


Private and phone sessions available by appointment For more information or to schedule an appointment Contact Anya Hricko Also see About Anya Hricko Read an article about a Soma Wisdom session here. |
I'm Anya Hricko, an experienced Body Centered Therapist currently earning my PhD in Somatic Psychology. I bring to my practice over 30 years of experience in Somatic and Body/Mind approaches. It is with great honor that I offer my services as a Somatic Therapist, Coach, mentor and witness to the sacred unfolding of your personal journey. I bring to my work a passion to understand the body/mind connection and journey within the landscape of inner experience through awareness based, body centered and process oriented approaches. I offer you my expertise through many years of personal practice and training. I know this work to be profound, deep, insightful and potentially life changing offering a new perspective to view who you are and who you are becoming. I offer private individualized sessions to meet your specific needs, Women's Body Wisdom Groups, Workshops and Professional Seminars. I call my work Integrative Somatic Therapy because I source my work from extensive somatic training and different yet complimentary approaches to healing through integration of body/mind/emotion/spirit. Our work together skillfully integrates somatic and awareness based approaches to find just the right blend for you. At times we may decide to focus on one particular approach, for instance Somatic Experiencing to heal past trauma. At other times we may fluidly blend Process Work with Somatic Movement Therapy and Somatic Coaching. We focus each session on your needs and desired outcomes. Integrative Somatic Therapy draws its inspiration from the following approaches
Peter Levine to resolve and heal trauma. Dr. Levine was fascinated by the observation that prey animals in the wild though routinely threatened were rarely traumatized. In further study, it became apparent that wild prey animals utilize innate bodily mechanisms to regulate and discharge high levels of energy arousal which allows them to return to normal in the aftermath of highly ‘’charged’’ life-threatening experiences. Although humans are born with virtually the same regulatory mechanisms as animals, these instinctive systems are often over-ridden or inhibited preventing the complete discharge of survival energies which allows the nervous system to regain its equilibrium. This “charged” energy can keep the nervous system stuck in a survival mode causing numerous symptoms, affecting the quality of life and the ability to relax, de-stress and find balance. Dr. Levine found that the body plays an essential role in the healing of trauma. The key to healing traumatic symptoms in humans is in our physiology. What’s hopeful about this approach is that we do not have to live with psychological scars of trauma or learn how to just manage PTSD. We all have the innate capacity to heal from the effects of trauma when we learn how to harness and transform the body’s primordial intelligence. Somatic Experiencing reconnects us to our innate body wisdom allowing the body to inform the healing process through guided “felt sense” letting us know what needs to happen in order to "renegotiate" and heal trauma and distress in a non-overwhelming way. This allows us to safely discharge survival energies and to rebalance the nervous system. Individuals frequently experience a dramatic reduction in or disappearance of their traumatic symptoms as well as an understanding and integration of their process. In addition, Somatic Experiencing offers life giving tools that you can immediately use in your life to self-soothe, nourish, resource and regulate your own nervous system. A less stressed nervous system is more flexible, resilient and able to handle life’s challenges with more ease enhancing our well-being, vitality and enjoyment of life. Although Somatic Experiencing works with the body it is not Bodywork in the usual sense of the word. Gentle light touch or movement is sometimes used to assist the process with the permission of the client. However, the work is primarily verbal with the client and therapist facing each other. Soma Resourcing Your body is your home and where you will spend the rest of your life. Wouldn't it be nice to feel comfortable in your own body and tap into the amazing intelligence that is part of your soma (body) wisdom? Soma Resourcing is a deeply nourishing and beneficial practice that teaches you tools to self-regulate your nervous system modulating and reducing stress, self-soothe to bring comfort and balance when you feel out of sorts, discover your strengths through embodiment, increase your resiliency to handle life’s challenges, shift limiting beliefs and open up new pathways for creativity and intuition. Somatic Coaching Takes it one step further. Life experience is embodied experience. You have probably heard the statement, be the change you want to become. One of the most effective and quickest ways to shift our state and access our personal power and creativity is to embody it. Through somatic coaching you will be guided and supported to first find out what your true desires and feelings are (trusting your gut) and then how to access the internal resources (your inner strengths, creative impulses, intuitions) to bring those forth into the world utilizing the somatic tools of felt sense, movement, gestures, sounds, vocalizing and body centered processing. Somatic Movement Therapy works with the individual to access movement patterns and habits in order to bring more ease, connection, awareness and choice to how we move through our lives. Building on individual strengths we work to develop a healthy relationship with the body. Movement explorations and practices are individually designed to encourage full body movement and enhanced coordination. Gentle hands on re-patterning and awareness is used to release habitual holding patterns opening up to new ways to move, think and feel. Process work is an awareness based practice for self-growth, self-discovery and transformation developed by Dr. Arny and Amy Mindell which supports us in understanding our deepest motivations so that we might come into alignment with who we are, what we want out of life and harvest the meaning from all of our experiences. As we develop a healthier relationship between all parts of our self we free up more options and creativity in our life. What once was seen as a problem can be held in acceptance with support and slowly unraveled to discover its deeper meaning. Sometimes our biggest challenges turn out to be our greatest gifts. When we can follow the wisdom of our body/mind/spirit we are guided to step into our fullest potential. This allows us to shift perspective and move forward in life with more clarity, confidence and authenticity. ....And other Body/Mind approaches and Creative/Expressive Arts |