Amy Williams LMHC, CYT

12/16/2025

This Sunday, Dec 21, marks the Winter Solstice, the shortest day, and the longest night of the year. Right in the middle of the "holiday chaos" as we over-consume alcohol, food, as well as material things-
Let's take this as a reminder to slow the pace- get comfortable. What can you do to honor this shift in balance?
Share meals with friends
Take a bath
Connect to nature
Light candles or get a fire going
Drink something warm
Bring nature indoors- make a Yule Altar with berries, green trimmings, pinecones, etc
Burn incense
Change your bedding and create a cozy sanctuary for yourself
What else?

Art is by 🎨Jessica Boehman- a Professor of the History of Art and Illustration

12/15/2025

I used to say becoming a therapist “was a calling.” To be honest, I never quite understood it myself. Though I could have used it earlier, I had never been in therapy until I was in grad school studying to become a therapist.

When I started to more deeply understand trauma- what it actually is, and how the body/mind hold both the imprint of it and the possibility of healing- it started to dawn on me that I too had experienced trauma.

Peter Levine Ph.D, founder of Somatic Experiencing, says “We often teach what we most need to learn.” Recognizing the traumatic stress held in my own body was an awakening of sorts. I swung the pendulum from the more abstract, esoteric view of “being a therapist was my calling” to what felt like a grounded explanation that based on my own early life experiences (+ an eldest daughter/middle child combo to boot!), it makes sense I became a therapist.

Truth is- it’s both. Concrete and a mystery.

I rediscovered this research paper I wrote at 12 years old about childhood trauma and abuse and it dawned on me-

I’ve been in this world a long time.

An invisible string connecting the dots all along.

This truly is my life’s calling. 😌✨

11/17/2025

what an incredible weekend we just had at our 3rd Somatic Healing Retreat! 🤩 i left this retreat with my heart full and feeling SO inspired by the bravery and vulnerability all the participants showed up with! between the nourishing meals, time spent in nature, plenty of mindful movement, connection with others, and sharing the education and embodied practices i feel so lucky to have learned throughout my career… i’m just basking in the bliss of how it all came together! 😌✨ it wouldn’t have been nearly as powerful and potent if it weren’t for how willing the participants were to show up for themselves and for others as well! bless all your hearts! i’m so glad to have met you! 🫶🏼🥰💞🙏🏼🏔️xo Amy Williams

11/08/2025

next weekend, babes! and we’ve got room for two more! 🤗



co

11/04/2025

🙅🏼‍♀️ Talking about your feelings is not the same as feeling them.

🏃🏼‍♀️There is often a lot of fear and confusion around feelings- we don’t know how to feel them, we worry we will get lost or stuck in them, or maybe we’re concerned how it’s going to look to others if we express them.

🗣️ There are plenty of GOOD reasons we don’t let ourselves feel our feelings. We may mistakenly think we are feeling our feelings when we sit in talk therapy, tell sad stories, or vent to a friend. But the reality is emotions happen inside the body and are expressed THROUGH the body.

💗 We heal when we can be with what we feel. When we can be with emotions in our bodies through watching and tracking sensation as it moves through us, emotions metabolize from stuck and stagnant energy into vitality and life force, allowing us to get back to (or get to know for the first time) our authentic self.

👉🏼Looking for more guidance on exactly HOW to be with your feelings? Join me at the Somatic Healing Retreat this fall in the White Mountains! Click the link in bio for more info and to register!

Inspiration: Hillary McBride PhD author of “The Wisdom of your Body”

11/03/2025

𝐈𝐟 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐡𝐚𝐯𝐞𝐧’𝐭 𝐧𝐨𝐭𝐢𝐜𝐞𝐝, ‘𝐬𝐨𝐦𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐜’ 𝐢𝐬 𝐪𝐮𝐢𝐭𝐞 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐛𝐮𝐳𝐳𝐰𝐨𝐫𝐝 𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐬𝐞 𝐝𝐚𝐲𝐬.

And what it literally means is "of the body." So y’all could have a somatic tea party and notice how the tea tastes, the temperature, all the things…

But ‘somatic’ alone doesn’t necessarily imply trauma healing.

𝐓𝐡𝐢𝐬 𝐢𝐬 𝐰𝐡𝐞𝐫𝐞 𝐬𝐨𝐦𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐜 𝐭𝐫𝐚𝐮𝐦𝐚 𝐫𝐞𝐬𝐨𝐥𝐮𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧 𝐝𝐢𝐟𝐟𝐞𝐫𝐬 𝐟𝐫𝐨𝐦 𝐨𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐫 𝐬𝐨𝐦𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐜 𝐩𝐫𝐚𝐜𝐭𝐢𝐜𝐞𝐬.

(Don't get me wrong... a somatic tea party sounds like a great time- and, that's not trauma resolution.)

Somatic trauma resolution specifically refers to completing incomplete stress response cycles and releasing the physiological survival responses (fight, flight, freeze, fawn) that get “stuck” in the nervous system after experiencing trauma.

𝙏𝙝𝙞𝙨 𝙞𝙨 𝙬𝙝𝙖𝙩 𝙢𝙖𝙠𝙚𝙨 𝙩𝙝𝙚 𝙎𝙤𝙢𝙖𝙩𝙞𝙘 𝙃𝙚𝙖𝙡𝙞𝙣𝙜 𝙍𝙚𝙩𝙧𝙚𝙖𝙩 𝙙𝙞𝙛𝙛𝙚𝙧𝙚𝙣𝙩.

🗓️ Friday, November 14 – Sunday, November 16, 2025

📍 The Bartlett Village House, Bartlett, NH

You will learn how to resolve trauma not just at the level of thought and memory, but at the level of the body, where it was stored.

You can begin right away to implement the education and practices in your life and walk away with a fresh, new perspective on yourself, your life, and others around you.

This retreat is for you if you’re navigating:

✔️ Stress, burnout, or fatigue

✔️ Anxiety, depression, or insomnia

✔️ Trauma, C-PTSD, or chronic pain

✔️ Or simply longing for more vitality, ease, and authentic connection with yourself

Let’s make space for you! Sign up at the link below! 💖

https://www.supyoadventures.com/tour-item/somatic-healing-retreat-at-the-bartlett-village-house/

11/01/2025

It’s not about rewriting history- it’s about rewiring physiology.

You see, our nervous system doesn’t differentiate between past and present.

It’s why when we experience flashbacks, through mental imagery or emotional state, it feels like the overwhelming event from the past is STILL happening in the present.

So, I invite you to open yourself up to the possibility that there is a valuable purpose in reimagining an alternative ending to overwhelming, traumatic, or stressful events from your past.

Consider: If things could have gone differently, what might have been less stressful? 🤔

To truly access the benefit here we have to go deeper than the mind. Rather than simply imagining an alternative ending, notice what happens in your body as you do so.

We are not changing the truth of your experience; Instead, we are soothing the way your body reacts to the truth.

Maybe your heart doesn’t beat quite as fast, you can be with the memory without your throat closing or feeling nauseous after you’ve inserted the presence of more support into the memory.

Join me at the upcoming Somatic Healing Retreat taking place in the White Mountains next month, where we are diving even deeper into this material.

At this retreat you will build a Somatic Experiencing Toolbox to support you in resolving symptoms of stress and trauma so you can build a healthier and more stable relationship with your body as a whole.

Together, we will learn how to develop an increasing tolerance for difficult bodily sensations and suppressed emotions that will help you discharge stored survival stress and access safety within, no matter what happens around you.

More info at the link in bio! 😘

11/01/2025

love these reframes!

Students often experience strong emotions they can’t yet name or control. These scripts help teachers use language that validates feelings, models emotional vocabulary, and guides students toward calm, safe, and adaptive responses.

11/01/2025

Marisa is always doing amazing things for her community! Stay tuned for info if you’d like to support!

The holidays are SO magical with children but can also be extremely stressful.

We here at .nurture.postpartum and wanted to help lighten the load for our community families this year, and have decided to create our very first community giving tree!

If your family could use a little extra support with gifts for your children this year, first of all- no shame at all. Secondly, we would LOVE to help. Please use the google form (linked in my bio as well as linked below in the comments) to sign up.

Please note that filling out the application does not guarantee gifts will be received. We are going to do our VERY best to ensure everyone gets gifts, but we are relying on community donations! We appreciate your understanding ❤️

The deadline to sign up for support is November 15th, so get those applications in!

And to our community members who want to help, details on how to support a family for the holidays this year are coming soon, so stay tuned!

10/27/2025

𝘼𝙨 𝙬𝙤𝙧𝙡𝙙-𝙧𝙚𝙣𝙤𝙬𝙣𝙚𝙙 𝙩𝙧𝙖𝙪𝙢𝙖 𝙚𝙭𝙥𝙚𝙧𝙩 𝘿𝙧. 𝙂𝙖𝙗𝙤𝙧 𝙈𝙖𝙩𝙚 𝙥𝙪𝙩𝙨 𝙞𝙩, “𝙏𝙧𝙖𝙪𝙢𝙖 𝙞𝙨 𝙣𝙤𝙩 𝙬𝙝𝙖𝙩 𝙝𝙖𝙥𝙥𝙚𝙣𝙨 𝙩𝙤 𝙮𝙤𝙪; 𝙩𝙧𝙖𝙪𝙢𝙖 𝙞𝙨 𝙬𝙝𝙖𝙩 𝙝𝙖𝙥𝙥𝙚𝙣𝙨 𝙞𝙣𝙨𝙞𝙙𝙚 𝙤𝙛 𝙮𝙤𝙪, 𝙖𝙨 𝙖 𝙧𝙚𝙨𝙪𝙡𝙩 𝙤𝙛 𝙬𝙝𝙖𝙩 𝙝𝙖𝙥𝙥𝙚𝙣𝙚𝙙 𝙩𝙤 𝙮𝙤𝙪.”

It’s undeniable- stress and trauma impact us at the deepest layer of our being, the nervous system.

𝗛𝗲𝗮𝗹𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝘀𝗼𝗺𝗮𝘁𝗶𝗰𝗮𝗹𝗹𝘆 𝗶𝗻𝘃𝗼𝗹𝘃𝗲𝘀 𝗹𝗲𝗮𝗿𝗻𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝘁𝗼 𝘂𝗻𝗱𝗲𝗿𝘀𝘁𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗹𝗮𝗻𝗴𝘂𝗮𝗴𝗲 𝗼𝗳 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗯𝗼𝗱𝘆.

This is why the role of psychoeducation in healing from stress and trauma cannot be overstated. If the nervous system speaks its own language, then education is the A in the ABC’s.

This piece of the puzzle is so important because as human animals, our complex higher brain likes to understand what is going on.

When we understand the complexity of our physiology and how our body holds onto survival stress (fight/flight/freeze), we can better support ourselves through our present moment experience when old, stored survival stress comes to the surface to be released.

Without this understanding, we fall into automatic patterns of avoidance and suppression, draining us of our vitality and creating painful and distressing symptoms.

𝗧𝗵𝗿𝗼𝘂𝗴𝗵 𝗲𝗱𝘂𝗰𝗮𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻 𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝗲𝗺𝗯𝗼𝗱𝗶𝗲𝗱 𝗽𝗿𝗮𝗰𝘁𝗶𝗰𝗲, 𝘄𝗲 𝗹𝗲𝗮𝗿𝗻 𝘁𝗼 𝗴𝗿𝗼𝘄 𝗼𝘂𝗿 𝗰𝗮𝗽𝗮𝗰𝗶𝘁𝘆 𝘁𝗼 𝗯𝗲 𝘄𝗶𝘁𝗵 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝘃𝗮𝘀𝘁 𝗲𝘅𝗽𝗲𝗿𝗶𝗲𝗻𝗰𝗲𝘀 𝗼𝗳 𝗹𝗶𝗳𝗲, 𝘁𝗼 𝗲𝘅𝗽𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝗼𝘂𝗿 𝗮𝗯𝗶𝗹𝗶𝘁𝘆 𝘁𝗼 𝗵𝗼𝗹𝗱 𝗯𝗼𝘁𝗵 𝗽𝗹𝗲𝗮𝘀𝘂𝗿𝗲 𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝗽𝗮𝗶𝗻, 𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝘁𝗼 𝗿𝗲𝗰𝗼𝗻𝗻𝗲𝗰𝘁 𝘄𝗶𝘁𝗵 𝗼𝘂𝗿 𝗯𝗼𝗱𝘆’𝘀 𝗶𝗻𝗻𝗮𝘁𝗲 𝗮𝗯𝗶𝗹𝗶𝘁𝘆 𝘁𝗼 𝗵𝗲𝗮𝗹.

It's time to get off the hamster wheel you're stuck on and discover new ways of relating to yourself, others, and the world around you!

We’re diving into all this material and more at the Somatic Healing Retreat! Click the link below to learn more & sign up!

https://www.supyoadventures.com/tour-item/somatic-healing-retreat-at-the-bartlett-village-house/

10/26/2025

Halloween is quite possibly my favorite time of year. 🧚🏻 This season and this holiday give full permission to enter into play and creativity. 🤸🏼‍♀️

When I think back to what made me happiest as a child, it was exactly that. The hours I spent sewing sleeping bags and backpacks for my beanie babies, drawing and painting portraits of myself and my friends, and experimenting with makeup long before middle school (bright blue eye shadow a la mimi of the drew carey show was always my favorite 🤪) - these are the things that shaped me. 🎨🧵💄

I find as an adult it’s easy let the seriousness of life take over. When I fall into that trap I become frozen, dull, apathetic, and somehow both over and underwhelmed. 🙅🏼‍♀️

So when this season comes around and I allow myself to tap back into the spirit of play and creativity that makes up who I am, I reconnect with a deep sense of flow and authenticity (all signs of a healthy nervous system in a ventral vagal state!)

Proud of my first DIY costume I made for my daughter this year! It needed a spot on the feed. 🙃 Anchoring into creativity and play is truly therapeutic. 🧚🏻🔮✨🦇