Aiya Staller Somatic Art Psychotherapy

04/01/2025

Hi Friends, Colleagues, & Followers! I have developed a small group practice branching from my private practice that focuses on providing somatic-informed, art therapy-informed, and other trauma-informed experiential therapies that honor the unique qualities in each person. This branch is an opportunity to provide more accessible & culturally relevant services, especially to folx who are q***r, neurodivergent, trauma-survivors, or highly sensitive.

And, am excited to welcome a new team member, Raymond Tapia. Raymond (he/they) brings a thoughtful, present, kind, depth to their work & has current openings for both private pay and medicaid clients.

Charlotte Lovejoy (she/her) is also continuing to accept clients interested in art therapy, somatic-informed, and trauma-informed therapy. She has a warm, thorough, attuned presence that weaves in multiple modalities.

I continue to see private clients and supervise through my private practice, focusing on Somatic Art Therapy. Staying connected to client work remains close to my heart.

If you are interested in checking out the new practice offering or interested in working with a therapist with the True Essence Therapy group, please check us out at

Integrative therapy services that utilize art therapy, somatic therapy, and evidence based practices to support trauma-informed healing, anxiety, and relationships. LGBTQ+ Celebrating. Neurodivergent informed. Open to all.

03/15/2024

A pleasure to connect with this wonderful group of people @ Naropa. Check them out if you are in your own process around creating meaningful/aligned work.

01/23/2022

11/25/2021

Being gentle during the holidays with the variety of grief and love present. An article with reflections from Merryl Erin Rothaus on ways to approach holidays when it isn't so simple.

https://www.health.com/mind-body/grief-during-the-holidays?fbclid=IwAR1SmsujuhcX0ffO1y5grr65Nt-ElU9lQgdSpSx1WrXqh3zzzd5L0BgD1JU

07/11/2020

A resource put together by Marisol Norris, MT-BC, Britton Williams, LCAT, RDT/BCT and Leah Gipson, LCPC, ATR-BC to support BIPOC students through COVID-19. Grants for various supports in creative arts therapies education. Check out or share to those who may be interested in either donating to the grant fund or receiving support from it.
https://www.arttherapystudies.com/?fbclid=IwAR0cXZ9SrS6sUM-MRNKk0QE57QhnSIUOGaSkrd2TswUVGwhoTjOB6GS4xII

The mission of the BIPOC Student Fund by Black Arts Therapies Educators is to provide access and support for Black, Indigenous, and People of Color in creative arts therapies education programs. As many colleges move to remote-learning and online platforms during the COVID-19 pandemic, BIPOC student...

05/12/2020

As the unknowns about the future impact of COVID19 continue...many of us have settled into a "new normal" of uncertainty...how do we navigate this? There is an important call to reflect, come back to ourselves when able, and find resource within the experience. Sometimes turning towards the unknown is the best resource and call to alive-ness we can get. Even amidst the true challenge present during this time.

https://www.aiyastaller.com/aiya-staller-psychotherapy-blog/2020/5/11/recalibrating-finding-a-way-in-uncertainty-amp-emotions-as-a-resource

Recalibrate: Transitive Verb.: to calibrate (something) again…these systems gradually drift off course so that the navigator periodically needs a fresh point of reference to calibrate the navigation system. – Merriam-Webster Dictionary How can I recalibrate through this process?  &

03/21/2020

As we navigate this liminal space regarding the emergent COVID-19 situation together, I'm wanting to remind everyone that there are supports and resources available during this time. I wrote this to help us navigate/cope in these times of uncertainty. May we move through this with as much support as possible.

https://www.aiyastaller.com/aiya-staller-psychotherapy-blog/2020/3/21/7-ways-to-support-mental-wellbeing-through-covid-19

We are all together in this liminal space between what once was and what is not yet known regarding the emergent situation in the U.S…. Riding waves of emotions, numbness, irritation, appetite/sleep changes, and difficulty with focus are all normal parts of stress, loss, and change. For most peopl...

03/16/2020

Suggestions for Your Mental Wellbeing during Coronavirus:
1. Monitor what news outlets/social media you are tracking, look for fact-based reports and perhaps limit the number of times you check this each day (enough to be informed, but not overwhelmed/anxious)
2. Stick to a routine as much as possible. Change is difficult for most people and finding comfort in the familiar is often helpful. This could include: sticking to a regular sleep/wake cycle, getting dressed in the morning/showering, eating food at regular times, working from home at regular work hours when possible/working regular work hours as possible, exercise regularly/taking walks/stretching. If you don’t have a routine, consider creating one that feels do-able for you. If you live with others, create a routine together if useful. Note: many yoga, dance, and exercise classes are moving to online- some are even free on Instagram/youtube/etc.
3. Nervous System Regulation Strategies: Identify 1-5 things each day that you have control over/can do or enjoy, set up a facetime/online date with someone you love, stick to a regular mediation routine if you have one, use healthy distraction (reading, projects you have wanted to do, etc), take 10 (or more) belly/diaphragm breaths (even in/out breath and perhaps slightly longer on the outbreath) several times through the day, get outside and move/discharge anxious energy, express yourself (art or “mood mandalas” are great for this), use cold water/ice packs/wet wash clothes on your face to calm your nervous system, share what you are grateful for/love (either in a journal or with a friend/loved one).
4. Limit Stressful Activities & Plan Ahead for them:
a. Grocery stores are difficult place to be right now- try to go at a less busy hour (and less busy location), take a list with you (but expect that many things may be out), and be flexible. Plan a relaxing activity before/after this. Consider delivery if this is available.
b. Track the tendency to avoid and let important tasks pile up: read important email updates from work/school/loved ones, update your calendar with changing events, take time to learn electronic modes of connection. Pace yourself with this though (don’t try to do it all at once).
5. Don’t Suffer Ahead of Time. It is easy for the brain to think towards the future, catastrophize, worry, and imagine the worst. Monitor healthy planning ahead with staying present in the moment. Do a self check-in/body scan and track what it is actually like in the present. Is the sun shining? Do you have the food you need right now? What can you do right now to enjoy the moment?
6. Remember….this will pass. Though it may take some time, this will pass. The nature of life is change.
7. Check with your therapist about continued sessions: therapists are offering a variety of options right now, including video sessions. Connection is important to reduce social isolation/maintain mental health.

Sending you so much love, support, and patience through this time we are navigating together. Art often flourishes during difficult times- so connect with art that speaks to you (music, painting, reading/poetry, writing, drawing, singing, etc)!

With Care,

Aiya

01/23/2020

Somatic meditation recording resource for use at home! The label "meditation" is a broad term encompassing many practices from various religions, philosophies, and cultures. In therapy, it is often used as a way to "arrive" or connect with the present moment in a gentle way....allowing us to meet what is most meaningful, or alive, for us. It can also be used to calm our nervous system, so we can connect more deeply to what is true for us/our bodies. The goal of these recordings is to provide a tool to support home practice sessions that support the nervous system- centering, and connecting more fully to ourselves- so we can engage in our lives in more satisfying ways. Regularly connecting to ourselves with mindfulness meditation has been found effective in trauma recovery, addiction recovery, and mental health. That being said, I'm planning on creating a series of somatic based, and possibly EMDR therapy influenced, meditation recordings that can be used at home to supplement individual therapy- to support nervous system regulation/calming/connecting to ourselves. The first one is up- please check it out and let me know how it lands for you! I hope it can be useful in your process.
www.aiyastaller.com/aiya-staller-psychotherapy-blog/2020/1/23/being-with-yourself-a-series-on-somatic-meditation-as-a-resource-in-therapy

When we are experiencing stress, anxiety, or perhaps even trauma responses- it can be difficult to connect to ourselves, relax, or know what is true for us. When stressed, many of us experience a racing mind and tense body…searching to find an external answer to fix whatever it is that is causing ...

11/25/2019

The creative process has been known to promote health, healing, community, and relief for many people throughout history. It sounds as though the Global Wellness Organization (WHO) is now taking a closer look at harnessing this.

“There’s a variety of ways in which the arts can help. They can be emotional, emotional, physical, spiritual. That’s sort of the stamina of the arts: they can be what you need them to be for your health and wellness needs.”

https://www.rrbondgalleries.com/art-therapy-is-finally-being-taken-seriously-as-a-tool-for-boosting-health/

Art therapy is finally being taken seriously as a tool for boosting health Posted on November 19, 2019 by Jared Sanchez On Monday, the Globe Wellness Company’s Regional Office of Europe dove deep right into the art world. In a new report, it carried its significant power and also resources towards...

09/30/2019

“Health is the ability to stand in the spaces between realities without losing any of them. This is what I believe self-acceptance means and what creativity is really all about—the capacity to feel like one self while being many” ~Bromberg 1998

09/06/2019

"Some periods of our growth are so confusing that we don’t even recognize that growth is happening. We may feel hostile or angry or weepy and hysterical, or we may feel depressed. It would never occur to us, unless we stumbled on a book or a person who explained to us, that we were in fact in the process of change, of actually becoming larger, spiritually, than we were before. Whenever we grow, we tend to feel it, as a young seed must feel the weight and inertia of the earth as it seeks to break out of its shell on its way to becoming a plant. Often the feeling is anything but pleasant. But what is most unpleasant is the not knowing what is happening. Those long periods when something inside ourselves seems to be waiting, holding its breath, unsure about what the next step should be, eventually become the periods we wait for, for it is in those periods that we realize that we are being prepared for the next phase of our life and that, in all probability, a new level of the personality is about to be revealed." —Alice Walker