Simone Adkins

I work best with women navigating relationship stress and harm (AKA interpersonal trauma), which typically begins during childhood and can persist throughout the lifespan. The effects of these experiences are often unseen and underestimated even though they are very common and have a significant impact on our quality of life.

The women I support report difficulty with connecting to or tolerating and managing their emotions – especially vulnerable ones. They also describe themselves as “high capacity”, “high achieving” or perfectionists” who have overcome a lot of life difficulties yet struggle to set boundaries and notice repetitive patterns in their relationships. I often hear about “people pleasing” tendencies and feelings of guilt or shame when setting boundaries. Most of the women I see describe experiences where traits of narcissistic abuse from caregivers and/ or romantic partners have occurred.

Through my personal and professional experiences, I have learned that talking alone is often too limited for working through the harm that repetitive experiences of interpersonal trauma can cause. Including the body via strategies such as the Havening Techniques, have helped me guide the women whom I work with learn to:

1. Recognize and give space to their emotions and the bodily sensations associated to them
2. Manage their stress response to reduce anxiety symptoms and mood instability
3. Reconstruct meanings (the stories we tell ourselves) assigned to their past experiences and self-concept
4. Manage the discomfort of setting and maintaining their boundaries
5. Feel more empowered within their lives

What I love about the Havening Techniques is that they allow me to integrate both talk/ cognitive-based approaches with somatic-based strategies. We leverage the power of harmonizing both the body and mind to facilitate a more holistic approach to healing. Clients can also use the techniques anywhere, which puts the power of healing in their own hands to provide more sustainable outcomes.