When someone asks me the question, "What do you do?," I respond in a few ways.

First, I'll let them know that, "I'm a Registered Somatic Movement Therapist and Educator with a Master's Degree in Somatic Psychology, and extensive post-graduate training in Body-Mind Centering, Interpersonal Neurobiology, Biodynamic Cranial Therapy, and Biomechanics."

Then, the person asking me will often go—blink, blink, ………, blink, and let me know they have no idea what most of those words mean. And they'll ask, "What does that mean?"

"I support people to have more nourishing relationships," I say.

"And how do you do that?"

"Well, twenty thousand children taught me how to help heal adults."

"Huh, how'd they do that?," they ask.

"Well," I say, "we played—like puppies and kittens on mats—and they showed me, with their movement and through their bodies, what their earliest relational experiences were like. What it's like to feel sad and get mad. And what it's like to feel alone and scared. But most of all, they taught me that we are all a joy and delight waiting to unfold."

"Huh," they respond, "what do you do with adults? How do we heal?"

And I tell them, just like I'm telling you now, that we heal in a field of care. We all have a basic need to be cared for and delighted in, to be deeply known.

Growing up, many of us experienced things that were overwhelming and we found ways to adapt and survive. Loneliness or hurt. Fear, rage, or other traumas.

What I do with people is I listen to your words—what you experienced and what you felt—and I also listen to your body in a collaborative and attuned way to get to the deeper layers of the experiences that shape how you live. How you experienced relationships is how you expect them to go today.

Together, we explore the terrain of your life and get to know it in a very gentle way. In doing so, we bring care to the places that have not been welcomed or met with kindness.

How the process goes is unique to each person. For some, we talk and explore personal history, attending closely to the underlying sensations in the body. For others, this kind of exploration will be taken into guided movement. And sometimes, with agreement, there is gentle guided touch to support and nourish one's inner being.

The best way to discover your path is to set up a free initial consultation, email me at mfotto@mac.com or call 503/309-3142.

To hear a little more about My Story, click here.