Qrew Qonvos: Trauma Touch with Victoria

Learn more about Victoria of Inner Alchemy Bodywork + this collaborative service offering

I love how the essence of your practice 'Inner Alchemy' aligns with my own 'Intrins Inq: Unloq the potential within'; why did you choose that and how does it relate to your work? Similar to Inrtins Inq, I believe we all have the power to change and heal starting from within. And as we grow and evolve through life, sometimes what we experience makes us forget how much wisdom we hold in our bodies. It relates to my work because through safe and intentional touch, we can become still enough to hear how the body is speaking to us. When we start to listen, we can alchemize, or transmute, our pain into healing, our fear into confidence and befriend our bodies once again.

I view health holistically and the relationship between the body + mind + and spirit is profound but can also be complex. What are some ways you see how imbalances in those relationships show up for your clients and how bodywork helps to address them? The body + mind + spirit connection is complex and when those are in dis-harmony, it is often a breeding ground for dis-ease. When there is a disconnection with the parts of yourself, it creates an environment where there is a lack in the ease of energy and aliveness flowing through you (dis- ease or no ease) and instead there is resistance and stagnation. During massage therapy, I am moving the energy through the muscles, joints and connective tissues to help things move with ease once again.

As the title of the influential book aptly states 'The Body Keeps the Score'; various types of traumas are also experienced and continue to reverberate somatically. What is 'Trauma Touch' and how might it impact clients' healing process? Trauma Touch Therapy is a somatic form of bodywork. It is an approach that recognizes a person's physical, emotional, psychological and mental history that is stored and manifested through the body. This whole body approach also helps release patterns of stress, builds your resilience, and increases awareness and contact with the wisdom of your body. In blending with your whole self, we use techniques that include touch, movement, play, breath, and conversation.

“...you are an active participant in the bodywork, invited to observe what you feel, what you see, and what it means to you"

Effectively addressing trauma requires safe containers, tell me more about how you relate to that and your own self-care practices. When I think of a safe container, there is the external safety like the space you are in, and the internal container where you can hold an unbiased, open space for you to experience the spectrum of emotions with curiosity and compassion. Holding that container as a practitioner is necessary for a client to feel seen and heard and first requires me to find that safety and security within myself.

My own self-care practices start with being in a mindful, living awareness, paying attention to all the things I ingest; food, music, news, social media, friends + family, and how I spend my time and how it affects my body. I also practice breathwork + meditation, movement like lifting + yoga, playfulness like with my dogs + journaling, and of course therapy. Though it may not necessarily be directly in my work with clients, I find it helpful and necessary to express creativity and playfulness as well, how else do you cultivate that for yourself? Yes! I love working with children; I teach them yoga, and they help me connect with the little girl that lives within me! Being with my pups in nature and seeing them explore..trying something new and challenging in my body like acroyoga or roller skating!

Thanks Victoria for sharing more about your work and yourself. I'm excited to collaborate and support clients with this adjunct service!

If you're clinically appropriate, Trauma Touch is a modality that we can incorporate into your therapeutic treatment plan.