Social Emotional Change

12/15/2024

Moving toward rest with every exhale, activation when we inhale. Slightly lengthen or simply focus on the aspect you'd like to enhance. If it doesn't feel good, stop.

08/12/2024

Leese has current availability for free therapy through VCAP funding, for any uninsured or medicaid-insured folks who have experienced a sexualized crime in Pennsylvania. If you or someone you know (please share!) struggles to access accurate care for traumatic events, check out the details about Leese’s work, VCAP, and PA’s uniquely sensitive approach with SA survivors in the comments below.

ID: Three daisies in stages of bloom, viewed from behind, on a green background. The words "reach grow heal" in white lettering on a black background, and in smaller lettering below, the words Social Emotional Change.

07/18/2024

Stuck & can't get moving?
Or constantly revving & can't rest? Maybe you just want to leave.

Each of these protective nervous system states makes sense for the global and local environments we live in. Unfortunately, our health AND effectiveness suffer when we stay stuck in one gear.

If telling ourselves to *feel better, do better* worked, that would be really great.

And...many of us have patterned these protections for survival, and our brains & bodies (not actually different things,) need support to shift fluidly.

Distilled relief...
Our neurofeedback services engage & affect flight/fight/freeze & rest/digest responses in the nervous system. It's tough to describe in words; the process is so simple, and yet so profound.

Sit comfortably, sensors on your scalp, hearing the sounds reflecting your brain's activity, speaking directly to your nervous system in its own language. Feel better, move through the world with fluid power.

We expect significant change in our clients' ability to meet the challenges of a tough time.

Clients report greater ease/rest, recognition of self & connection with loved ones/community, as well as relief from a wide range of what we call "mental" health issues and chronic suffering.

Schedule a free consult, and learn more about the change that's possible with accurate support. Neurofeedback is a private-pay offering.

03/23/2024

(4 of 4) Our practice:
Weekly virtual resilience practice group, regardless of the ability to pay: Taking Care, Thursdays 6pm EST

Infraslow Fluctuation (ISF) neurofeedback, in our Pittsburgh office.

Safe & Sound Protocol, available virtually in Pennsylvania.

Transformative psychotherapy, integrating Deep Brain Reorienting (DBR) & EMDR, in person in Pittsburgh and virtually in PA.

Links in bio.

03/20/2024

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Tuning in to relative safety (and imbalances in access) supports equity.

Clearing the effects and protections of first or repeated shocks helps us focus on what's real, right now.

Weekly virtual resilience practice group, regardless of the ability to pay: Taking Care, Thursdays 6pm EST

Infraslow Fluctuation (ISF) neurofeedback, in our Pittsburgh office.

Safe & Sound Protocol, available virtually in Pennsylvania.

Transformative psychotherapy, integrating Deep Brain Reorienting (DBR) & EMDR, in person in Pittsburgh and virtually in PA.

Links in bio.

03/20/2024

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Naming the reactions to these alarms “resistance” or “self-sabotage” makes it about individual responsibility instead of the systemic issues that required flight & fight in the first place.

If you're struggling with what looks like self-sabotage, reach out for support. We can help you untangle your protections from suppressions, on your own terms. It isn't about what WE think is safe enough for you. You deserve to access ease where it's available.

Weekly resilience practice group, regardless of the ability to pay: Taking Care, Thursdays 6pm EST, virtual/accessible from anywhere.

Infraslow Fluctuation (ISF) neurofeedback, in our Pittsburgh office.

Safe & Sound Protocol, available virtually in Pennsylvania.

Transformative psychotherapy, integrating Deep Brain Reorienting (DBR) & EMDR, in person in Pittsburgh and virtually in PA.

Links in bio.
Thanks, , for the graphic.

03/20/2024

1 of 4

A freeze state in the autonomic nervous system
represents stress that hasn't had a safe-enough place to release.

Appeasement (an automatic stress state, NOT A CHOICE) happens when the only available strategy is to suppress feelings to avoid the consequences of a shift in power-over us to power-with.

When some of that freeze starts melting, it might not be smooth. It can be hard to tell if we're accurate with our anger, or if it's coming out in places and intensities that's more about the long-term suppression than the current moment.





Thanks, , for the graphic.

12/04/2023

12/03/2023

Recently published in the NYT, and extra exciting for neurofeedback providers, because we witness and work with this clinically. The neural mechanism described-experiencing past trauma as present rather than memory-occurs in the posterior cingulate cortex, or PCC, a profoundly impacted area for folks with CPTSD (complex or developmental trauma.) SO, not just explicit flashbacks of single incident trauma, but the ongoing experience of being in the terror of there and then rather than the here and now.

"Dr. Ruth Lanius, the director of PTSD research at the University of Western Ontario who was not involved in the study, described it's findings as 'seminal,' both because it establishes that traumatic memories have distinct pathways and because it indicates that key mechanisms for traumatic memory may involve less-examined areas of the brain. Much research into PTSD has focused on the amygdala, the stress detection center of the brain, and the hippocampus, she said. The posterior cingulate cortex is 'really involved in the reliving of memories,' and in seeking self-relevance, which may explain why a sensory reminder may cause overwhelming fear or panic."
Reach out to ask about our neurofeedback strategies for PTSD-link in bio.

11/22/2023

Sara brings a gentle presence and fierce advocacy-a mix of peace and fire-to the care she provides.

Sara's "honored to witness the change clients manifest as they tune into their inner voice and reclaim their right to safer interconnectedness."

Sara began facilitating ISF neurofeedback sessions, the Safe & Sound Protocol, and Integrative Somatic Trauma care with SEC in late 2020.

Her favorite tools are Eugene Gendlin's Focusing, reflective listening, compassionate curiosity, and humor.

She's built her practice with us on the ground of nearly twenty years of previous work with survivors in the movement against intimate partner violence, and in reproductive healthcare.

We also deeply appreciate her work as our Director of Operations, building workplace systems from the mindset that workers deserve knowledge, transparency, justice and stability.

And she's got great style. Double-take: those boots!

Connect with us to experience Sara's kindness and support in your neurofeedback journey.
Link in bio.

09/28/2022

Appreciating the unintended benefits of a neurofeedback session.

03/13/2022

03/13/2022

Anyone else feeling deflated? Sometimes it's simply connection that does it for me, despite all the tuning tricks I have up my sleeve. Curiosity is a powerful mover of nervous systems, too; it can do some heavy lifting. More on the muscles Ruby mentions later...psoas, ever engaging. So much appreciation for the opportunity to share this time with the wonderful people I work with, the brilliant crew at SEC, every client and collaborator. I'm filled with wonder at the transformations we witness daily-- people becoming more themselves--and we blossom as facilitators as we tune in to the variations expressed in session. I hope you're feeling the autonomic story here, from exhausted overwhelm, through curiosity and the warmth of friends, mobilizing into collective action. I was looking for a bike photo while thinking, let's roll, since it's my favorite way to go, but Francesco Malavolta's image of strollers left by Polish parents for fleeing Ukrainians sums up the moment.
Thanks, .existed.
Love.

03/07/2022