The power of being together

The most life changing experiences that I’ve had in my life have been when I've been in groups. One of my first experiences was in a drumming group, it was just the power of being together working through something. Sharing that kind of experience with others and having something that brought us together made it so comfortable for me to be myself. It wasn't about sharing something of myself but it was just being with others who felt similar.

Stephen Porges who developed the polyvagal theory says the most powerful way to heal is through co-regulation. Our nervous systems are built to assess safety and we can sense when someone is safe for us. When we feel safe with another, our nervous systems co-regulate. That's why when we are with certain people we feel completely at ease. Being able to co-regulate with others regulates our nervous system, helping it to find balance. This balance gets lost when we've been trapped in hyper aroused or shutdown states due to stress, trauma and grief. When the nervous system is able to find balance it can then come back to balance when you can create the right conditions, such as being aware of and knowing how to work with triggers.

Creating a safe space to share in our somatic healing programs is so important to us because it's one of the keys to the power of healing. As a clinical social worker, group work was one of my main modalities and I have since run many groups for people with stress, trauma and grief in the healthcare system. My love of group work came from my early experiences and I have continued to run groups of many kinds for most of my career. It's my preference over one on one work because of its power to heal. It brings people together and creates life changing experiences.

Giselle Lamberth

Embodiment Institute Somatic Healing Programs

Clinical Social Worker, Somatic Psychotherapist