A Gentle, Science-Informed Approach to Healing
Some of the things people experience in their body might be hard to put into words, but you know it feels “off.” These processes allow you the opportunity to reconnect with your body and move through life with a present state of mind.
What You'll Learn
Using somatic therapy and EMDR, you learn how to feel safer in your body and better understand how stress and past experiences show up in everyday life. These approaches help your nervous system settle, so triggers and memories don’t feel as overwhelming or controlling. Over time, you build more trust in yourself, respond with more choice instead of reaction, and experience a greater sense of calm and ease. This isn’t about changing who you are, but allowing you the opportunity to trust what your body already knows deep down.
Somatic Therapy is listening to the body
Somatic therapy is based on a simple but powerful idea: the body holds our experiences, especially the ones that were overwhelming or unsafe.
Instead of only talking about what happened, somatic therapy helps you:
Notice sensations in your body (like tightness, warmth, numbness, or ease)
Build a sense of safety in the present moment
Release stress and survival responses that got “stuck” during past experiences
This work is slow, intentional, and deeply respectful. You are always in control.
How Somatic Therapy Helps
Research shows that somatic approaches can:
Calm an overactive nervous system
Reduce anxiety and panic symptoms
Improve emotional regulation
Support recovery from trauma and chronic stress
Increase body trust and self-compassion
For people with eating disorders, somatic therapy can be especially healing — helping rebuild a safe, connected relationship with the body rather than one based on control, fear, or disconnection.
EMDR: Helping the Brain Reprocess
EMDR (Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing) is a well-researched, trauma-informed therapy that helps the brain process distressing memories in a new way.
When something overwhelming happens, the brain sometimes stores it “raw” — with the original fear, shame, or helplessness still attached. EMDR helps those memories move from a stuck state into a more integrated, less distressing one.
During EMDR, we use bilateral stimulation (such as eye movements or gentle tapping) while you briefly focus on aspects of a memory — always at a pace that feels manageable.
How is this helpful?
Scientific studies have shown EMDR to be effective for:
Trauma and PTSD
Anxiety and panic attacks
Negative core beliefs (“I’m not safe,” “Something is wrong with me”)
Eating disorder triggers linked to past experiences
Chronic shame and self-blame
Many people notice that memories feel less intense, triggers lose their charge, and their nervous system feels calmer and more grounded.
Your Questions, Answered
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The short answer is anyone.
Somatic Therapy is more gradual, less upfront, and we focus on the physical sensations in your body. This is great if you feel numb, jittery, anxious, hot, tension, or constantly tired.
EMDR is great for processing trauma, flashbacks, nightmares, negative beliefs about yourself.
Together we determine what’s best for you. -
Not at all! While Machaela’s training includes these modalities, it is not the only ones that she utilizes. Some people love a good talk therapy session, and that’s okay with me! I tend to encourage a blend of both. The structure can feel stuffy to people at times, and that’s not my style. I find both of these useful for most people, but especially people who: struggle to put the experiences into words, military personnel who maybe can’t/aren’t comfortable disclosing everything, or when talk therapy hasn’t been “enough” in the past.
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According to Robert Stickgold, Ph.D. at Harvard Medical School, “We believe that EMDR induces a fundamental change in brain circuitry similar to what happens in REM sleep — that allows the person undergoing treatment to more effectively process and incorporate traumatic memories into general association networks in the brain. This helps the individual integrate and understand the memories within the larger context of his or her life experience.” Basically, your brain gets to do the work with the protocol by rewiring your beliefs.
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Great question, and no. The training for both of these are extensive and we (as a profession) are constantly learning. There are distinct phases to EMDR, and these can’t be completed at home. We do teach you plenty of skills to use at home because we want you to be able to thrive on your own!