Becoming a Body-First Therapist
I did not choose this path - this path chose me, through fire, through grief, through coming home to a body I once wanted to escape.
For years, I lived with the fragmentations of complex trauma. My body felt scattered, as if pieces were drifting apart, while my mind struggled to find coherence. I learned to survive by disconnecting - from people, from sensation, from emotion, from the truth living underneath it all. And then yoga found me. Not the kind you see in glossy photos, but the kind that asks you to stay - to breathe, to feel, to begin again.
Through yoga, I started mending what had fractured. Not all at once, not neatly, but honestly. I found safety in sensation. I found language in stillness. I found pieces of myself I thought were gone for good. That healing inspired me to step into this work, not because I had all the answers, but because I knew how powerful it was to be witnessed in your pain and still be seen as whole.
And then came a new kind of rupture.
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A motorcycle accident changed everything. My body became a site of pain again. The strength I had reclaimed felt like it slipped through my fingers. I grieved. I raged. And slowly, I came back - differently this time. With less striving, more softness. With fewer expectations, more listening. That experience broke me, but what emerged from it was something deeper.
Now, I take a body-first approach to everything I do. Whether I am guiding someone through a yoga practice or supporting them in the therapy room, I honor the body as the place where our deepest wounds and truest wisdom live. My work is about creating and holding space for the real, raw, and transformative process of embodied healing. It is about coming back into the body, not as something to control, but as something to care for, to trust, and to be in.
And if you are reading this, maybe you are ready to come back home, too.
With care,
Pamela Sue (she/her)
IDFPR IL License #149.024846
“A healer does not heal you. A healer is someone who holds space for you while you awaken your inner healer, so that you may heal yourself.”
Maryam Hasnaa
How Therapy Works
Therapy is a collaborative process, and the path toward a healing, more authentic sense of self is different for everyone. My integrative approach draws from several therapeutic modalities, allowing us to tailor our work to your unique needs and experiences. Below, you will find an overview of some of the approaches I may draw upon when working with adults navigating complex trauma, chronic pain, long-term stress, and difficult life experiences.
Bibliotherapy
Connect the stories you read to your own lived experiences, find guidance from prompts in workbooks, or inspiration through journaling.
Body-First
Shift the focus from talking about lived experience to exploring it through the body and discovering new ways of being and responding.
Mindfulness-Based
Bring awareness to your thoughts, emotions, perceptions, movements, and sensations as they are happening in the here and now.
Parts Work
Deepen your self-understanding by connecting with the parts of you that carry different thoughts, emotions, and reactions.
Person-Centered
Stay connected to your experience – your voice, your rhythm, your truth – and explore what feels most meaningful to you.
Relationship-Focused
Transform your connections by looking at the relationships you hold, including the one you share with your therapist.
Trauma-Informed
This framework integrates an understanding of trauma into all aspects of care that prioritizes your safety and agency in healing.
Yogic Practices
Ways of being in the moment with your body that allow whatever is happening in your body to move through you.
While my therapeutic approach offers meaningful support for many people, it may not be suitable for everyone or every mental health condition.