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Somatic Focused Trauma Therapy: You Have a Right to Heal by Payam Ghassemlou MFT, SEP, Ph.D.

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    For anyone who might be new to the body-inclusive psychotherapy method, below you will find a summary of a case that shows the effectiveness of this approach. This case also reveals how, as a licensed Marriage and Family therapist, my psychotherapy practice is inspired by my training in Somatic Experiencing® (SE), which was founded by Peter A. Levine, Ph.D. His curiosity about animals in the wild getting exposed to life-threating situations without getting PTSD while humans frequently succumb to this disorder was the start of SE’s development. SE is a body first approach that helps people discover where they are stuck in the fight, flight, or freeze responses, and how they can “resolve these fixated physiological states.” SE is a powerful trauma  healing  medium that includes working with sensations, movements, postures, and gestures as a way of deepening resilience and to reset the nervous system. According to Dr. Levine, the autonomic nervous system (ANS) can become dysregulate
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Earth, Love, Breath

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  Breathing with the awareness that we are connected to all living beings including the Earth is a fundamental practice in many spiritual traditions. For me, such awareness is an opportunity to connect with the soul of the world (Anima Mundi) on a deeper level. In one of the spiritual practices that I follow, I bring awareness to the space between the in-breath and the out-breath. Noticing and infusing this space with feelings of love and gratitude for life is how I can magnetize my inhalation and exhalation with an appreciation for the sacred nature of life. This practice can also impact the state of my autonomic nervous system (ANS). It provides a shift toward my parasympathetic system and invites a sense of serenity to my body and mind. The ANS is the part of the nervous system that governs the fight, flight, or freeze instinct and is responsible for many unconscious bodily functions such as breathing, digesting food, and regulating the heart rate. It also plays an important role
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Love the Earth Guided Meditation

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   Listen to this guided meditation, Love the Earth Welcome to this meditation with the intention of loving the Earth. The Earth is alive and in need of love. You can relate to it as a living being with a soul. Allow your relationship with the Earth to reflect love, compassion, and kindness. One way to love the Earth is by keeping it in your heart during the meditation. By practicing meditation with the soul of the planet in your heart, you can trigger a healing energy that can love the Earth back to health. To start, find a comfortable position. Sitting or lying down. And do your best to make sure you won’t be disturbed. When you are ready, gently close your eyes, and let yourself take a full deep breath. Give yourself permission to relax and witness your breath coming in and coming out.   Notice how your belly rises and falls. Next, as your breath deepens, let’s imagine a person, a memory, or any situations that helps you bring forth feelings of love and kindness. F
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Sleep Better (Part One)

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  Click  to watch this video on improving sleep Sleep Better (Part One) by Payam Ghassemlou Ph.D. Having trouble sleeping is common. You are not alone. Let’s stay hopeful and overcome this challenge. Your body is designed to welcome sleep. It needs sleep to rejuvenate and get you ready to have a productive day when you wake up in the morning. You can start by reminding yourself the simple fact that sleep is a natural part of life, and you deserve a restful sleep. Normalizing this process can reduce the anxiety you might have about sleep. When you are trying to sleep, by focusing on not being able to sleep or reasons behind having trouble sleeping, you probably are not going to fall sleep. When you focus on problems with sleeping, or any upsetting thoughts , you won’t feel relaxed. Such thinking can activate your nervous system and make it harder for you to go to sleep. Instead of worrying about sleep, let’s create a supportive bedtime ritual. I am going to describe an example of
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A Queer Perspective on Somatically Befriending Vulnerability

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  Since being vulnerable does not always come easily to many of us, it is important to have empathy for anyone who struggles with it. The internet is flooded with writings and talks on encouraging people to show vulnerability. Having trouble expressing it often gets associated with a lack of authenticity. Such judgmental interpretations can frequently trigger shame in people who don’t feel safe enough to be vulnerable due to certain socio-demographic factors. There is a misconception that expressing vulnerability is a matter of courage or just making a mental decision. By helping others reclaim it, I have realized the issue has little to do with bravery or honesty. It has more to do with the state of one’s nervous system. By having a somatic perspective on understanding vulnerability, we can open a new path toward befriending it.   There are many different paths toward befriending vulnerability which includes using the body to build a greater capacity to embrace it. Our response
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Location: California, USA
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Authoritarianism and the Harm to Psychotherapy by Payam Ghassemlou Ph.D.

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  My journey of becoming a psychotherapist with a passion for serving the LGBT community started over three decades ago. In those days, AIDS was devastating our community, and I wanted to make a difference. I started my counseling internship at the Los Angeles Gay and Lesbian center with a focus on helping people living with HIV/AIDS. As I look back on my journey of studying psychology and becoming a psychotherapist, I am realizing an obvious point. I learned how to practice psychotherapy in a democratic society. This is a crucial point because the kind of society where mental health services being offered makes a substantial difference. Given my experience with living or visiting other parts of the world, especially in places ruled by authoritarian regimes, I have learned psychotherapy can be a transformative process when practiced in a free society. It is difficult to help individuals reach their true potential in a closed society where fear dictates people’s lives. In places where
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The Queer Body Remembers: Somatic-Focused Trauma Healing By Payam Ghassemlou MFT, Ph.D.

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For many LGBTQ (lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, queer/questioning) people growing up was distressing due to homophobia and transphobia. Schools felt like a scary place for those who were scapegoated as queer. LGBTQ people of color reported even worse experiences due to the additional stress of racism and racial bullying. Many of the gay men’s personal narratives that I have heard are not vastly different from my own. Regardless of national origin or skin color, we are part of a tribe with similar stories of growing up in a homophobic and transphobic world where our true essence was repeatedly assaulted. As LGBTQ people, we have connected around the theme of “love is stronger than hate” which raised awareness about our injustice and suffering. Addressing these issues have helped people to become more concerned about the mistreatment of not only LGBTQ kids, but also any youngsters who do not flow with the mainstream. More work needs to be done to make the world a safer place for m
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Location: West Hollywood, CA, USA
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