CAROLYN HILL
B.A. - M.A.(Comms) - ACD
ad.dip gestalt - sep - isp - ict
Traumatised nervous systems feel like a living hell.
Believe me, I know.
It has been my own lived experience of inter-generational trauma, personal loss & grief that has motivated my search for therapy interventions that really work.
A lot of talking therapy is just that - talk.
It offers insight, the ‘why’ behind psychological distress, but it is frustratingly limited in affecting change or resolving distressing symptoms that arise from trauma exposure.
What can work are interventions targeted at the deeper emotional brain, tailored to your individually calibrated nervous system.
When your system is supported to complete certain defences, movements out of protective states (fight, flight, fawn and freeze) trauma symptoms are often reduced or resolved.
When not overwhelmed, our ANS has an innate ability to respond to life’s challenges, return to equilibrium allowing you to feel alive, engaged & emotionally safe.
I welcome clients with warmth, a down to earth sense of humour, curiosity & non-judgment.
My background - after an M.A. in Communications, I was a business analyst living in both London & Melbourne. Over the last twenty years I have combined my business experience with a lifelong curiosity & passion for psychology.
My training - integrates clinical neuroscience research from Gestalt Psychotherapy, Somatic Experiencing, Integral Somatic Psychology & Imago Couples Therapy.
A holistic synergy of psychobiological principles of attachment, psychodynamic therapy & the primacy of somatic bodywork to restore emotional brain coherence & resilience.
I work to help clients find their way back. To explore and support each client’s uniquely configured nervous system to return to optimal functioning. From here life force, inner wisdom & potential can be reclaimed.
Therapy is a creative act. A shared, heart led endeavour, in honor of restoring connection with yourself, others & the collective.
THE SOMATIC APPROACHES
INTEGRATED to the unique needs of your system
Somatic experiencing
Somatic Experiencing (SE) developed by Dr Peter Levine effectively integrates a biopsychosocial model with the physiological aspects of trauma healing. SE looks at the source of distress underneath symptoms. It acknowledges that trauma is not just a psychological phenomenon but is also encoded in the body, leading to physical symptoms and dysregulation. By concentrating on bodily sensations, SE helps individuals become aware of and release the energy trapped in survival responses, facilitating the body's natural capacity for self-regulation.
SE aims to help the ANS complete thwarted defenses - often we have been prevented from moving through the stages of fight, flight, fawn and freeze. SE gets us BACK to the other side of our system to feel emotionally safe.
imago couples therapy
The Latin term "imago" signifies the "unconscious image of familiar love." This is central to Imago Relationship Therapy (IRT) developed by Harville Hendrix and Helen LaKelly Hunt. IRT underscores how relationship issues, mirror early childhood experiences ; eg. miss-attunement, criticism or neglect, affects one's sensitivity & reactions in partnerships.
Imago utilizes neuroscience to illustrate how childhood experiences & attachments influence our brain's wiring, behavior, emotional responses & relationship dynamics. By identifying these patterns Imago relational tools allow couples to see each other's core developmental wounds, discover the deeper need below the behaviour & repair in the here and now. The work helps to re-regulate each person's nervous system enhancing attunement to each others needs for connection & safety.
integral somatic psychology
Integral Somatic Psychology (ISP) developed by Dr Raja Selvam emphasises the embodiment of emotions. ISP gives voice to emotions being the primary expression of suffering. It utilizes the latest findings in affective neuroscience and cognitive psychology to demonstrate how our mental states are created, influenced & driven by bodily felt emotions. ISP excels in treating both developmental & shock trauma by underscoring the critical role of releasing emotions held in the body. Trauma Imprints on the body/mind are often experienced as repetitious negative primary emotions - fear, anger, sadness, disgust.
ISP works to process & release the trapped energy from emotional distress by connecting with how they manifest in body, mind and soul levels.
gestalt psychodynamic Therapy
Gestalt therapy echoes other neuroaffective approaches by focusing on present-moment awareness, integration of thoughts, emotions, bodily sensations & the value of authentic relationships. The quality of 'how' we are in relationship with ourselves and others is core to Gestalt therapy. It asks the question, what does connection or the lack of it, feel like to you?
The concept of embodied cognition supports Gestalt's emphasis on using bodily awareness for emotional processing. Gestalt works on the 'needed rather than the repeated patterns' of how you relate to the world. It helps to protoisitse what your ANS needs to foster emotional safety and greater levels of resilience.
Polyvagal Theory and trauma work
Polyvagal Theory, a groundbreaking neuroscience theory developed by Dr Stephen Porges. Bestselling trauma expert Bessel van der Kolk's expands the exploration of trauma's physiological effects in 'The Body Keeps Score". It introduces the concept of the vagus nerve as a key player in regulating our physiological state, which in turn influences our feelings of safety, social connection, and stress responses. This theory delineates a hierarchy of autonomic responses—social engagement (ventral vagal), fight or flight (sympathetic), and freeze (dorsal vagal)—that manage our reactions to stress and perceived threats.
Polyvagal Theory underscores the biological mechanisms through which trauma can dysregulate these autonomic states, leading to challenges in emotional regulation & social interaction that impact well-being. By emphasizing the importance of establishing safety & fostering social connections, Polyvagal Theory offers a neurobiological framework for understanding trauma’s impact and guides therapeutic practices aimed at restoring the body's sense of safety, social engagement & aliveness.
