Meet Pamela
On My Bookshelf
Peter Levine, PhD
In an Unspoken Voice, How the Body Releases
Trauma and Restores Goodness, 2010
Trauma and Memory, 2015
Trauma Proofing Your Kids, 2008
Dr Robert Scaer
The Trauma Spectrum: Hidden Wounds and Human
Resiliency, 2005
Eight Keys to Brain Body Balance, 2012
Donna Jackson Nakazawa
Childhood Disrupted: How Your Biography Becomes
Your Biology and How You Can Heal, 2015
Dr Bessel van der Kolk
The Body Keeps the Score: Brain, Mind and Body in
the Healing of Trauma, 2014
Diane Poole Heller, PhD
Crash Course, A Self-healing Guide to Auto
Accident Trauma & Recovery, 2001
Dr Jackie Gardener-Nix
The Mindfulness Solution to Pain, 2009
Staci Haines
Healing Sex: A Mind-Body Approach to Healing Sexual Trauma, 2007
Bruce D. Perry, MD & Oprah Winfrey
What Happened to You? 2021
Kimberly Ann Johnson
Call of the Wild: How we Heal Trauma, Awaken our Own Power, and Use It for Good, 2021
Richard C Schwartz. PhD
No Bad Parts: Healing Trauma & Restoring Wholeness with the Internal Family Systems Model, 2021
My Story
Getting a whiplash injury a few years ago began a journey of personal healing and discovery for me. Through this process, I found a new world of learning about my body on both a scientific and experiential level. I learned that how my body and my brain function can be deeply transformed. I found that bodywork, along with relaxation, movement and mindfulness practices, gave me the capacity to relate with my life experiences in an entirely new way.
I discovered the benefits of receiving regular bodywork and using mindfulness and relaxation practices as part of the Associative Awareness Techniques program offered by a local physical therapist. I also began to include sitting meditation in my daily routine and found it deeply transformative.
My path soon led to massage therapy school, where I gained a foundation of knowledge about anatomy and physiology, and became fascinated with the leading-edge neuroscientific understanding of chronic pain and its treatment. In my own experience, I have found bodywork helpful for improving the symptoms of anxiety, as well as for alleviating pain.
In spring 2015, I began training in the Somatic Experiencing™ program for trauma healing (SE). I am especially passionate about using bodywork, along with the guided awareness and empathic communication methods of SE to serve clients who are in the process of recovering from various types of traumatic life events. I completed the Somatic Experiencing Practitioner certification in October 2017.These skills greatly enhance my work. I also have a mindfulness teacher certification from the Mindfulness Exercises Institute.
Along the way, I have trained in a number of other synergistic, body-centered approaches including Level I Transformative Touch at the Somatic Therapy Center in Philadelphia, and The Psychology of the Body continuing education course (text by Greene & Goodrich-Dunn, 2014.)
Most recently, I am training in Internal Family Systems through the IFS Institute. In 2023, I completed IFS Level 1 training in May, and Level 2 in November. I have found this somatic "parts" approach to be very synergistic with Somatic Experiencing. I am currently in the process of IFS practitioner certification and have weekly case consultation supervision for my work.
I use she/her pronouns and live in Penfield with my partner, two adolescent children, two dogs and two cats.
