Frequently Asked Questions About Working with a Somatic Coach
Understanding the Role and Benefits of a Somatic Coach
What is Breathwork and Somatic Healing?
As a Somatic Coach and Therapist, I guide you through body-centered practices which support the completion of threat response cycles and become a gateway for emotional, mental, and spiritual transformation.
When we use the word “somatic,” we’re referring to something related to the body. As such, healing trauma, from a somatic lens, means we are being asked to lean into what we are receiving from our bodies, rather than overriding or going against (this is usually done within the mind) the messages our nervous system is telling us.
Breathwork, as Chanel facilitates it, is a relational practice that fosters emotional, mental, and spiritual coherence. It’s a body-centered practice where a trained practitioner guides you through different conscious breathing techniques. I always say that with breathwork as a tool, healing naturally occurs where it's needed, without us always needing to understand the "why."
Somatic healing is an umbrella term for embodiment practices that address the stories, beliefs and narratives that are weaved within our physiology, tissues and cells. It involves engaging the body, alongside the intellect, to cultivate deep body awareness, enhance emotional and nervous system regulation, and strengthen a sense of agency and autonomy, ultimately supporting the reintegration of fragmented or exiled parts and guiding a person back to wholeness. Somatic healing permits us to liberate ourselves from our mental protectors and tap into the infinite wisdom of our bodies, allowing for feeling and integration in a deeply nourishing and sustainable way.
Some other examples of somatic practices used in body-based therapies include parts work, grounding, movement, sounding, touch and sensation awareness.
What is A Relationship-Centered Approach to Trauma and Attachment
Attachment-informed somatics is at the heart of Chanel’s practice, shaping the way she facilitates this body of work. It is an approach to healing that integrates principles from attachment theory with body-based (somatic) practices. It recognizes that our earliest relational experiences shape not only how we think and feel, but also how our nervous system learns to respond to connection, stress, safety, and intimacy, based on the feedback we received (or didn’t receive) from our caregivers. It reflects the lived experience of “was something too much, or was there not enough?” Both can create ruptures, and both can fall under the umbrella of trauma.
Mainstream media often links attachment work primarily to romantic relationships, but these patterns extend far beyond intimacy with partners. They shape how we relate to ourselves, to food, to substances, to work, and to the ways we seek comfort, control, or escape. Patterns of anxiety, avoidance, or disconnection frequently show up in the body as tension, shutdown, reactivity, or numbing, often outside of conscious awareness.
Attachment therapy unfolds within a relational, attuned therapeutic space, where the connection between practitioner and client becomes an essential part of the healing process. How one attaches within this relationship often reflects broader attachment patterns, offering a meaningful opportunity to explore and reshape them in real time. Through consistency, presence, and co-regulation, new experiences of safety, trust, and connection can begin to emerge.
Over time, attachment repair helps to gently unwind survival patterns and create space for greater agency, self-trust, and emotional resilience. It supports the healing of fragmented or exiled parts, allowing individuals to relate to themselves, and all aspects of their lives, with more compassion, choice, and coherence.
What is Nature-Inspired Somatics?
A nature-inspired lens to somatic healing and health is a holistic way of living that draws on the wisdom and rhythms of the natural world to guide the body, psyche and soul towards wholeness. This approach recognizes the interconnectedness of all living systems, including the body, and uses principles from nature to inform and mirror back the process of regenerative healing. It honours the body’s natural ability to heal and grow, just as nature does with plants, animals, and ecosystems.
In this framework, we invite Mother Earth and Universal Truths to lead the way, welcoming the magic of the unseen and coming into contact with the mysterious forces at play. It is the intersection of mystery, magic and our lived experience - where the body’s wisdom meets the natural ,and supernatural, worlds.
What is Somatic Internal Human System Therapy?
Also known as parts work or inner child healing, this therapy addresses differences and conflicts in “agendas” between parts that are usually responsible for gridlock in your emotional healing. Let me give you an example. Think about your own healing journey. You want to heal. And you know, on some level, that your healing requires that you take action. But despite that strong desire, there’s another part of you that wants to stay in your comfort zone where it feels familiar and (seems) safe. Those two different parts of you, then, come into conflict – leading to feelings of inner conflict. Basically, “Parts work” is our way of understanding our sense of self as being complex and multifaceted. It’s based on modern neuroscience. Different parts of yourself can be triggered depending on what you’re going through. That’s why it can sometimes feel like we’re behaving and responding to various situations in our life as different versions of ourselves.
How does Somatic Coaching and Therapy Work?
Somatic coaching and therapy works by helping you to develop a deeper awareness of your body and how it stores information. Our bodies are constantly giving us information about our thoughts, feelings and emotions, but often we are not aware of it. Somatic coaching and therapy helps you tune into the intelligence of your body and tap into its natural healing abilities.
To simply “feel our feelings” isn’t helpful, and can become overwhelming. Instead, this work allows you to do it in a way that feels deeply supportive and liberating, while honouring the capacity of our nervous system. Coaching allows us to go beyond our trauma, it taps us into dormant resources and bodies blueprints that bring online joy, purpose, nourishment, expansion, creativity, self expression, sovereignty and abundance.
Through somatic coaching and therapy, you will learn to tune into your body’s needs and respond with greater compassion and awareness. This means learning to be with the messages your body sends, such as pain, discomfort, or illness. And not as something to diagnose or pathologize, but as signals of unmet social and emotional needs.
Somatic coaching can also involve working through painful memories and uncomfortable emotions, helping you break free from unwanted patterns or limiting beliefs that may be holding you back. Whether you are looking for greater self-understanding, healing from past trauma, or personal growth, somatic coaching can support you in unlocking your true potential and live a richer, more fulfilling, whole life.
What is Intuitive Energetics?
Chanel integrates intuitive energetics into her sessions as a transformative bridge between energy healing, energy tracking, and psychic intuitive development. This skill allows her to deeply attune to each client’s energetic system, facilitating co-regulation and accessing insights and blind spots related to their personal growth and life challenges, often with minimal verbal communication required from the client.
It is this rare and intuitive ability that draws clients to Chanel, as she offers guidance and support tailored to each individual’s unique energetic makeup. With care and intention, she shares this carefully honed gift, creating a deeply resonant and transformative experience for those she works with.
What is the difference between somatic coaching and therapy?
The biggest difference is that somatic coaching emphasizes presence - how past experiences are showing up in the body right now, and what is currently affecting your nervous system’s capacity and contributing to your challenges. Therapists and other licensed mental health professionals often focus more on processing the past. Due to the guidelines set by licensing bodies, therapy may not always offer the same level of personalized or body-centered support that coaching can. Both approaches offer valuable tools for healing, which is why we integrate the two for a more holistic and effective experience.
Who would benefit from your approach to somatic coaching?
Somatic coaching can be a life-changing and catalyzing experience for:
Those who are therapy-resistant
Individuals who feel stagnant or stuck despite previous efforts in therapy or personal development
Those who use spiritual tools/concepts but feel stuck and are looking to address deeper psychological or emotional needs
Those who have a mental health professional but feel like they need extra support with a different, complementary approach.
Those who want to take the next step in their addiction recovery work
Athletes and performers to enhance mental agility, improve body awareness, and prevent injuries
Those who seek support with real-life situations, intention setting and accountability
Those who feel drawn to coaching rather than traditional therapy
Anyone who finds themselves in a cycle of inner struggle
Those who want to improve their overall relationship with themselves and reclaim their agency
* I have worked with plenty of individuals without a professional treatment team such as a psychiatrist and dietitian. However, I will use my best judgment with your highest interest always at heart.
Do you accept insurance and direct billing?
I like to be transparent from the start: Somatic Experiencing and my other qualifications are a regulated body, however I do not accept insurance. I do offer discounted rates to ensure this healing work is more accessible. For business owners, it’s also tax-deductible. This by no means compromises the quality and effectiveness of your healing. In fact, many come to me when traditional therapists or clinical approaches have limited resources and haven’t taken them where they want to go! This allows me the flexibility to step outside the confines of registered bodies.
What is an Eating Disorder VS. Disordered Eating?
The term “eating disorder” is used when diagnosed by a licensed professional. It is determined based on a set of criteria as outlined by the Diagnostic Statistical Manual of Mental Health Disorder. “Disordered eating” is used to reference a relationship with food that is mentally, emotionally, or physically debilitating, regardless of whether it meets this DSM-V criterion. Both involve problematic and unwanted relationships with food that affect our quality of life. While the severity and behaviours between the two categories vary, they should all be taken seriously.
What types of disordered eating/eating disorders does The Self-Worth Lounge work with?
We primarily work with individuals 19 years and older who struggle with bulimia, binge eating, bingeing and purging, and emotional eating.
We will work with anyone who has been diagnosed with bulimia nervosa. Considering this is a more extreme case, we may require a second member of our clinical team for added support, or include another health professional, prior to beginning our work together. This is an area that I struggled with for 16 years, it’s close to my heart and I feel I can truly be an asset to your recovery.
What is the difference between Bulimia Nervosa vs. Bingeing and Purging?
Really it’s just technicality. Bulimia nervosa is a formal diagnosis given by a health professional that falls under the umbrella of an eating disorder where the individual consumes large amounts of food at once followed by guilt and shame followed by purging, which can be self-induced vomiting, laxatives or over-exercising. When we refer to bingeing and purging in this work, the same behaviours apply, however, the frequency and severity may not appear as extreme to the individual.