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Co-regulating Touch
What is Developmental Trauma?
Adverse childhood experiences—such as neglect, abuse, intergenerational trauma, or systemic oppression—can leave lasting imprints on our physiology. These experiences often disrupt our ability to feel seen, valued, and connected. Over time, these patterns can manifest as disembodiment, relational disconnection, or a deep sense of not mattering.
As Dr. Peter Levine reminds us:
“Trauma is not what happens to us. But what we hold inside in the absence of an empathetic witness.”
These imprints are held deep within our tissues, where they may hinder us even as adults. Co-Regulating Touch offers a way to safely access, address, and integrate these experiences, helping the body move toward regulation and resiliency.
The Benefits of Co-Regulating Touch
When clinically appropriate and with the client’s full consent, Co-Regulating Touch integrates Somatic Experiencing Therapeutic Touch into sessions. This approach uses mindful, attuned contact to create a safe and relational environment where the nervous system can unwind and find balance.
- Supports healing from early childhood, developmental, and relational trauma.
- Addresses pre-verbal adverse experiences stored in the body.
- Provides the missing physical support for clients whose early experiences of touch were misattuned, neglectful, or abusive.
- Mobilizes patterns of discomfort and emotional overwhelm, facilitating a sense of ease and resolution.
- Promotes lasting healing by addressing the root of stored trauma.
- Enhances the capacity to track bodily sensations and stabilize physiology.
- Offers a body-up approach to healing, integrating heart, brain, and body collaboration.
- Restores a felt sense of safety, connection, and well-being.
As Alaine Duncan beautifully states:
“Touch is as vital to our existence as food. It is the first sense we develop, our first and most primal communication, and the only sense without which we cannot survive.”
How Co-Regulating Touch Can Be Integrated
Co-Regulating Touch can be added to any of the other services I offer to complement your healing journey. Alternatively, entire sessions can be designed around this type of touch support, providing a focused space to explore and address your unique needs.
By blending the insights of Somatic Experiencing, polyvagal theory, and body-mind traditions, Co-Regulating Touch offers a profound pathway to healing. This work is especially helpful for individuals whose nervous systems may feel activated by talk therapy alone, providing a somatic alternative that speaks directly to the body’s needs.
Let’s work together to nurture your capacity for connection, resilience, and self-regulation—one touch at a time.
Take the first step toward healing today
Reach out today for compassionate, personalized therapy that can help you regain control, find balance, and start feeling more like yourself again. Healing begins with a single step—let’s take it together.
