Inner Room Somatic Therapy | Eugene, Oregon
Christo Brehm
I am a Licensed Professional Counselor (LPC # C8508) registered under the Oregon Board of Licensed Professional Counselors and Therapists (OBLPCT), hold a Somatic Experiencing Practitioner (SEP) certificate from the Somatic Experiencing Institute, and am a graduate of the two year training in Hakomi Mindful Somatic Psychotherapy through Mindful Experiential Therapy Approaches.
I work mostly with individual adults, in-person in Eugene and via online video throughout Oregon.
What to expect working with me
During our first sessions, I will invite you to share key aspects of your history, your current circumstances, and what you are hoping for from our work together. If you are using health insurance, we will need to establish medical necessity including a diagnosis.
In follow up sessions, we will follow a structured yet organic and intuitive process . A session might begin with settling in, orienting to the present moment, and identifying our focus. The aim is to shift into a mindful state of receptive consciousness, with just the right level of relational attunement to your present moment experience as it unfolds moment to moment throughout the session.
The symptoms of trauma or related stressful and overwhelming experiences might show up in various ways. Perhaps you are experiencing sympathetic or "fight/flight" energies that are meant to be protective but, having been mobilized, are now stuck in the "on" position, resulting in unwanted anxiety, irritability, or anger. You may also be experiencing dorsal vagal or "freeze" and "shut down" energies that became mobilized when your nervous system perceived that a more active fight/flight response to threat or overwhelming stress was not appropriate or not possible. If this is the case, you might feel depressed, unmotivated, hopeless or powerless when in this state.
One of our jobs during sessions is to compassionately engage and support these energies to unfold and open up, find completion, and discharge. In Somatic Experiencing, we accomplish these goals through the skillful application of titration and pendulation.
Titration is all about slowly easing into those tough feelings or memories without feeling totally overwhelmed. It’s like dipping your toe in the water instead of jumping in all at once. This way, you can work through trauma at your own pace, making it easier to heal and move forward.
Pendulation is about bouncing between feelings of discomfort and comfort, which helps your body let go of tension and trauma. It’s like a natural rhythm that lets you tune into how you feel, helping with healing and building resilience. By shifting your focus between these different feelings, you get to know your emotions and physical sensations better.
If you are curious to learn more, go ahead and schedule a no charge consultation using my online calendar by clicking on the button below.