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Somatic Experiencing® Trauma Coach Specializing in Developmental Trauma For Adults
As a certified trauma recovery coach, Somatic Experiencing Practitioner, and Neuro-Affective Touch Practitioner, I offer one-to-one coaching as an inclusive and safe space to navigate the nuanced healing journey of trauma recovery.
Are you an existing client? Click the button below to go to the booking calendar.
Trauma Recovery Coaching is a delicate and intricate process
Adult survivors who’ve experienced trauma, whether through chronic stress or a specific traumatic event, can find themselves questioning what kind of support they need as they navigate the recovery process.
Seeking support can feel scary, so let's make it as simple as possible.
How To Identify Symptoms of Trauma
Though every person is unique in their lived experience, the symptoms of trauma tend to show up similarly depending on the type of shock trauma or chronic trauma someone has experienced.
Below are a few of the most common symptoms that may show up for someone who’s navigating unresolved trauma.
01.
Depression, "stuckness", inability to move forward in life.
Life can feel like it’s “too much” and everything is moving faster than you can keep up. You may be feeling chronically behind as if you’re not where you think you should be yet, can’t gather the energy to change things.
Feelings of self-loathing, depression, despair, utter defeat, or hopelessness prevent you from moving forward in life.
Overly self critical, never feeling good enough, low self esteem
Constantly living in fear of what others may think of you, never allowing yourself to be fully seen, adapting and contorting to fit into specific environments, and keeping the peace by remaining palatable and may identify as an over achiever or perfectionist.
02.
03.
You either feel emotionally overwhelmed or completely numb.
Feeling stuck, numb, disconnected, or constantly seeking external validation or influence to change how you feel whether in overspending on finances, over-investing in relationships, or participating in risky behavior that often leads to huge emotional outbursts of stress, adrenaline, and dopamine.
04.
Unable to speak up for yourself or ask for what you need, Feeling like a burden on others
You may find it’s easier to go with what everyone else says and not have a voice, even if you feel uncomfortable. This may be followed by feelings of resentment and frustration either with yourself or at others.
05.
Feeling responsible for everyone around you, you may self isolate & have a hard time getting help
You may feel the need to constantly care take and manage others emotions, you give endlessly but have a hard time receiving help. You don’t let others see you upset but also want help.
06.
It feels like you're living in a constant state of extreme highs and lows
Oscillating between extremes of shutdown and depression paired with anxiety and insomnia but unable to create natural rhythm or stability in your life. You’re either in a season of high highs or low lows and don’t feel comfortable being in the middle.
Can you relate to any of these symptoms?
If so, You're in the right place.
When folks come to work with me, it’s often after they’ve tried every other modality out there from obsessive yoga Nidra, kundalini, and mindset work, willing their way with breathwork or other biohacking tools-
Yet they can’t seem to shake the lingering discomfort of what’s underneath it all when they finally sit still.
It can show up as:
Difficulty making decisions or following through on your goals in life or in your career, usually paired with confusion, overwhelm, or uncertainty about what to do next, or if it’s even possible at all.
- Compromising boundaries in relationships or work and never feeling like you can pursue the goals you have for yourself without sacrificing everything else.
Whether it’s in work, business, relationships, or anywhere else, it’s important to know that this doesn’t have to be your life forever.
Trauma Recovery Coaching May Be Right For You.
To clarify, you do not need to have an adverse history of traumatic events, self harm or past trauma for symptoms of trauma to impact your mental health or overall well being.
So much of the time, the trauma of what we’ve experienced is subtle, silent, and hidden under layers of shame and normalization that have told us our childhood trauma or other lived experiences weren’t “a big deal.”
Traditional Coaching methods often used in life coaching lead other survivors to believe that the symptoms they’re experiencing are simply a mindset issue or limiting belief that’s keeping them stuck when so often, this simply isn’t the case.
Trauma Recovery Coaching is about working on and with the trauma itself in a safe space that's titrated and highly attuned to your nervous system's needs.
Your story doesn't end here, in fact, it's just beginning.
Through the attuned support of a trauma *trained* professional, resolution and renegotiation ARE possible.
Trauma Recovery work through the Somatic Experiencing lens is tender, slow, and adapted support you at your own pace.
Overtime, this work may allow you to:
- Reconnect to a felt sense experience of safety, aliveness, and vitality within your own body
- Restore a sense of trust in yourself and those around you while also feeling confident in holding healthy boundaries
- Establish a connection to healthy aggression and diminish symptoms of self-antagonization, mutilation, or self-directed aggression
- Reorient to a sense of belonging both in your body and in the world, contributing to a sense of purpose and meaning
- Deepening connection to yourself, your work, and your ability to be fully present with life
"The process of trauma resolution requires us to pace our growth"
— Sophie Kessner —
You can call me Soph //
SEP® & NATP® in training
Sophie Kessner
Sophie
Kessner
Pronouns: She/her/hers
I’m a biracial first generation Mexican American cis woman and mom at home and a trauma recovery coach, business mentor, and mental health advocate in my professional life.
Because of my own lived experience navigating PMDD, Chronic Depression, Anxiety and CPTSD, I understand the challenges that come with generational poverty, immigration, sexual trauma, self harm, body dysmorphia, alcoholism, and emotionally abusive romantic partners.
My private practice approaches trauma recovery through an Intersectional Lens combining my knowledge and wisdom of AntiRacism, Somatic Experiencing, NeuroAffective Touch training and so much more, to support clients in coming back home to themselves and feeling safe in their body.
I’ve spent the better half of the last 15+ years obsessing over personal development
and basic coaching skills while building my own coaching business.
Yet even after going through my own trauma-informed coach training, receiving trauma informed coaching certification, and studying in other ICF accreditation programs (International Coaching Federation), there was always a lingering feeling of never being enough.
Transitioning From Trauma Informed Coaches To Trauma Recovery Coaching
Since 2020, I’ve intensely studied, trained, and received support from trauma-trained experts in the fields of Somatic Experiencing® and Early Developmental Trauma with over 40+ years of clinical practice.
And though this process at times has felt painstakingly slow, I am beyond words for the immense impact this work has had on my life as I continue to work towards my advanced certification in early developmental trauma and obtain certification in an additional complex trauma training program to better support abuse survivors and other trauma survivors on their healing journey.
Recovering from complex trauma IS possible.
Trauma coaching is a unique blend of life coaching and nervous system work brought through the lens of Somatic Experiencing® and Neuro-Affective Touch principles that aim to refine the brain body connection and work with trauma in a more nuanced and attuned way.
As a certified trauma recovery coach, I’m able to work with trauma survivors and coaching clients beyond the scope of most trauma informed coaches because of my specialized training and supervision with the Somatic Experiencing International Association and aim to provide life changing services to trauma survivors seeking trauma coaching
Ready To Get Started?
Book Your SE Trauma Coaching Session Below
Sliding Scale Pricing Available for ALL Clients. Session pricing ranges from $100-$200 USD per 55-minute session. Payment is due prior to the start of our scheduled session.
New Client Exploration & Onboarding Call
If you’ve never worked with me before, it’s important we take the time to connect and ensure the support I offer is suited for your current needs.
Please click below to book in a complimentary 20 minute exploration call where we can briefly go over your symptoms and discuss if I am the best fit for you.
Upon completion of our exploration call, you will be sent an in-depth client history and intake form that must be completed prior to our first 90-minute onboarding session.
Existing or Past Clients General Session Booking Calendar
If you are a current or past trauma client of mine and would like to schedule your next session, please use the button below to go to the general booking calendar.
All clients booking SE® Trauma Coaching sessions must have completed the client intake questionnaire prior to booking.
Clients may choose to book as many sessions as they’d like.
Please note that all payments for sessions must be made prior to the session start time.
Important Disclaimers and Ethical Standards:
Sophie is not a licensed therapist and does not offer support for clients needing more mental health support from medical professionals such as a psychologist or psychiatrist and can not promise to treat trauma. Information and support provided by Sophie Kessner to coaching clients is provided through trauma-informed practices under the guise of a trauma recovery coach and trauma-informed coaching.
Sophie is not licensed nor qualified to diagnose or treat any mental health symptoms or provide prescription medication. If you require support for clinical diagnosis, we recommend researching potential therapists and other medical professionals qualified to provide such support.
Trauma Recovery Goals and Expectations of "The Work"
As someone who has experienced a traumatic event or finds themselves living with challenging symptoms of trauma, it’s important to understand the scope of my practice to better assess if this is the right support for you.
Those who have experienced trauma learn how to protect themselves from the pain of an experience through different defense strategies or coping mechanisms.
Whether these defense systems developed from childhood trauma or a more specific traumatic event later in life is less relevant than the experience of how it is impacting your well being today.
Though I cannot promise to “treat trauma”, my trauma recovery coaching is geared to support clients on a slow and steady process that allows them to untangle the webs of lived experience and reconnect themselves to the present day with more capacity to experience life and navigate the nuances of its challenges.
Below I’ve outlined a short list of core competencies and positive changes trauma clients of mine have reported experiencing through our work together along with an understanding of how my coaching business aims to support new trauma clients.
Trauma Recovery Coaching Goals:
Empowered Personalized Education
Provide ongoing education on trauma, what it is, how it shows up, and how to become simply aware of the brain body connection and mapping the clients unique defense patterns and survival strategies to support the client in having more compassion for themselves.
Safety Protocols For Renegotiation
Establish clear safety protocols to navigate any intense behavioral reaction and support better client regulation through different coaching strategies and Somatic Experiencing practices that allow the client to repair relational ruptures in a safe space.
Measurable Action Plan
Support the client in establishing clear trauma recovery goals based on their unique symptomology by utilizing trauma recovery coaching to develop a greater capacity for life, connection, and curiosity about the world with measurable growth markers that are easy for the client to track.
Frequently Asked Questions
I’m glad you asked. My technical title is a certified Somatic Experiencing Practitioner® through the Somatic Experiencing Trauma Institute 3-year professional training program that I completed between 2020-2023 with over 500 hours of study, personal sessions, live demonstrations, and supervised consultation.
In addition to my training in SE (Somatic Experiencing), I have completed multiple trauma informed coaching certifications in 2019-2020 including the 35-hour Trauma and Somatics Practitioner Training and the 200-hour Phoenix Path Trauma Training.
Finally, I am trained in early developmental trauma repair and touch work through the Institute for Neuro-Affective Touch Training as a Neuro-Affective Touch Practitioner and am actively studying to advance my education and training in the areas of family dynamics and early childhood trauma.
Additionally, I attend ongoing individual and group consultation hours averaging between 1-3 hours per month of accredited supervision by approved Somatic Experiencing and NATP faculty members for different client cases.
I also invest in my own ongoing development with trusted SEPs whom I meet with on an ongoing basis to receive my own personal sessions.
My current educational pursuit is deepening into Complex Trauma and Family Constellations to better support my clients and their needs.
I offer clients the option to pay within a sliding scale for all coaching sessions offered. There is no application required to qualify for different pricing tiers. Clients may choose which category they feel is most appropriate for them and pay at that level.
Currently, I offer 3 different pricing tiers:
Tier 1 Full Price $200 USD per session:
This tier is for folks with secure and/or disposable income and will not be negatively impacted by paying for these services at this rate.
Folks can invest in tier 1 pricing to help offset costs for those with fewer financial resources.
If this sounds like you, please book and purchase your sessions here. Payment is due upon booking.
Tier 2 Sliding Scale $150 USD per session:
This tier is designed for those experiencing financial hardship or lacking financial resources and cannot invest at the full price without experiencing potential financial harm.
This tier is ideal for folks who have some financial stability but also need
If this pricing feels most accessible for you right now, please schedule and purchase your session below:
Tier 3 Sliding Scale $100 USD per session:
This tier is designed for individuals facing severe financial hardship and/or those with a history of marginalization who have suffered the most from systems of oppression.
This includes folks who are single parents, caregivers, medically disabled, or others who would not be able to afford these services otherwise.
If this sounds like you, please book and purchase your sessions below. Payment is due upon booking.
I ask that clients who are fortunate enough to afford full pricing without taking on financial risk do so to better support a more equitable working container and offset costs for those who are unable to invest at the traditional rates.
By choosing to pay for a higher tier of support, you are creating an opportunity for those historically targeted for marginalization to also receive support.
Please note, you can always choose a different price point based on your economic needs and changes, I understand that life is not always stable nor consistent and do my best to meet folks where they are on their journey.
If you feel inclined, you are more than welcome to provide tips or sponsor additional clients needing support.
After booking your session, an invoice is sent to you with a link to submit payment via direct bank ACH or credit card. Please note that credit card payments will accrue a small 3.95% credit card processing fee. To avoid additional fees, we encourage clients to pay via bank ACH whenever possible.
Though there is an abundance of trauma informed coaching programs and courses that may offer valuable information on topics such as polyvagal theory, the nervous system, and trauma responses, often times these programs are not meant to be an intimate space fo supporting clients in navigating their own experience.
Traditional trauma informed coaching focuses on the premise of understanding that trauma exists and limits trauma informed coaches on how they can work with clients in navigating their experiences.
Often times a trauma informed life coach is only able to support a client in regulation and coming out of a trauma response but has not been properly trained to know how to work intimately with the response itself.
Trauma recovery coaches and other Somatic Experiencing Practitioners such as myself, are able to take our clients through a much deeper and intimate process within our coaching containers where we’ve been highly trained to track and notice the subtle ways that different symptoms show up in the body and within clients.
Additionally, trauma recovery coaches, similar to a therapist, have a thorough understanding of the leading causes that contribute to different types of trauma and know how to navigate the nuanced landscape with clients through more than simple audio files or art therapy.
Though understanding principles like polyvagal theory and practicing in coaching triads may be helpful for practical and theoretical insight, experiential knowledge is missing.
As a potential client seeking a life coach or therapist to support you on your trauma, it’s important to understanding how a trauma informed coaching certification or a trauma informed coach may or may not be appropriate for your current needs and when it is time to seek support from more specialized and trained trauma recovery coaches or other therapists.
Due to licensing requirements for insurance, I cannot accept insurance at this time. The best that I can do to support those who cannot afford to pay out of pocket is to offer sliding scale options at a pay-what-you-can rate.
Currently I only work with adults age 21+ and am not able to support young adults are children under the age of 18. Because of the complexity that often comes with family dynamics and early childhood development, I encourage parents seeking support for their children to work with family specialists who are extensively trained in the nuances of the developmental stages for each age range including the complexity of family dynamics in early development.
I work with clients internationally via Zoom. If you can find a timeframe that works within my allotted availability for your schedule, I am more than happy to support you. At this time, I am only able to work with folks who speak fluent English.
Yes, clients who are local to North County Sand Diego OR folks who would like to travel to San Diego may book in-person sessions with me at my local Oceanside Office space.
In-person sessions do require at least 3-5 business days’ notice prior to the session booking date.
In-person sessions also require a 75-minute slot with a slightly higher rate ranging from $125-$225 per session and allow for Soph to work more hands-on with the client on the table. Please note, waivers and release of liability must be signed prior to implementing any touch work.
