Available In-Person & Online

Sarah Corrin

M.A., RCC
Locations
Primary Location
InnerPresenceCounselling
103 - 360 Duncan Street
Vancouver Island∕Coast,
V9LW4
Office is Wheelchair Accessible
Proximity to Transit and/or Intersections:
Downtown Duncan
Other (nearby) Locations Served:
Shawnigan, Mill Bay, Ladysmith, Chemainus, Cowichan, Cobble Hill

Counselling Practice Website

Practice Information

Somatic Psychotherapy:

Resolution and Transformation of Trauma

Listening to the Wisdom of our Bodies

Reclaiming Well-being, Vitality and Joy

 

It takes courage to explore one’s inner world. Therapy can be a supportive process, offering structure and guidance in letting go of cognitive, emotional, or behavioural patterns that are no longer wanted or useful.  Sarah has been working in the field of somatic and trauma therapy for the past twenty years and brings a holistic approach of heart, mind, body, and spirit into the therapeutic work.  

 

It is only through a caring and and compassionate relationship that we mend and tend the challenges inherent in daily living, especially the overwhelm of traumatic experiences - when we have been left alone with our fear in times of too much, too fast, too soon, and too little. Therefore, a good fit between both client and therapist is essential to the psychological and emotional work that takes place.

 

It is Sarah's passion and joy to walk alongside clients along this path of authenticity, learning, and growth, offering herself as a witness and guide in doing this sacred work together.

 

Sarah primarily offers a Somatic Psychotherapy process in working with: 

 

  • anxiety, depression
  • injury, accidents, abuse
  • fear, isolation, loneliness, grief, 
  • self-harm
  • self-criticism
  • perfectionism and avoidance
  • obsessive thoughts and behaviours
  • developmental and relational challenges
  • post-traumatic, acute and chronic stress
  • patterns of pleasing, boundaries
  • emotional reactivity
  • end of life distress
  • terminal illness
  • spiritually transformative experiences
  • psychedelic integration

 

Sarah brings an interest in embodiment - paying mindful attention to the wisdom of the body - and a focus of attunement to the energetic and emotional patterns in our bodies as a way to tap into the inner healing intelligence within each of us. 

 

In Somatic Therapy, change and healing emerge from bottom-up, right-brain ways of knowing. We listen to the truth of our lives as expressed by our bodies. The body is the primary source of information that reveals the implicit and unconscious material in need of our attention.  Through skills of perceiving and attending to sensation, feelings, images, dreams, gestures, and innate rhythms, we tap into the natural wisdom and healing elements present within each individual. As we free up constricted emotional and psychological patterns that are stored in the body, one’s authentic self emerges more fully. This is the healing medicine for our lives.

 

Sarah gratefully does this work living in the Traditional Unceded territory of the Quw’utsun’ Peoples where she lives with her family and attempts to grow food, and not just for deer!

 

CHRONIC STRESS or TRAUMA can remain stuck in our bodies from personal, cultural, ancestral, and collective or inter-generational adversity.

This can result in anxiety, depression, emotional reactivity, pain, complicated grief, insomnia, PTSD, loss of vitality, and relationship dysfunction.

 

WHAT CAN A SOMATIC APPROACH HELP ME WITH?

If you live in a chronic state of hyper-arousal or fight/flight/freeze/people pleasing; if it is difficult to feel joy or energy in your day to day life; if you have had acute or chronic stress in your life; if your relationship with your loved ones or yourself is not as you would like it to be, or if you have had trauma in your life, a mind-body approach can help restore the nervous system, emotional states and behavioural patterns.

In Somatic Therapy, change and healing emerge from bottom-up, right-brain ways of knowing. We listen to the truth of our lives as expressed by our bodies. Essentially, paying mindful attention to the wisdom of the body, and attuning to the language of our body, naturally facilitates the very healing we are seeking. It is a process that allows us to live more authentically and further frees up our life force to be more of who we are in the world.

This is a counselling approach that draws on the wisdom of the body, neurobiology, and attachment studies to resolve shock and developmental traumas that can result in depression, anxiety, post-traumatic stress, stuck relationship patterns, addiction, emotional dysregulation, and a diminished life force.   The resolution of trauma can free up one's emotional, creative, and spiritual energies.  

 

WHY SOMATIC THERAPY?

In Somatic Therapy we come to know ourselves at a deep level, and the wholeness within - allowing us to be fully present to ourselves and our lives in compassionate and joyful ways.

These pains you feel are messengers. Listen to them. - Rumi

I believe that an attuned and resonant therapeutic relationship is the vehicle for healing the emotional wounds that bring one to therapy. Many people live full and effective professional and work lives, yet find their relationships to self, others, or the world fraught with struggle or pain.

In my practice, I draw from a somatic approach to the resolution of trauma. In working therapeutically with the left brain story (thought, logic, concept, beliefs) AND the right brain story (sensation, gesture, feeling, emotion, imagery) we arrive at meaning, purpose and freedom from the constricted patterning in our nervous systems. With each strand of unconscious or repressed material that is processed, new and re-embodied life force and vitality become available for living with more vitality, authenticity and creativity.

Essentially, paying mindful attention to the wisdom of the body, and attuning to the energetic patterns in our body, naturally facilitates the very healing we are seeking – allowing us to be and bring more of who are meant to be into the world.

 

EMBODIMENT AS A PROCESS OF DECOLONIZATION: 

As a somatic therapist, I am committed to centering the position of the "body" as the prime locus of therapeutic attention. I understand an individual's body is both sovereign, and yet also not separate from the relational, community, collective, natural, and ancestral networks within which the body is embedded. I acknowledge that as a somatic therapist who centers the body and embodiment as the primary foundations of individual and collective well-being, that I am engaging in acts of decolonization and reclamation of truth, wisdom, inner healing intelligence, and sovereignty. 

Specialized Training

  • TRAUMA

    Safe and Sound Protocol
    Somatic Transformation Practicum
    Systemic Constellation Certificate
    Somatic Transformation: Healing Body-Soul
    Somatic Transformation: Relational and Body-Centered Approaches to Healing Trauma
  • MENTAL HEALTH TRAININGS

    Dialectical Behaviour Therapy
    Cognitive Behavioural Therapy
  • END OF LIFE

    Therapsil Psilocybin for End of Life Distress
    Upaya Chaplaincy Buddhist practices for palliative care
    End-of-Life Doula Course
    Therapeutic Touch Levels 1,2,3


  • PARENTING
    Power to Parent - Neufeld Institute
    Alpha Children - Neufeld Institute
    Side Stepping the Power Struggle - LIFE Seminars
  • GROUP FACILITATION

    Way of Council Level 1, 2

Client Fee (Individuals)

$175/session

Availability

 
MorningAM
AfternoonPM
EveningLate
SundaySun
MondayMon
TuesdayTue
WednesdayWed
ThursdayThu
FridayFri
SaturdaySat

Areas of Practice

Abuse - Emotional‚ Physical‚ Sexual
Anxiety and∕or Panic
Cancer Care and Support
Chronic Illness
Death and Dying
Depression
Grief and Loss - General
Marriage and∕or Relationship Issues
Personal Growth
Post Traumatic Stress Disorder
Religious∕Spiritual trauma
Sexual Assault
Spirituality
Suicide Bereavement
Trauma Counselling

Approaches Used

Body Centred Psychotherapy
Dialectical Behaviour Therapy
Energy Psychotherapy
In Person Counselling
Mindfulness approaches
Online ∕ Telehealth ∕ Virtual Counselling
Relational Psychotherapy
Somatic Approaches
Somatic Transformation
Transpersonal