INTEGRATIVE, SOMATIC THERAPY IN MELBOURNE, AUSTRALIA + ONLINE IN THE US, CA + NZ
RETURN TO YOURSELF
Somewhere underneath who you've had to be, there is who you actually are.
Individual therapy for deep, soulful, embodied self-relationship work
Maybe life has shaken you; a relationship ending, a loss, a health crisis or transition you didn't choose. Or maybe you are at a time in your life where the ways you've been managing, adapting, keeping everything together, are costing you more than they used to.
You can feel it most clearly in your relationships. Conflict, miscommunication, reactions you don't want to have but keep having. Feelings of powerlessness, of not being enough or being too much, of feeling unsafe or unseen. Giving more than you have, disappearing when things get hard, finding yourself in the same dynamics no matter how much you try to do things differently. You may long for deeper connection but something inside keeps getting in the way.
During these times, what is old and unresolved has a way of surfacing. Anger you've kept a lid on for years. Grief that hasn't been felt. Anxiety or emotions that just feel too big.
You are beginning to see that much of who you thought you were was shaped around staying safe, loved and needed. Now you want something different.
You may have already done real work on yourself. You can see your patterns, trace them back, understand where they came from. But something has been triggered that feels deeper than before, and you sense that this time, you need to go somewhere you haven't gone yet.
That gap, between knowing and actually living differently, is what brings most people here.
YOU’VE SPENT YEARS HOLDING EVERYTHING TOGETHER..
Now it feels like something inside you is ready to be held.
"To heal is to touch with love that which we previously touched with fear."
STEPHEN LEVINE
Maybe you are struggling with:
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The roles, routines, and ways of being that once defined you are in question. You’ve spent years adapting to survive; performing, over-giving, people-pleasing, suppressing or disconnecting, and now it feels like you don’t know who you are. You long to feel connected to yourself, steady and fully present in your own skin.
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Anger, grief, fear, shame, guilt, anxiety, or longing can feel unmanageable, or at the other extreme, distant and numb. You’ve learned to react, shut down, distract yourself, overthink, or intellectualise to cope. But these patterns leave you disconnected from your own experience, and from others. You want to be able to feel the full spectrum of your emotions without collapsing or turning away.
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You long for intimacy and connection, but vulnerability feels risky. You might stay quiet to keep the peace, over-give, or hide your needs. Conflict or endings may have revealed old patterns, not created them, yet they still influence how you relate. You want to stay centred and open, connecting authentically without losing yourself.
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You spend much of your life in your head, analyzing and overthinking. Your body feels separate, and your emotions feel distant. Decisions, boundaries, and your sense of what you truly need can feel unclear. You long to reconnect with your body, listen to its wisdom, and be guided from your inner experience rather than just your thoughts.
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Sometimes the very things you want most; love, connection, success, freedom.. are the things you find yourself sabotaging and you don’t know why. Something keeps getting int he way. Procrastination, self doubt, pushing people away, staying stuck. What looks like self sabotage is actually self protection, driven by your nervous system. And until you work with it at the root, it will keep running the show.
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Your body is asking for attention; Maybe you have spent years in survival mode, pushing through stress, suppressing emotions, or staying in fight, flight, or shutdown. This has now taken a toll on your nervous system and your body’s ability to regulate and repair. Maybe burnout, a chronic illness, a repeating health issue or environmental illness have brought things to the surface. You may have tried many approaches, yet sense that the deeper patterns of stress and survival in your body still need care.
"True healing emerges from the alchemical process of holding our experience with love and curiosity."
MATT LICATTA
Life doesn’t have to keep unfolding in the same patterns.
But it won't change through insight alone.
Most people who arrive here are not lacking self-awareness. They can name their patterns, trace them back, understand where they came from. What they haven't yet been able to do is live differently despite that knowledge, and that gap, between knowing and actually changing, is where this work begins.
The patterns that are hardest to shift aren't habits or mindsets. They're deeply wired protective strategies.. intelligent, embodied, adaptive responses that formed when staying safe meant making yourself smaller or more palatable, agreeable or available to others. They developed into a defended self that did exactly what it needed to do to protect you.
But what protected you then is costing you now.
What I've come to understand, both in my own life and in years of sitting with others, is that real change doesn't come from working harder on yourself. It comes from a different quality of relationship with yourself.. one that can meet what's actually here, in the body, in this moment, with honesty and without turning away.
This is the work beneath the work. It asks something of you.. a willingness to see clearly, take radical responsibility for your own inner life, and stop waiting for circumstances to change before you do. It isn't always comfortable, but on the other side of it is a self that feels open, steady, present and very, very real.
A life lived from the inside out.
Over time, my clients find they can:
Live with greater courage, self-trust, self-honouring, self-respect and self-compassion
Set healthy boundaries and honour their own needs
Stay present with, and allow difficult emotions without being overwhelmed
Recognise and shift the patterns running their relationships
Feel safer being vulnerable and real with others
Trust themselves to meet whatever life brings
Feel safe in their own skin
My services are available in Melbourne, Australia, and online for across AU, CA, US (PST & ET) and NZ, making it convenient for you to access care no matter your situation or location.
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Early experiences can shape how safe we feel in our bodies, relationships, and the world. We can gently support you to somatically process the emotional and nervous system patterns left behind by painful experiences, helping you reconnect with your body, restore a sense of safety, and relate to life with greater steadiness and choice.
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Sudden loss, illness, major life change, or upheaval can shake the foundations of who you thought you were, and what felt secure for you. You may feel grief, shock, fear, confusion, anger and more.. and all of it can leave you feeling unsteady, and unsure of how to move forward. These emotions can be hard to feel, and these experiences can also bring old wounds and patterns to the surface, asking you to face yourself in ways that are both challenging and transformative.
Though seasons of change can be hard, they can also be times of great initiation, where you stand at a threshold with an invitation to listen inward and mine for the wisdom and guidance that exists within. They can be a time of shedding, of orienting to what you really want and need in life, and what stands in the way.
Through slow, body-centred work, we can help you process what has arisen, develop resources to help you care and stay connected to your body, mind and soul, rebuild steadiness, and discover how to navigate the next chapter with clarity, presence, and a deeper connection to yourself.
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Relationship Endings - Divorce and Separation
Divorce, separation, or the end of a significant relationship can shake your sense of self and leave you grappling with grief, anger, confusion, feelings of abandonment, betrayal, fear and more. You may notice old patterns of survival, self-protection, or over-adaptation rising to the surface, and wonder who you are without the roles and routines that once defined you. We help you process the emotional impact, understand your part in the patterns, and rebuild a sense of identity, presence and steadiness as you step into life beyond the relationship.
Creating Healthy RelationshipsWhether preparing yourself to start dating, entering a new relationship or deepening an existing partnership, old patterns and triggers can make vulnerability feel risky and connection challenging. We help you unwind those patterns so you have greater capacity for vulnerability and intimacy, and the ability to respond consciously rather than react. You’ll build the capacity to relate honestly and openly, creating relationships that feel real, grounded and aligned with who you truly are.
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Long periods of stress, emotional suppression, and survival-based patterns can keep the nervous system in a constant state of dysregulation. Over time, this can place a significant burden on the body’s ability to recover, heal, detoxify and more.. contributing to burnout and numerous other health challenges. Through embodied, relational work we focus on restoring regulation, helping your body move out of survival mode so it can shift toward greater balance, resilience, and healing.
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Grief is a natural response to love and loss, yet so often it is carried alone or pushed aside. My work invites you to slow down, and meet your grief with presence and compassion. We create room for your sorrow to be fully felt, held and processed through the body, mind and heart, allowing it to soften, move and gradually integrate into the fabric of your life.
These experiences may look different, but at the core of each one lies a nervous system oriented towards survival, shaping your resilience, and directing how you think, feel and relate.
What I specialise in..
MEET MARAYA
So many of the struggles you’re facing today aren’t just in your mind; they’re rooted in what your body is still carrying from the past.
The quieter you become, the more you can hear."
RAM DASS
Therapy with me is different.
It focuses on your relationship with your body and inner felt experience, not just your thoughts.
When something triggers you, your body always responds before your mind does. From that physical state, familiar thoughts and beliefs arise, and old patterns follow.
Most therapy works with thoughts. But if the body is still holding the same patterned protective response, the loop continues. This work starts where the pattern actually lives, in the body.
At its core, my work is about relationship, primarily your relationship to yourself; your body, your mind, your emotions, feelings and sensations, as well as your relationships to others, and to life.
We focus on:
Supporting you to feel what is happening in your body.
How you relate to what is happening in your body.
How safe and connected you feel in your own body.
How you connect, love, trust and receive from others.
How you stay connected to yourself when navigating uncertainty, change and challenge in life.
My approach is relational, experiential, spiritual and deeply human. We explore how your nervous system learned to protect you, how your identity formed around those protections, and how these patterns continue to shape your experience today.
Most importantly, we don't just talk about them.. we work with how they show up in your body and mind in real time, in the session between us. I guide you to slow down, tune in deeply, notice and meet what you've learned to avoid, so you can reconnect with the steadier, truer parts of yourself that have always been there.
HOW DID YOUR
NERVOUS SYSTEM LEARN TO PROTECT YOU?
YOUR PERSONAL PATTERN QUIZ
Discover the survival pattern your nervous system has been running since childhood, shaping how you love, how you cope & how you live.
Take the short quiz to find out your primary, secondary and tertiary patterns, and what to do to start shifting these patterns today.
Your privacy is respected.
We’ve all learned ways of moving through the world that helped us stay safe. These were useful at the time, but those same strategies end up shaping our health and wellbeing, progress and every relationship we have.
Before we can change anything, we need to know what it is we are doing, and why. Awareness is always the first step.
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READY TO GET STARTED?
Come home to the most important person in your life, you.
Change starts now.
