Gwen Mc Hale, Somatic Therapist and Educator

06/04/2026

06/04/2026

Yet through depression we enter depths and in depths find soul. Depression is essential to the tragic sense of life. It moistens the dry soul, and dries the wet. It brings refuge, limitation, focus, gravity, weight, and humble powerlessness . . . The true revolution begins in the individual who can be true to his or her depression. Neither jerking oneself out of it, caught in cycles of hope and despair, nor suffering it through till it turns . . . but discovering the consciousness and depths it wants. So begins the revolution on behalf of soul.

James Hillman
Sculpture by Albert Georgy

06/04/2026

Important to remember that we are more than our personality and survival adaptations. The 'I' is still there under all the layers of protection that we have needed to survive in this world. The 'I' can be uncovered with enough time, safety and love.

06/04/2026

Kalsched's work on trauma has had a big impact on me also - I am looking forward to reading this conversation he had with the wonderful Daniela Sieff.

16/03/2026

Dissociation is not always floaty & mellow. Sometimes dissociation is wrapped around "fight" or "flee" responses that are anything but chill.
And let me introduce you to fun things many survivors know called "dissociative rage" & dissociative self-injury.

07/03/2026

Shame is part of being human, and so healing from chronic shame does not mean getting rid of it. Instead, it means learning how to recognise it and steady ourselves when it arises.

Have you been working with your own chronic shame? If so, what helps you find your footing when shame threatens to take over?

07/03/2026

That "compartmentalization" thing that got so many trauma survivors through so much sh*t gets harder as we recover—& that's actually good news. Mind you, it won't FEEL like "good news"— but it means we're nudging toward integration, which is what true healing is all about.

03/03/2026

For a long time, I thought healing meant getting everything right. Saying the right things. Responding the right way. Not feeling too much. Not needing too much.

But that was just another performance.

Healing has looked more like sitting with the uncomfortable truth. Admitting when something hurt. Acknowledging when I was angry. Letting myself grieve what I pretended did not matter.

It is less polished than I expected. Less impressive. More human.

Each time you choose honesty over pretending you are fine, something shifts. You stop abandoning yourself to keep the peace. You stop shrinking to look strong.

Wholeness is not built on perfection. It is built on truth.