What if our impulse to help can sometimes get in the way of healing?

In this episode of Beyond Trauma, I talk with Chelsea Haverly (she/her), LCSW-C about what becomes possible when we move beyond the verbal story and begin listening more closely to the body.

Chelsea brings together Internal Family Systems (IFS), somatic therapy, and craniosacral work to help us understand trauma as something that lives not only in our thoughts and memories, but also in movement, sensation, relationship, and the nervous system.

We talk about the ways the body communicates things that may never make it into the verbal story—and why some trauma needs movement, touch, and attunement in ways that traditional talk therapy may not address. Chelsea also shares how this kind of work can be adapted for virtual therapy, including what therapists can do when touch or movement feels painful, frightening, or impossible for a client.

We explore the Five Element Theory and how it can offer another lens for understanding where a nervous system becomes stuck. Chelsea shares the first thing she recommends when movement feels unsafe, as well as questions we can ask ourselves to discover what kind of movement might actually support our nervous system.

For therapists, we talk about the tendency to turn therapy into a list of interventions: something to fix, assign, measure, or accomplish. Chelsea explains why this can inadvertently replicate aspects of the trauma response and why she doesn't give traditional homework. Instead, she offers something different between sessions.

We also step outside the individual therapy paradigm to ask a larger question: What happens when we understand our struggles as shaped not only by our individual histories, but by relationships, families, communities, culture, and the systems we live within?

Chelsea shares her understanding of the therapeutic relationship as inherently reparative, including the importance of rupture and repair. We discuss how to work with clients who have big goals without getting pulled into urgency or fixing, and how therapists can shift from primarily cognitive approaches toward more embodied ways of working.

And because therapists and other helpers need care, too, Chelsea offers simple nervous-system practices for people who tend to lead with their hearts, along with ideas for making our practices, businesses, and professional environments more trauma-informed.

We also talk about what trauma-informed personal training means—and why the principles of trauma-informed care can extend far beyond the therapy room.

Learn more about trauma-informed body work.

Chelsea's Website/Instagram

This episode is sponsored by My Therapy Flow. Therapy Flow transforms therapy practices with HIPAA-compliant marketing services and a custom CRM that tracks and follows up with leads automatically. Mention Beyond Trauma when you book your call and receive 50% your first three months with the Therapy Flow CRM.

Beyond Trauma is hosted by Lara Land-Wittich, MHC. Lara is an integrative Mental Health Counselor specializing in trauma recovery, anxiety disorders, and life transitions. She works with adult individuals and couples in New York State.

In this episode of Beyond Trauma, I sit down with award-winning trauma-informed educator, author, yoga trainer, and founder of Transcending Trauma Through Yoga, Zabie Yamasaki, for a conversation about burnout, boundaries, rest, and nervous system healing.

Many of us know we're exhausted, but instead of addressing the deeper causes of burnout, we reach for quick fixes: a day off, a vacation, a self-care ritual squeezed into an already packed schedule. Zabie invites us to look beyond temporary relief and explore the patterns that keep us living at a deficit.

Together, we discuss how we often borrow energy from tomorrow to get through today, waking up already depleted. We explore the role urgency plays in our lives, relationships, and healing journeys, and why learning to distinguish between our capability and our capacity is essential for long-term well-being.

Zabie shares how to recognize when a person, environment, or commitment may not be healthy for you, questions to ask yourself before taking on more, and why so many of us collapse at the end of the day rather than truly restore.

We also talk about creating spaces that support regulation, the ways we unintentionally bring the same frantic energy into our self-care practices, and why our nervous systems often need less—not more—to heal.

Perhaps most importantly, this conversation is a reminder that rest is not something we earn once we've reached our breaking point. We are worthy of rest before we're exhausted. We are worthy of celebrating ourselves in the middle of the process, not just at the finish line. And joy, as Zabie reminds us, is a practice.

Be sure to stay until the end for a beautiful compassion practice led by Zabie.

Zabie's new book, Protect Your Energy: A Gentle Guide to Nurture Your Nervous System, Cultivate Rest, and Honor Your Needs, is out now.

Learn more about Zabie's offerings on her website and Instagram.

This episode is sponsored by My Therapy Flow. Therapy Flow transforms therapy practices with HIPAA-compliant marketing services and a custom CRM that tracks and follows up with leads automatically. Mention Beyond Trauma when you book your call and receive 50% your first three months with the Therapy Flow CRM.

Beyond Trauma is hosted by Lara Land-Wittich, MHC. Lara is an integrative Mental Health Counselor specializing in trauma recovery, anxiety disorders, and life transitions. She works with adult individuals and couples in New York State.

In this episode of Beyond Trauma, I sit down with bestselling author, teacher, and spiritual guide Tracee Stanley to explore how ritual can help us create more spaciousness, presence, and meaning in our everyday lives.

Tracee is the author of the upcoming book Living Ritual: Infuse Each Day with Purpose and Spirit, as well as the bestselling books Radiant Rest and The Luminous Self. Drawing from more than three decades of practice in Sri Vidya Tantra and the teachings of the Himalayan Masters, she shares practical ways to bring sacred practices into modern life—without adding another item to your to-do list.

Together, we discuss how to begin a meaningful spiritual practice and integrate it into even the busiest schedule. Tracee explains the surprising practice that can help you realize you have far more time available than you think, and why returning to the same small text, ritual, or practice over and over again is often more transformative than constantly seeking new information.

We also explore how to approach spiritual and personal growth without striving, performance, or attachment to outcomes. Tracee shares powerful insights on protecting your energy, setting boundaries around your time and attention, and cultivating emotional discernment in an increasingly overstimulating world.

Finally, we discuss the importance of reclaiming our senses as a pathway to intuition, wisdom, and perspective. By slowing down and reconnecting with our embodied experience, we can move beyond the urgency of needing answers right now and learn to trust the deeper guidance that emerges from within.

Preorder Living Ritual and receive free entry into Tracee's 16-day ritual circle.

Website/Instagram

This episode is sponsored by My Therapy Flow. Therapy Flow transforms therapy practices with HIPAA-compliant marketing services and a custom CRM that tracks and follows up with leads automatically. Mention Beyond Trauma when you book your call and receive 50% your first three months with the Therapy Flow CRM.

Beyond Trauma is hosted by Lara Land-Wittich, MHC. Lara is an integrative Mental Health Counselor specializing in trauma recovery, anxiety disorders, and life transitions. She works with adult individuals and couples in New York State.