Interested in
1:1 Support?
Welcome.
I do 1:1 support a little differently.
The work I offer is deep nervous system tending that’s skilled, gentle, compassionate and kind - inviting you to do less, with greater results.
It’s important to know that this is not talk therapy, so if you’re wanting a therapist who will spend the whole session talking with you about your thoughts, emotions, life experiences and insights, that is not what I offer.
If you’re wanting therapy that will support you to, with time, feel safer and more at ease in yourself & your body, increase your capacity to meet all of life (the joys and the challenges) with more capacity and more spaciousness, and you don’t want to have to push and struggle to heal, please read on.
So what is this magic therapy that allows you to find greater results with less effort on your part?
It’s called Transforming Touch® (also called Transforming Intentional Touch®). It is an advanced, regulation-focused approach to developmental and complex trauma that grew from decades of work in Somatic Psychology, attachment, neurophysiology, bodywork, and modalities such as Somatic Experiencing®.
Rather than primarily processing the story or symptoms of trauma, this work supports the nervous system and body directly, helping reduce the physiological burden of chronic stress and create greater capacity, regulation, and resilience.
After many years of training in approaches including EMDR, Sensorimotor Psychotherapy, Hakomi, Somatic Experiencing® and other trauma modalities, this is the work I have chosen to center in my practice. I have found it uniquely powerful because we aren't only working with thoughts, memories, or even trauma responses, we're tending the underlying physiological load the nervous system has been carrying, sometimes for decades.
At its essence, it supports our bodies to feel safer over time. In turn, our beliefs, stresses, and sense of ourselves all shift in a way that we can feel in our bones that who we are is okay. Who we are right now, not the idealized ‘healed’ version of ‘us’ that lives in the future. The ‘us’ that is sometimes messy, sometimes tired, sometimes hurting.
Over time, we are then able to express every part of ourselves in a way that feels honoring of who we truly are, not who the world has told us to be (including likely some healing practitioners, family members, friends, teachers and the world at large).
This work gently works with what we call the Allostatic Load - the cost of being a human in the world - and helps us widen our nervous system’s capacity to meet all of life with greater steadiness, ease and compassion so that we can have more agency, wise discernment, aliveness as we’re become more empowered in who we are… and likely have always been.
Working with me is…
Radically Effective
With a skilled and seamless weave of nervous system tending, somatic practices, attachment theory, and trauma-informed mindfulness, the results you receive working in this way often happen faster than if you were to spend months or years in talk therapy.
Complex and developmental trauma happen in relationship - healing happens in relationship too. In the relationship of holding and support that you and I cultivate, and in the new relationship you begin to form with yourself. Here you get to fully rest into support with all parts of yourself welcome.
You’ve likely already been showing up for your healing and growth for decades - this will help you integrate all the awareness and healing you have already tended to, as well as move you forward to be able to fully BE who you know you truly are.
Gentle
Here’s the thing I want everyone to hear: healing and growth can be gentle. In fact, healing work is the most effective and the most sustainable - for the rest of your life - when it respects the pace of your body and your nervous system.
Pushing through pain - be it physical, emotional or spiritual, growing thicker skin, gritting your teeth and trying harder: that’s what the world conditions sensitive people to do in order to survive.
But that kind of effort is not required in order to heal. Read this again: healing and growth can (and I believe should) be gentle. It’s time to stop working so damn hard.
Fiercely Compassionate
When you and I sit together, there is nothing to be figured out, and you do not need to be fixed. Yes, things may need tending but not because there’s anything wrong with you. You are whole already.
It’s this attitude of acceptance and permission that helps you remember your essence and claim who you are, what you want and where you’re headed in a compassionate, deep and sustainable way.
We find the sweet spot just for you and your unique path - a path that is steady and supportive. All parts of you are welcome here - the hurt parts, the tired parts, the dark parts, the hopeful parts, the highly competent parts, your humor and your humanity and your shining soul.
Kind
Healing is a collaboration and a partnership in this work. We show up together to support what YOU would love to have happen in your life. We meet all that arises with support, awareness, compassion and care. And when you have a hard time finding that in yourself, I’ve got plenty for both of us - there’s space here for you to lean in.
You might find that while this work might bring up challenges for us to meet together, it’s also deeply kind.
Living in the world as a neurocomplex human, trauma, and other significant stressful experiences create broken connections in health, relationships, work, spirituality… and especially in our relationships to ourselves. With the kind of care you receive with me - co-regulating somatic work - we reweave those connections to create a new, resourced foundation and sturdy sense of self that can:
Give you back your health and well-being.
Help you breathe and move and sleep more easily.
Re-connect you to your purpose, goals and desires.
Support you to ease out of burnout and allow aliveness to unfold
Bring you into new relationship with the pains and pleasures you carry.
Help you take up nourishment in body, mind and soul.
Offer you choice and help you advocate for what you want and need - it shows you discernment of your boundaries and helps you feel secure enough to use them.
Remind you of your worthiness and belonging.
Bring you home to yourself and your body.
Help you be more genuine and stand more fully in who you are.
Repair your heavy heart and help it soften.
Give you the ‘more’ that you’ve been wanting in ways you never knew were possible.
Grow your capacity to meet life’s ups and downs with a solid sense of steadiness, peace and ease.
practically speaking,
what might a session look like?
Although I am trained in many different modalities, and bring parts of all of them to our work together, it’s my work as a Transforming Touch Practitioner that I’ve found to be the most effective. This is advanced nervous system work - it works directly with your body/mind connection, supporting various systems in your body to allow them to heal at the deepest levels.
Sessions are typically 60 minutes, and while every session may have different things we're tending to... the structure is quite similar each time (on purpose).
We usually begin with some time to connect and you share a few things that you've become aware of in your life and nervous system since we last met - the subtle shifts or bigger changes, things that maybe feel a little different or better (maybe something, maybe nothing... it's all welcome, and great information).
Then we'll get curious about what feels present and might want our attention and support today in the nervous system tending. Sometimes something specific comes to mind, and sometimes nothing does. Both are equally great.
From there, usually about 10–15 minutes into our session, we'll settle into the somatic nervous system support work together. This isn't a meditation, it's a guided experience that we move through TOGETHER while inviting your body to rest into support slowly... over time. It's an opportunity to experience what arises when your body, mind, and nervous system have more support, right here in the present moment. We can meet it all as we move through it. And yes, this can happen incredibly effectively over Zoom, as well as in person.
Toward the end, some people love to simply rest in what they're experiencing. Others want to share what they noticed, what surprised them, or something meaningful they'd like to carry into their day.
If this feels unfamiliar at first, that's completely okay. You don't need to know how to do any of this, and there's no right way to show up. I'll guide you, and we'll find our way together.
Not ready to join the waitlist just yet, but have some questions?
Send me an email, and I’ll get back to you within a few days.
It’s normal and very welcome to have concerns or hesitations when you’re considering a new therapist or a new way of working.
It makes sense to carefully consider whether this kind of work and working with me feels right for you. Healing happens best when the relationship between us feels steady, supportive and kind - and so it’s important to feel comfortable enough to build that kind of trust together.
There are a few common concerns that pop up - I’ll speak to those here, and if there are any additional questions you have, please know they are very welcome. Send me an email and I’ll get back to you.
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It's completely understandable to feel uncertain. In a world that keeps us in our heads, exploring the body and nervous system can feel unfamiliar or even intimidating, especially if it's been a place of discomfort in the past. While I can’t predict exactly what will come up, I can assure you that we will approach it together, slowly and at a pace that feels manageable. I’ll be with you every step of the way.
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Oh, you absolutely can! There is room for your stories, your words, your feelings, and whatever is happening in your life.
The difference is that rather than spending our time talking about what's happening, we also invite your body and nervous system into the conversation.
Sometimes, even when talking feels good or productive, we can find ourselves processing the same experiences over and over without much actually changing. You may already understand why you feel the way you do. What we're exploring together is what becomes possible when your nervous system has an opportunity to experience something different, not just understand it.
By slowing down together and including somatic, co-regulating nervous system support, we create opportunities for new patterns to emerge - more steadiness, capacity, clarity, connection, and aliveness. And yes, words, memories, emotions, and insights often arise naturally along the way. As they arise, we might move at a different pace than usual together, to truly meet what is happening beneath them AS we support your body and nervous system in a guided way.
You never have to arrive with a list of things to process, even though you might have the impulse to do so each time. You don't have to figure out what needs fixing. You don't even have to know what you need. We can begin right where you are, with whatever is present (or isn't!), and discover together what becomes possible when there's more support.It's not about talking less for the sake of talking less. It's about making room for more of YOU. Your brilliant mind and your body, your words and your quiet, your intensity and your softness. We make room for all of it, together.
Here are a few
client stories
about how it feels to work with me:
I feel beyond fortunate to have been a recipient of Shelby’s incredible gifts. I have never met someone who is SO present and able to take people as deep as they are ready to go. The first time I worked with her I was in disbelief at how she was able to hold space for me to help me come to my deepest truths.
The word that comes to mind when I think of working with Shelby is nourished. She has an ability in every session to help my mind, body and soul feel so held and so filled up with love, that it makes even going through the toughest darkest stuff, actually somewhat pleasurable.
Shelby is also an incredible educator and I always feel like there is something I learn from her whenever I work with her. Please do your heart and soul a favor and work with this incredible woman.
-B.H. - Encenitas, California
I turned to Shelby at a time when I felt incredibly vulnerable. A huge issue from my past that I thought I had healed from had reared its head again, and I felt shame, alone and not sure if I could belong. Shelby held me with such incredible tenderness and compassion, and I felt 100% seen and heard in all of my pain, but also in all of my aliveness.
Through my work with Shelby I took back my power, and had the courage to speak my truth. The work with Shelby continued to vibrate and unfold in me long after the sessions finished - I went from a hot wavering mess to feeling strong and vibrant.
I feel very blessed to have experienced the power, wisdom and gentleness of Shelby’s presence and skills and, as a coach myself, I truly appreciate Shelby as one of the very, very best.
-S.J. - Melbourne, Australia
Shelby is utterly present during sessions and a true master at what she does. She cares deeply for her clients, and it shows. As a result of working with her, I've been able to move forward in situations where I've previously felt stuck, and experienced the huge relief and permission to not have to be perfect!
I've experienced a deep, profound connection to myself, in Shelby's presence. If you have a chance to work with Shelby, I highly, highly recommend it. Thank you Shelby, for being such a loving, gifted, dedicated and passionate practitioner.
-R.D London, UK
Frequency, fees, & getting started
I believe in transparency and want you to feel fully informed and ready when we meet - no hidden prices, no pressure to commit if it’s not a full yes for you. I want you to approach working together with ease, not with dread or uncertainty.
With that in mind, here’s what you can expect when working with me.
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Sessions are $250.
This approach often yields deeper results compared to long-term talk therapy which can sometimes be re-traumatizing or talk you around in circles gaining awareness but not necessarily deep and sustainable change; or more intensive coaching programs, which can sometimes push too fast and result in burnout. Our focus is on finding a balanced, steady pace that supports your nervous system and unique needs, creating lasting shifts that you can feel in your bones and see in your life.
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Sessions are 60 minutes on Zoom, and are available during the first three weeks of each month (I offer client sessions in the first three weeks of each month).
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We will begin with three sessions per month, for an initial three months of consistent support.
It’s different to talk therapy which tends to be very long term - this work can be if you want it to be, but more often than not folks feel shifts within 3-4 months of consistent sessions, which is why that’s where we begin.
Some people enjoy the ongoing support and stay for years and others find meeting regularly for an initial 4 months to be enough nourishment to take with them for a lifetime. Some come and go over the years.
It’s up to you and what feels ultimately MOST loving and supportive for YOU and your nervous system and process.
I’m here for and with you.
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At present, I have a waitlist, so your next step is to click one of the buttons on this page to join that list. Then, as spaces come available, I will email you to see if you’re still interested, and offer a free intro call for us to meet and decide whether working together is a good fit.
If it feels like a good fit after our conversation, and you're ready to move forward, we’ll choose a start date and set a consistent time to meet.
I’ll send you an intro form with details on confidentiality and session info as well as an intake form to help guide our work together.
Then, we begin!
Not ready to join the waitlist just yet, but have some questions?
Send me an email, and I’ll get back to you within a few days.