Courage doesn’t happen when you have all the answers. It happens when you are ready to face the questions you have been avoiding your whole life.
~Shannon L. Alder
Trauma lives in all of us.
There is the trauma of our lived experiences of abuse, neglect, accidents, surgeries, violence, loss (and it’s related grief), betrayal and more. These experiences may be singular events or may be chronic, ongoing and or occurring multiple times.
There is the trauma of our ancestors, passed down to us through both our DNA and the ways they interacted with us.
There is the trauma of living in an oppressive, authoritarian, misogynist, white/human supremist culture that encourages us to isolate, to separate, to be disconnected from our communities and our Self –body, mind, spirit, and soul
At baseline we live in a world that is traumatizing. The majority of us struggle financially, we are all living through both climate and societal collapse, and our stress levels are going through the roof causing health and relational issues. On top of this many of us have experienced childhood neglect and or abuse, sexual assault, and or intimate partner violence. Our nervous systems have been pushed passed their limits, we are living in hypervigilence, and our fight/flight and freeze responses are constantly activated over what seems like “small” things. And if we are neurospicy, our sensitivities can make day to day life overwhelming, exhausting, and sometimes feel insurrmountable.
Embodiment, nervous system regulation, body reclamation, and somatic sensory exploration are tools we can use to help us not only get through each day, but to also help us grow more nurturing and nourishing relationships with each other, ourselves, our greater communities, our ancestors, and the planet. Over a decade ago I developed a modality called Trauma Informed Embodiment, that integrates each of these practices, and combined with talk therapy and processing, has supported hundreds of people, individually and in group work, in finding their way back into their body, forming and growing more nurturing and nourishing relationships, and finding their ways to being the person they want to be in the world.
Trauma impacts all of us, it affect our relationships, our health, our ability to be the people we want to be in the world. Being stuck in our trauma responses keeps us stuck in jobs we hate, relationships that deplete us, and disconnected from our own knowing and soul. It keeps us in survival mode which keeps us unconsciously compliant and complicit to the systems of harm that ultimately are the root cause of the trauma in the first place. It keeps us from finding our ways home to ourselves, each other, and the lives that are our birthrights.
Processing this trauma, and coming into our bodies as part of that process, opens us and our lives to possiblities we never imagined. It helps us connect dots, creatively problem solve, and find the glimmers that already exist in our lives and expand them. It gives us opportunities to find our own pockets of peace, to become more discerning in our relationships, to feel and defend our boundaries, and grow relationships built on autonomy, mutual respect, and emotional reciprocity. It also opens us to immense grief, frustration, and anger – not that it creates these emotions, but that we finally acknowledge, feel, and allow ourselves to process them.
This work I do with individuals is intense, and it is also gentle. We always move at the your pace. I have no agenda or intention for us to get to some arbitrary place in the work by some equally arbitrary time. What this looks like in practice is that sometimes we move quickly through some parts of the work because that is what you and your system are ready for and want and sometimes we move very gently and slowly. Some sessions we will spend the entire time doing grounding, somatic, and presencing work, other sessions we will talk the whole time, and most sessions we will do some combination of them all.
And while I have an approach that I follow in doing this work, it is also not “cookie cutter”. The work we do in session is always a collaboration and we go to the places that need to be explored in those moments. I deeply listen, not only to your words, but I also watch your body, your face, your eyes, and tune into your energy to see where we are in the session and the work in real time.
If this sounds like work that would benefit you, please request a 30 minute consultation so we can see if we are a good fit. You can do that by filling our this form here (please remember to approve the “subscription” so I can reach out to you) and we will go from there. I wish you well on your journey and hope we connect soon!
If you’d like to learn a bit more about me, you can do right here.
What’s included:
I offer packages which include either weekly or bi-weekly (every other week) 60-minute sessions, which can be via Zoom, in person in north Seattle, or a combination of both. My standard individual work includes:
- Weekly or Bi-weekly 60-minute video call sessions (on Zoom or in person)
- Unlimited (yet boundaried) text or Signal support (you can check in with me as often as you like via text or Signal; please allow 48-hours for my response if requested)
I request a minimum initial three month commitment, as this is the minimum amount of time that I have seen clients start to see shifts.
And because one size does not fit all, I am happy to create a package that fits your unique individual needs and wants. This could look like multiple meetings per week; 90-minute (instead of 60 minute) bi-weekly, weekly, or twice weekly calls; etc. I do require a minimum of bi-weekly 60-minute video calls in any package we create together.
Pricing & Payment Information
I offer a sliding scale for all my clients, with fees based on househould size and income as compared to the Federal Poverty Level. Fees for individual 60-minute sessions range from $110 – $220 USD.
I do not accept insurance/am not paneled with any health insurance agencies.
Payment is made via Venmo or Zelle. If you are outside the United States, we will discuss payment options. Payments are due 24 hours prior to our session day/time unless other arrangements are agreed to prior to our initial intake session. (Please note I am always open to making other arrangements!)
I do not issue refunds for missed sessions. I require a minimum of 48-hours notice to cancel and then reschedule any session. If 48-hour notice is not given the session will be forfeited. I rarely make exceptions to this policy.
Other office policies as well as our client-provider agreement will be detailed in my Office Policy & Client Agreement document that will be sent to you to review and sign prior to our initial intake session. I will also send you a HIPAA disclosure statement and a contact information form for you to sign out and return prior to our initial intake session.
What past and current clients have to say
The topics with which Gwynn works are difficult, but she shines a light on them, reminds you to take care of yourself, and leads you through the rough patches with grace, making your journey one of profound learning about who you essentially are at your core.
Gwynn is a phenomenal therapist!
[Working with Gwynn] has provided me with a fantastic support system and safe place to deal with the tough shit. {Thank you!}
Gwynn Raimondi has helped me face the challenging, neglected, raw & wounded parts of myself with tenderness & steadfastness. She has helped me recommit, reclaim & recharge the feminine parts of myself while balancing the gifts of my inner masculine.
[Gwynn] is a guide, a mentor, a cheerleader, a fact finder & a magic maker with a worthy bag of tools & tricks. All this with the feeling that you just sat at the kitchen table with the womenfolk drinking the wisdom of the ancients.
Gwynn leads you to discover parts of yourself that you didn’t know existed, much less know you want to embrace.
I love Gwynn, she is a compassionate and beautiful soul who is doing amazing work. Her writing prompts [homework] have helped me to really dig deep, sort out, and heal, both mind, body and spirit.