Cheltenham & online
Healing trauma with Somatic Experiencing
A gentle, body-based path out of survival mode — for PTSD, complex and developmental trauma, and the chronic stress that comes with them.
What it is
Listening to what your body already knows
Somatic Experiencing (SE) is a gentle, body-centred approach to healing trauma and chronic stress. Unlike traditional talk therapy, SE focuses on listening to your body’s signals — the tightness in your chest, the knot in your stomach, or the exhaustion that won’t lift. These sensations often hold clues about how your nervous system is still responding to past trauma, even if your mind has tried to move on.
Through slow, guided awareness, SE helps you release stored trauma gently, without re-experiencing it in overwhelming ways. It’s like teaching your nervous system to feel safe again — helping you shift from hypervigilance or shutdown into a calmer, more grounded state. Whether you’re struggling with flashbacks, anxiety, emotional numbness, or feeling “stuck” in your body, SE offers a path to reconnect with yourself in a way that feels safe and empowering.
Who I work with
You might recognise yourself here
PTSD
The lasting effects of a single traumatic event — an accident, an assault, a medical emergency, a loss.
Complex trauma
C-PTSD and developmental trauma arising from childhood abuse, neglect, or a childhood spent unsafe.
Chronic illness
Living with long-term illness and the exhaustion, grief and nervous-system strain that come with it.
Feeling stuck
When you've talked about it for years and understood it completely, but nothing in your body has changed.
In their words
What clients say
★★★★★
"Working with Melanie this past seven months has been genuinely life-changing for me. From the minute she popped up on my Zoom screen for our introductory chat, I felt at ease — she creates a consistently and reliably non-judgmental, gentle space and while she comes to each session with an idea of what we might cover, she will adapt to whatever I bring each week. She truly listens, never pigeonholes, is warm, empathetic, and has been able to equip me with tools that are turning around a life that has been dominated by increasingly debilitating chronic illness and deeply ingrained trauma responses. She also gets my sense of humour, which is a plus!"
Dona M.
★★★★★
"Melanie is calm, kind, empathetic, in tune, has a good sense of humour and treats you like a whole person. She has a talent for bringing out your strengths and not just focusing on what happened to you."
Client, name withheld
Start with a conversation, not a commitment
The first step is a free phone or online consultation — a chance to ask questions and see whether this feels like the right fit. There's no obligation to book anything after it.