Meet Chanel Vysohlid, Your Somatic Experience Therapist
“As a Somatic Experiencing therapist, I believe that behind every symptom and treatment-based strategies lies a human longing to feel safe, seen, and connected. We are biologically wired to belong, and when that need goes unmet for long enough, shame takes root in the body’s ecosystem. This shapes how we move through threat and protection. By tending to these deeper social and emotional needs, we support the body in completing old survival patterns and return to regulation.”
-Chanel
Our story
First of all... nice to meet you! I’m Chanel Vysohlid, and your healing is my passion!
My work is dedicated to supporting people in reconnecting with themselves through the body, relationship, and nervous system.
Depending on where you meet me, you may know me as a Somatic Experiencing Practitioner, Clinical Supervisor, Breathwork Facilitator, Regenerative Practitioner, or mentor. My work brings together years of clinical training, nervous system education, attachment theory, somatic practices, and an intuitive understanding of the human experience.
While my approach is grounded in research and education, it is equally shaped by something that cannot be learned through theory alone: presence, the body's direct experience, and something that feels almost like magic-something that cannot be fully explained, quantified or defined.
Over the years, I have learned that transformation rarely comes from insight alone. Because we can understand ourselves deeply and still find ourselves stuck in the same patterns.
Somatics has shown us, through decades of contemporary research and centuries of embodied practice, that deep and lasting well-being emerges through direct experience in the body and within an attuned therapeutic relationship. While these ancient practices have gained mainstream attention, they are often simplified or reduced to wellness trends, losing much of their depth. It is through these embodied experiences that new ways of relating, feeling, and being become possible.
My Path Into This Work
My journey into this work was not linear.
For nearly two decades, I lived with an eating disorder while searching for answers through countless practitioners, modalities, and approaches. Alongside my own healing journey, I worked professionally in addiction, disordered eating, personality disorders, and mental health, including my time as a clinical counsellor at Cedars Recovery Centre.
Through both my personal and professional experiences, I came to see the same pattern; insight and the desire for change matter, but they don't always reach the body and psyche where they are.
Many people are incredibly self-aware. They understand their histories, patterns, and wounds, yet still find themselves repeating the same protective responses toward themselves, others, or life's circumstances.
I experienced this myself.
For years, I searched for the thing that would finally make me feel whole. It wasn't until I discovered somatic work that healing began to feel different. For the first time, my body was no longer something to overcome or control - it became part of the conversation.
I began to feel safe in my own female body. I found choice where there had once been conditioning. I rebuilt my relationship with myself through somatic awareness, connection, self-trust, and integrity, reinforcing new neural pathways with each practice.
That experience transformed the way I embody what it means to be well and to live well, and it continues to inform how I support others today.
My Approach
Four principles are at the core of my work as a Nature led and Relational focused Somatic Experience Therapist:
While cognitive understanding and insight are valuable, lasting change often requires a new experience within the nervous system. We cannot always think our way out of the patterns that were formed through relationship, survival, and adaptation.
I believe healing happens in relationship. Many of our deepest wounds occur through connection with others, which means many of our deepest forms of healing also happen through safe, attuned connection with another.
I believe nature is one of our greatest teachers. The natural world continually reminds us that regulation, resilience, and regeneration are not things we force -they are capacities that already exist within us and can be restored when the conditions support them.
I believe there is no such thing as a hopeless case. Just as nature has an incredible ability to regenerate, so do we. The human body, mind, and spirit hold an extraordinary capacity for healing and transformation.
"As a Somatic Experience Therapist, my guidance is rooted in the landscape of my clients body. I believe that every human holds an intrinsic map for well-being, and it's my role to help you access this map."
Our philosophy
If you are here, you belong.
What It Is Like to Work With Me
No two people are the same.
I do not believe in applying a one-size-fits-all framework to human beings. Instead, I work with the nervous system, the body, and the person in front of me. Every session is collaborative, responsive, and shaped by what is present in the moment.
Whether we work together through therapy, supervision, mentorship, or group spaces, my intention is not to tell you who you should become. It is to help you reconnect with what has always been there beneath survival patterns, conditioning, and the roles you have learned to carry.
I care deeply about the people I work with and the lives they are creating. It is a natural expression of who I am to pour into others and bring my full presence to our work together, because I know many of the people I support are the ones who spend their lives holding everything and everyone else.
They are the caregivers. The leaders. The helpers. The ones others rely on.
They deserve a space where someone is deeply invested in them, too.
One of the things I hear most often is, "I've never felt this seen before."
Helping people feel deeply seen, understood, and safe is at the heart of my work. For many, that experience alone begins to transform the way they relate to themselves, their relationships, their patterns and addictions, and ultimately, the world around them.
When we are met with genuine presence and attunement, the nervous system begins to discover new possibilities.
Being truly seen can also bring vulnerability. It can activate emotions, old protective patterns, and survival responses as new ways of relating begin to emerge. Sometimes the process feels messier before it feels more spacious, as the body reorganizes around new experiences and possibilities.
Throughout our work together, we move at a pace your system can safely integrate.
Who Is Chanel For
The people I tend to support are often the ones who hold a lot.
The sensitive souls. The leaders. The entrepreneurs. The practitioners, healers, helpers, and bodyworkers. The mothers and fathers carrying the weight of their families. The people others naturally turn to.
I work with people who are ready to move beyond dogmatic healing, symptom management, and cognitive understanding and begin experiencing a deeper sense of somatic safety, resilience, and alignment in their lives.
This work is for those who have done the inner work - perhaps through traditional therapy, personal development, or years of self-reflection - but still feel there is another layer waiting to be explored.
You may be someone who carries significant responsibility, holds the expectations of others, or feels deeply committed to creating meaningful change in your life, your work, or the world around you.
You may know something needs to shift, even if you cannot yet see exactly what that shift looks like.
This work is not about quick fixes. It is for those seeking deeper, longer-term support to create a life, business, and relationships that feel more aligned, authentic, and sustainable.
For those longing for safe, authentic connection and a compassionate perspective that helps you see yourself and your circumstances with greater clarity, empowerment, and possibility - you are welcome here.
My greatest privilege is witnessing people remember (or for the first time) who they are beneath everything they learned they had to be and it is an honour I never take lightly.
The Lineage of my experience and teachings
I’m a relatively new practitioner in this field (since 2022), though my own personal journey with this work began in 2005. Over the years, I’ve been fortunate to learn from mentors, teachers, and professors who are pioneers in their industries. Their guidance has shaped my forward-thinking approach to somatic work and this profession.
I don’t follow fleeting healing trends, nor do I subscribe to practices that may sway the public's understanding of their own body intelligence. Instead, I am committed to staying true to the core principles of somatic work, always challenging the status quo to ensure that the healing process remains grounded, authentic, and empowering.
Embody Lab Somatic Attachment Therapy Training: Certified Attachment and Relationship Therapist
Inner Relationship Focussing Training with Founder Ann Weiser Cornell
Regenerative Alchemy Somatic Training with Founder Dr Sarah Coxon
Dr Sarah Coxon: Nature-led Somatic Mentor and founder of Regenerative Alchemy
Pause Somatic Coaching: Certified by Sam Skelly, Mentorship by Laurie Ann and Marci Nikirk
Dr John: Mentor at Cedars Cobble Hill Addiction Treatment Center, My role as a Clinical Counsellor.
Canadian School of Natural Nutrition and Functional Medicine: Certified, RHN
The Academy of Breath: Ava Johanna Certified, IFB
Dr Ellen Domm: Mentor, Internal Family Systems
Richard C. Schwartz: Founder of Internal Family Systems, teachings and learnings
Peter A Levine: Founder of Somatic Experiencing, teachings and learnings
Institute for the Psychology of Eating: Marc David, Certified, Mind Body Nutrition and Eating Psychology.
Octopus Gardens: Certified, Yoga Alliance 200hours.
Stephany A Brown: Reiki Level 1,2,3, Certified
Diederik Wolsak, Gad Sprukt, Saskia Wolsak, Fed Wilberts, Dawn Green, Sean Smith: Mentors and learnings, Choose Again Facility and Intensive Retreat Center, Spiritual based practices for early childhood trauma.
Experience
Over 2000 hours of somatic coaching, clinical therapy, case management, breathwork and facilitating.
Other Education and Experience
BCIT and Capilano University: Business Management
Various Soul-Led Business Communities: Mentorships Susan Francis and Makenzie, Founder of Love your Mondays
Pro Merita Academy: Yoga and mental health for young athletes, Director
What I’m just good at! (no certification or education needed)
The ability to quickly recognize default patterns, exiled parts, and shadows -our hidden and suppressed power and shame.
I’m pretty witchy! I sense, see and understand others' pain, emotional needs, gifts/talents, and potential. I do this through my own felt sense, often with little to no dialogue needed from the person.
I recognize the gaps often missed in mental health and wellness spaces. By assessing what needs to come first, I honour the natural rhythm and essential steps required for true, sustainable well-being.
Creating a space where others feel safe enough to be their most vulnerable, messy, and authentic selves-even those who are typically more stoic or guarded. I’ve found that this is how many of my clients are able to move through some of their most shameful and painful challenges.
Offering a fresh perspective-one that challenges the societal norms and conventional ideas of healing that many aren’t able to see. I see the truth and magic in things, and when this information is shared by someone you deeply trust, it can feel like a year of therapy and sense of freedom at a soul level.
Instant recognition of patterns inside relationships between individuals. I can create effective ways to communicate that creates harmony so my client is seen, heard and validated by their partner.
Identifying where cognitive therapy falls short, and understanding what’s needed to help clients move past stuck patterns, behaviours, or difficult relationships.
I’m very comfortable working with issues related to food, body image, binge eating, bulimia, and “root causes” around addiction. I understand these struggles deeply, having experienced them myself. My approach is empowering, as I know these challenges often affect highly sensitive, creative, and emotionally intelligent people. I want to help normalize what you’re experiencing and offer perspectives that move beyond the clinical or dogmatic approaches often used.
My embodiment of intentional living and femininity can often be what attracts clients, and I have noticed, time and time again, it provides permission for them to do the same and explore their own unique blueprint of this.
My Lineage
Daughter, Sister, Granddaughter to Carla, Mendel, Lauren, Sophie, Dorothy, and Milan.
I was born in Vancouver, British Columbia, and am deeply rooted in a rich heritage that blends Cheque Republican, Russian, and Chinese ancestry. Each branch of my family has shaped who I am today, and I carry their stories, traditions, and wisdom with me as I continue to grow and learn.
I am mom to fur baby Archie and horses Vito and Spirit.
How I run my business
Somatics is my full-time work, grounded in a soul-driven commitment to integrating embodiment into addiction, therapeutic, and spiritual spaces. Beyond these settings, I work directly within communities to support safety and stability in bodies affected by systemic conditions.
This choice to step outside of private practice is deeply rooted in what felt integral and aligned for me. The growth of all my ventures has been intentional, sustainable, and always centered on people before profit.
Everything you read here is written by me. My words, my message.
When it comes to my therapeutic practice, I’m, for the most part, a one-woman show. That said, I’m blessed with incredible support from a few like-minded, female-led entrepreneurs and practitioners who help me create structure for client experiences and co-facilitate workshops and collaborative offerings.
My own embodiment is at the heart of this work. I navigate my businesses and support my clients from an aligned, regulated, and creative space. As a nature-inspired practitioner, I bring the same principles into how I run my business. I move with the rhythm of the seasons, creating and launching new services when the time feels right-just as nature calls them forward. I honour the need to slow down and pause when Mother Earth invites me to do so. I dance with the cycles of the moon and my own feminine rhythm, allowing these natural flows to guide my work.
I know that to be truly effective in what I do, I must remain a student. That’s why I consistently invest in spaces that support the ongoing expansion and refinement of my skills and craft.