FAQs

The following questions and answers have been very helpful for new clients beginning somatic therapy. Please read through these fully. If you have questions that are not listed here, please reach out to us on the Contact page. We are happy to help.

I prefer online due to Covid-19, my schedule, my comfort level, etc. Do you offer teletherapy?

Yes, all of our providers offer telehealth sessions through a HIPPA secure, online platform.

What age groups do you see?

Our providers see children, adolescence, and adults.

How do I contact you?

You can contact us through the contact form on our website, or by calling (719) 619-8331.

Are you licensed?

Yes! I am a Licensed Professional Counselor in the state of Colorado. I hold a Masters in Community Counseling: Marriage and Family Therapy. I have been a therapist for nearly 19 years. I have held my license in the state of Colorado for nearly 15 years.

How long are the sessions?

The session lengths vary. Somatic Counseling typically lasts between 55 and 60 minutes.

What are your rates?

Our rates vary depending on the service you are looking for, if you have insurance, or if you prefer to utilize self-payment as an option. We do offer a sliding scale fee because we don’t want finances to be a deterrent to receiving therapy.

What insurance do you take?

Many somatic healing practitioners do not take insurance. One benefit of working with Somatic Solutions Counseling is that we can offer the option for accepting insurance. We are in-network with the following insurance companies:

Aetna
Blue Cross / Blue Shield
Cigna
Colorado Community Health Alliance (CCHA)
Kaiser
Medicaid
Tricare
TriWest
UMR
United Health Care

We are happy to support your with out-of-network coverage as well.

EAP / Employee Assistance Benefits – Please check with your employer ahead of time to ensure the number of EAP sessions you are allowed.

Victims Compensation accepted – please contact us with your case # and other needed information. If you have questions, please call us and we can help you understand victim’s compensation much more fully.

IMPORTANT NOTE: Victims Compensation often pays for trauma-sensitive yoga, massage, and self-defense offered through Sacred Fields Healing. Our mental health providers can help you access these services and can work collaboratively with the holistic providers at Sacred Fields Healing to ensure effective outcomes.

I don’t have insurance, what are my options?

Some people either prefer or need to utilize a self-pay option. I offer a sliding scale fee based on your capacity to pay. Call (719) 619-8331 to discuss your sliding scale needs directly.

Why focus on trauma?

Our area of focus is stress, overwhelm, and trauma. The therapists at Somatic Solutions Counseling focus on working with the ways that stress, overwhelm, and trauma impact your nervous system and bodily systems. Many people who have suffered with anxiety, depression, sleep issues, chronic illness, and even chronic pain have found that they began to get better when addressing the possible trauma-related link to their symptoms.

Our partnership with Sacred Fields Healing allows us to offer a variety of modalities aimed at honoring the healing capacity of your mind-body-energy system. We combine these holistic and out of the box therapy methods to help you get to the root cause of your symptoms so that you can understand your problems and yourself and heal in a healthy way.

I have a disability or require a service animal. Can you accommodate that?

Yes –We welcome and embrace those with differing abilities and unique support needs. Our office is old and has limited wheelchair access, but we can make it work. We are also able to accommodate most certified support or service animals. We work effectively with deaf and blind populations using interpreters when needed. Please feel free to call (719) 619-8331 or email reception@tbbmc.com with any questions.

What is Trauma-Informed Care?

Trauma-Informed Care is a framework, a mindset, a way of looking at the human experience. Those trained in trauma-informed care understand and consider the pervasive nature of trauma and treat each individual with compassion for what they have gone through. Trauma-informed care promotes safety within the individual, the environment, and in relationships. The focus is on healing and recovery with an intention to reduce or fully avoid practices and services that may inadvertently re-traumatize.

I have tried therapy for trauma before; it didn’t work. How is somatic therapy different?

Many people who have experienced traumatic events may have been previously diagnosed with acute stress disorder, anxiety disorder, depression, PTSD, depersonalization disorder, borderline personality disorder, etc. These diagnoses are often highly stigmatized and confusing, not discussed fully with the client or their family, and not talked about in terms of what a client can do on their own with the use of “real time tools” to manage and/or fully alleviate distressing symptoms. The client is often taught to rely on the expertise of the therapist or professional versus to trust their own healing insights and bodily wisdom.
Somatic therapists believe you have the answers within you and that reconnecting you to the inherent health that resides within you is what truly leads to healing. We encourage clients to trust their own insights and reconnect with your body’s wisdom. Somatic therapy is a deeply mindful practice that invites clients to listen to the deep message of their body in the current moment.

Most importantly, traditional talk therapy does not address the impact traumatic events have on the nervous system, the physical tissues, the energy field, etc. Our work together using somatic therapy will address the nervous system and all other bodily systems. We explore the nervous system directly through education, active skills practice, and on-going assessment regarding what is working and what is not. You will feel the shifts occurring both in and outside of session. You will be able to track progress and know that therapy is helpful and effective for your life.

What are the various types of trauma?

Below is a description of types of trauma you may have read about or been told about by a previous therapist or psychiatrist.

Acute trauma: Results from exposure to a single overwhelming event/experience (car accident, fall, sports injury, natural disaster, single event of abuse or assault, sudden loss or witnessing violence).
Chronic Trauma: Results from repeated and prolonged exposure to highly stressful events. Examples could include child abuse, bullying, or domestic violence.
Complex trauma: Results from multiple, chronic and prolonged overwhelming traumatic events/experiences which are compromising and most often within the context of an interpersonal relationship (i.e., family violence).
Developmental trauma: Results from early onset exposure to ongoing or repetitive trauma (as infant, children or youth) includes neglect, abandonment, physical abuse or assault, sexual abuse or assault, emotional abuse witnessing violence or death, and/or coercion or betrayal. This often occurs within the child’s care giving system and interferes with healthy attachment and development.
Shock Trauma: Like acute trauma, shock trauma results from feeling overwhelmed usually by just one event. The event is usually sudden and unexpected with a distinct beginning and end, and it usually is over relatively quickly. It abruptly interrupts the flow of life and you feel frozen in the event. As a result, you feel as though your world has suddenly fallen apart or shattered.
Repetitive trauma: Results from exposure to multiple, chronic and/or prolonged overwhelming traumatic events (i.e., ongoing childhood abuse, domestic violence, receiving regular treatment for an illness, multiple surgeries, etc.)
Relational trauma: Results from interpersonal experiences that include repeated emotional mis-attunement, invalidation, neglect, abuse, bullying, or other type of behavior that causes lasting psychological harm. It can be perpetrated by a parent, foster parent, family member, friend, teachers, school mates, or someone we are in relationship with. Relational trauma is not caused by natural disasters, floods, fires, etc.
Betrayal trauma: Results from an experience of betrayal in a relationship that damages the trust, safety, and security of the bond you have with another human being. This form of trauma occurs when the person, group, or institutions on which one depends for survival significantly violate that person’ s trust or well-being.
Vicarious trauma: Creates a change in the service provider resulting from empathetic engagement with a client’s/patient’s traumatic background. It occurs when an individual who was not an immediate witness to the trauma absorbs and integrates disturbing aspects of the traumatic experience into his or her own functioning.
Historical trauma is a cumulative emotional and psychological wounding over the lifespan and across generations emanating from massive group trauma. Examples of historical trauma include genocide, colonialism (i.e., residential schools), slavery and war.
Intergenerational trauma describes the psychological or emotional effects that can be experienced by people who live with people who have experienced trauma. Coping and adaptation patterns developed in response to trauma can be passed from one generation to the next.

Information adapted from: https://yourexperiencesmatter.com/learning/trauma-stress/types-of-trauma/

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