stored.
Bodywork
Where appropriate, collaborative bodywork can be a powerful means through which to connect with the body and explore themes in therapy. This approach to bodywork is not about me doing something to you. It is a collaborative approach in which the client participates, through somatic and verbal feedback, as a means of inquiry.
Gentle yoga
Including attention with the breath, simple movements and mindfulness.
Embodied Rest
Countering our culture of ‘busy’ and giving space for rest, regeneration, nurture and inner inquiry.
Sessions may include a combination of all five.
“I felt seen and honoured as a human being. I found the rhythm very supportive for my being. I felt Hayley’s support and care in each practice. It was grounded, gentle, supportive and truthful. I felt met, seen and heard.”
Nina Nousiainan
This work is an empowering and collaborative process.
I will support you to uncover the nuggets of wisdom that lie at the heart of life’s challenges. This wisdom is within you and can be revealed as your sense of connection with yourself, others and your place as part of this animate Earth is uncovered and the exiled parts of yourself are welcomed as part of your wholeness.
I see my role as being your ally, someone who walks alongside you, on your path of regenerating and embodying wholeness (which, paradoxically, is inclusive of all of your ‘brokenness’).
“ Working with Hayley helped me to move from my heart. It helped me to learn to listen to my body and be witnessed in a safe space. Hayley creates a nurturing space and holds it with skill and care as she facilitates and helps participants to tap into the intuitive knowing and movement in their bodies. I would recommend working with Hayley to anyone who would like to learn to move more intuitively.”
Elle Franklin
Where: Collaborative Somatic Therapy can be held in one of the following places:
In Totnes.
I offer sessions in person in Totnes.
Online
On the Land.
Between April and November sessions can take place on the land. Contact me for more details.
Contact Hayley to book your session or arrange a free 20 minute consultation.