About Sheryl
With decades of unresolved trauma locked in my body and numerous attempts to shift this through traditional talk therapy, I attended an introductory Somatic Experiencing (SE) workshop. After gaining a beginner’s understanding of trauma physiology and how traumatic energy can get stored in the body, I knew this was the key I had been looking for. Through the foundational SE training, and advanced trainings in somatic touch, I have personally experienced the profound changes that can happen when the nervous system and the body become central characters in the healing story. My goal is to gently assist you towards healthy regulation, and to a place where you can attune to yourself, others and the world around you while feeling safe. Trauma steals our safety, our curiousity and full access to our innate life force energy. My hope on our journey together is the safe container of therapy and my curiousity reignites your curiousity, and the spark that is you.
As I have progressed in my practice, attachment in early relationships and how this shapes our behaviours in relationships later in life, has become front and centre in my work. When under stress and perceived threat, our physiology can revert back to those early attachment adaptations and patterns for survival, as much as this confuses, confounds and frustrates our adult self, and those we’re in relationship with. Insecure attachment is not a life sentence. Through acknowledgement and honouring the adaptations our younger self developed and implemented to survive, recognizing the patterns that no longer serve us and practicing secure functioning behaviours, we can have the kinds of healthy, strong and resilient relationships we all dream of.
The foundation of my therapeutic approach is SE, and more recently I have added Internal Family Systems (IFS) and the Psychobiological Approach to Couples Therapy (PACT) to both my individual and couples’ work. I love to learn and constantly update my skills through in-person and distance education opportunities. In addition to various short courses and webinars, I have completed or am in the process of completing:
2018: Touching Trauma: Touch Skills for Trauma Therapists with Kathy Kain
2019: Somatic Resilience and Regulation: Early Trauma training program with Kathy Kain and Steve Terrell; Immersion training in Accelerated Experiential Dynamic Psychotherapy (AEDP) with Diana Fosha
2020: Somatics and Narrative with Kathy Kain; Somatics of Complex Emotions with Kathy Kain and Dr. Tony Richardson; Syndromes Master Class with Dr. Peter Levine
2021: Somatics of Emotions with Kathy Kain and Dr. Tony Richardson; Transforming the Experience-Based Brain (TEB), Transformational Touch training program with Steve Terrell; Levels 1 and 2 of the Psychobiological Approach to Couples Therapy (PACT) with Stan Tatkin and PACT Faculty
2022: Applied Internal Family Systems: Foundations Training (January and February 2022) and Stepping Stones Comprehensive Internal Family Systems (IFS) training (September 2022 to February 2023) with Internal Family Systems Counselling Association (IFSCA); Foundations in Somatic Abolitionism with Resmaa Menakem and Carlin Quinn (February and March 2022); Coupling Dynamic with Kathy Kain (October 2022)
2020 through 2023: Beginner through Advanced level Assistant, Kelowna SE Professional training (in progress)
My Credentials
I hold a Master of Arts in Counselling Psychology (MACP) and am a Registered Clinical Counsellor (RCC) with the BC Association of Clinical Counsellors (#12481). I am also a Somatic Experiencing(R) Practitioner (SEP) through the Somatic Experiencing(R) Training Institute. I have been endorsed as a Bronze level Occupationally Aware Clinician by the British Columbia Professional Firefighters Association (BCPFFA) and am a Level 2 PACT therapist.
I understand the effects trauma can have on employment. I hold a subspecialty in vocational rehabilitation and am a Registered Rehabilitation Professional (RRP) with the Vocational Rehabilitation Association of Canada (VRA) (#4878), and a Certified Vocational Rehabilitation Professional (CVRP) with the College of Vocational Rehabilitation Professionals (#1103).