Julie Samuels-Metheany - Somatic Experiencing Practioner & Eating Disorder Specialist

The body remembers what the mind would like to forget. We have long been hardwired to record trauma in our nervous system, as it has been essential to our survival to know what is safe and what is not. Julie uses Somatic Experiencing Training and Inner Relationship Focusing Parts work (IRF) to help clients uncover and understand their trauma imprints and patterns (Flight, Fight, Freeze, Fawn) so they can build more conscious relationships with themselves and others. Once the body feels there is no longer a perceived threat, one can discover a sense of agency and safety, and learn how to make new decisions and choices from the prefrontal cortex where higher-level thinking lives. These decisions are not made from a frightened, overwhelmed, or underwhelmed nervous system, but from one that is coherent and balanced with the body & mind. There is less shame and more freedom when we help the body come along with us into the present moment, and less resistance to moving fully into our lives. Julie Samuels-Metheany has a Master's Degree in Clinical Psychology from Antioch University and is a somatic practitioner who has worked and lived in the Santa Ynez Valley for 20+ years. She is also a Nutritionist with 30 years of experience in the Eating Disorder field.