Somatic Therapy in Melbourne
(Somatic Experiencing and IFS)
Body-Based Therapy for Trauma, Anxiety, and Nervous System Regulation
Your body has been keeping score. It's time to listen.
Something in you knows that understanding the problem isn't the same as being free of it. This work goes where insight alone can't reach.
Somatic Experiencing Therapy in Melbourne and online
What is Somatic Experiencing Therapy
Somatic Experiencing is a body-based approach to healing developed by Dr Peter Levine. Rather than focusing primarily on thoughts or memories, it works with the physical sensations, rhythms, and nervous system responses that hold the imprint of stress and trauma.
When something overwhelming happens, the body often gets stuck in patterns of activation or shutdown. SE gently supports the nervous system to complete what got interrupted, restoring a felt sense of safety, aliveness, and capacity.
Who it helps
Anxiety that keeps returning.
A body that feels constantly braced or strangely flat.
Patterns in relationships or behaviour that make sense intellectually but keep repeating anyway.
Feeling stuck despite insight or self-awareness
Somatic Therapy Locations in Melbourne
Thornbury (Inner North Melbourne)
Elsternwick (South-East Melbourne)
Online sessions available across Australia.
Internal Family Systems (IFS) Therapy in Melbourne and online
What is Internal Family Systems Therapy
Most of us have parts of ourselves we'd rather not admit to. The inner critic. The one that people-pleases until it snaps. The part that checks out when things get hard, or pushes relentlessly when rest would serve better.
Internal Family Systems (IFS) doesn't ask you to silence these parts or override them with willpower. It invites you to get curious about them, to understand what they're protecting you from and what they actually need.
Underneath the noise of these protective parts, there is a Self that is calm, present, and capable. IFS works to bring that part of you into the lead, so that healing happens from the inside out, rather than being imposed from the outside in.
Who it helps
IFS tends to resonate most with people who know themselves reasonably well, but find that knowing hasn't been enough to change things. The pattern keeps repeating. The inner critic keeps returning. The conflict between what you want and what you do keeps showing up in different forms.
If you carry a lot of self-doubt, shame, or a sense of being at war with yourself, IFS offers something different from strategies or reframing. It works with the parts underneath those experiences, helping them feel understood rather than managed, so that something deeper can actually shift.
Who This Is For
This work is for people who are functioning on the outside, but know something isn't fully working on the inside.
You may recognise yourself here:
You are capable and self-aware, yet still caught in patterns you cannot seem to shift
You overthink, overwork, or over-function, and struggle to feel settled or at ease
You carry anxiety, stress, or burnout that rest alone doesn't resolve
You find yourself repeating the same dynamics in relationships, at work, or in life
You feel pulled between different parts of yourself, one pushing forward while another shuts down
You struggle with boundaries, people-pleasing, or saying no without guilt
You feel disconnected from your body, your emotions, or a sense of direction
You have done therapy or personal development before, but something hasn't fully landed
You Might be Here Because…
You've done the therapy, read the books, and understand your patterns - and you're still repeating them.
You function well on the outside. Inside, something feels managed rather than alive.
You keep choosing relationships that cost you something essential.
Anxiety or fear has become so familiar they feel like personality
You sense there's a version of you on the other side of this. You just don't know how to get there.
What You’re Moving Toward…
To wake up without dread already waiting.
To set a boundary and not spend the next three days second-guessing it.
To be in a relationship, with yourself, with others, that doesn't require you to disappear.
To feel something again, without it overwhelming you.
How This Work Helps You Regulate and Recover
This work focuses on building your capacity to stay present, respond with choice, and recover more quickly when you are under pressure.
Rather than relying on willpower or insight alone, we work directly with your nervous system and internal patterns to create change that is felt, not just understood.
Over time, clients often notice:
A greater sense of calm and stability in their body
Reduced anxiety, reactivity, and emotional overwhelm
The ability to pause instead of reacting automatically
Faster recovery after stress, conflict, or difficult situations
More clarity and confidence in decision-making
Stronger boundaries, with less guilt or over-explaining
A shift from self-criticism to a more supportive inner dialogue
Feeling more present, connected, and in control of their responses
This is about increasing your capacity to meet stress or difficult emotions without being taken over by them. As your system becomes more regulated, new choices become available in how you think, how you relate, and how you lead your life.
How sessions work
Most approaches work with what you think. This one works with where it lives.
Trauma, relational wounding, and ingrained patterns aren't stored in your understanding of them. They're held in your nervous system, in the body's automatic responses, in parts of you that adapted to survive situations you're no longer in.
Somatic Experiencing, Internal Family Systems, and Integral Coaching work at that level — not by pushing you to change, but by creating the conditions where change becomes possible. Sessions are grounded, unhurried, and built around your nervous system's actual pace.
This is the work that shifts what years of insight couldn't move.
I've lived the version of this that made getting out of bed feel like an act of will. The burnout, the breakdown, the slow rebuild. I'm not here to fix you. I'm here because I know the difference between managing your life and actually living it, and I think you do too.
Not sure where to start?
That's exactly what the first call is for. No pitch, no pressure. Just a conversation to understand what’s going on for you and whether this work is the right fit.
What I Offer
All sessions are tailored. There's no formula, because you're not one.
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A space for you to unlearn what no longer serves you, and to repattern how you show up.
Weekly or fortnightly sessions
Tailored to your nervous system’s pace
Online or in-person (Melbourne)
My coaching goes beyond traditional coaching; it is developmental (grows the capacities of the client), based on a deeper understanding of our character, how we use energy, polyvagal-informed and utilises the latest research and practices in the autonomic nervous system. My methods offer you the opportunity for deep and long lasting change.
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8-week container for a small group journey.
Learn the foundations of nervous-system based change
Practice in a safe group
Receive guidance and support
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Workshops and 1:1 sessions for conscious leaders, especially those navigating high-pressure environments.
“The most unique aspect of our work together was the incorporation of body work. Simple exercises and experiments not only helped me realise elements at play but also helped me short circuit internal whirlwind to manage stress. I left every session feeling energised and with a renewed sense of clarity.
One of the most impactful changes was my ability to set and maintain boundaries at work. As a result, I now find that my time and work are better respected, leading to a more balanced and manageable workload. Another major breakthrough was identifying and reassessing some long-held beliefs that were no longer serving me. It enabled me to take actions that I previously wouldn't have considered possible.”
Servane
BOOK A FREE CALL
The next step is to fill out an application form and schedule a free 30-minute chemistry call.
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Somatic Experiencing (SE) is a body-based approach to healing trauma developed by Dr Peter Levine. Unlike traditional talk therapy, which works primarily through narrative and insight, SE works with the felt sense in the body. Trauma is stored not just in memory, but as incomplete survival responses held in the nervous system. SE gently helps the body complete those responses, restoring a natural sense of safety and flow. You do not need to re-tell or re-live your story to experience relief.
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IFS is a well-researched therapeutic model that understands the mind as made up of different parts, each with its own perspective, feelings, and role. When we have been through difficult experiences, some parts take on protective or burdensome roles that can create conflict, self-criticism, or emotional shutdown. IFS helps you build a compassionate relationship with all your parts from a place of Self, the calm, curious, grounded centre that is already within you. Sessions feel collaborative, not clinical.
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Yes. Complex PTSD typically develops from prolonged or repeated relational trauma, such as childhood neglect, emotional abuse, or being in a controlling relationship. The symptoms, including hypervigilance, emotional dysregulation, shame, and difficulty trusting others, are signs of a nervous system that adapted to survive. The combination of Somatic Experiencing, IFS, and polyvagal-informed coaching is particularly well-suited to this kind of healing. You do not need a formal diagnosis to work together. If you recognise yourself in the description, that is enough to begin.
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This work sits at the intersection of both. As an ICF-credentialed coach (PCC) and certified Somatic Experiencing Practitioner (SEP), I bring the depth of trauma-informed somatic work alongside the forward-looking, capacity-building orientation of coaching. If you are currently in crisis or managing acute psychiatric symptoms, a licensed psychologist or psychiatrist may be the right first step. For most people seeking to heal relational wounds, regulate their nervous system, and grow into a fuller version of themselves, this integrative approach offers something that neither coaching nor traditional therapy alone tends to provide.
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In-person sessions are available at Melbourne Integrated Therapies in Thornbury and Glo Health in Elsternwick. Online sessions are available via Zoom for clients anywhere in Australia or internationally. Many clients find that online sessions are just as effective for this kind of work.
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Every person's nervous system is different, and healing is not linear. That said, many clients notice meaningful shifts in their felt sense of safety and self-awareness within the first few sessions. Deeper, more durable change, especially for complex trauma, typically unfolds over months rather than weeks. The 12-session integration package is structured to give you a genuine arc of transformation, with progress tracked at baseline, mid-point, and completion.
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This practice operates as coaching and somatic education rather than registered psychological therapy, so sessions are not currently claimable through Medicare. Some private health funds include life coaching or wellness consultations in their extras cover. I recommend checking directly with your fund. Payment plans and package pricing are available to support access.
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The first session is an intake and orientation. We take time to understand what brings you here, what you are hoping for, and what your history is. I will explain how I work, answer your questions, and we will gently explore what feels most alive or pressing for you right now. There is no pressure to share more than feels comfortable. Safety and pace are built into the process from the very beginning.
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The best way is to have a conversation. I offer a free 30-minute chemistry call so you can get a sense of the approach and ask anything you need to ask. There is no obligation. If what I offer is not the right fit, I will do my best to point you toward someone who is.
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This is one of the most common things I hear. Many people have worked hard in therapy, understood their patterns intellectually, and still felt stuck. That is because insight alone does not change the nervous system. Trauma and relational wounding live in the body, in implicit memory, in automatic reactions. Somatic and parts-based work engages the places where the patterns actually live. You may find that things that felt immovable for years begin to shift quite naturally once the body is included.
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Fill out the short application form on the website, and we will schedule a free 30-minute chemistry call. This gives us both a chance to make sure we are a good fit before committing to anything. You can also reach out directly via the contact page if you have a specific question first.