An In-Person Experiential Workshop for Mental Health Professionals
Somatic Skills
for
Hard Times
This experiential workshop is designed to care for the nervous systems of clinicians and mental health professionals while building resiliency for stress and traumatic events.
Saturday, January 10, 2026
9am-12:15pm
Watertown Center for Healing Arts
The Skylight Room
Watertown, MA
What Workshop Participants Are Saying:
In today’s world, it’s easy to feel overwhelmed.
You find yourself absorbing your clients' stress, doom scrolling between sessions, feeling distant from your own body while caring for others. You try to maintain professional boundaries while the weight of collective trauma affects your own nervous system. You're not sure how to stay present for your clients when you're struggling to regulate yourself.
You’re Feeling:
Secondary trauma and burnout
Difficulty maintaining your own regulation while supporting others
Disconnection from your body and personal needs
Professional fatigue and compassion overload
This experiential workshop offers clinicians the opportunity to first embody somatic skills for their own nervous system care, then explore applications for supporting their clients.
Experiential Retreat (9-11:30am):
Participants will journey through embodying these skills and caring for their own nervous systems through live demonstrations and experiential practice.
Q&A and Application (11:45-12:15pm):
Participants will reflect on their learning and plan practical applications to support their clients in their clinical work.
What You Will Experience
What's Included in This Workshop:
Guidance: Live demonstration of breathwork, floor work, and creative outlets
Release: Exercises to process stress and a container to renew your energy
Resources: Practical tools clinicians can use immediately for self-care and client work
Expertise: Facilitated by a somatic and creative arts therapist with over 15 years of experience
Community: An in-person retreat experience to connect with others and enjoy the benefits of co-regulation
Renewal: Multi-discipline approaches including music and poetry to soothe your soul and lift your spirits
MEET YOUR WORKSHOP FACILITATOR
Hello friend,
I’m Kim.
(she/her) A fellow journeyer in caring for the whole self to show up with love and strength in the world.
Growing up, I felt I had a purpose and calling to do good in the world, but right along side this drive I also felt distant from my body. I didn’t have the words to describe my ambition or my embodied disconnect. The message I internalized from the outside world was to use my brain to “be smart” and “be a good student”. My body was for utilitarian purposes: get up early to go to school (I’m so dutiful!) and run that mile in gym class (I really didn’t like that).
Meanwhile, I was attracted to performing arts and immersive experiences that made me FEEL! Feel emotions but also feel like maybe I was more than a person that just accomplishes tasks. I could feel glimpses of being an integrated, wondrous, multidimensional human who had impact!
Is it too much to want to be connected to all of myself to show up whole-hearted in the world?
In college I chose to study dance and theater. I felt myself drawn to art with a purpose. From there I eventually found my way to a graduate training in dance/movement therapy and counseling.
In my holistic, embodied coursework I learned how to use expression and movement first in service of storytelling in college, and then in service of healing in grad school. Have you ever just followed a pull from inside and been so pleased with where it takes you? Cue a bundle of self discovery!
For over 15 years I have been an embodied therapist for those who want to connect not just in their mind but also hear the call in their bodies and hearts for deeper connection and understanding with themselves.
The interest in mindbody connection has skyrocketed in the past several years from people with an eager thirst to know more.
I want to help you go deeper. I’ve created Somatic Skills for Hard Times as a space to learn new embodied and creative skills to care for yourself, affirm your boundaries, and process your stress, all within community.
Your yearning to care for yourself and others can be attended to with a holistic approach.
You can gain more somatic tools for those gut-wrenching days to renew your energy.
More praise for Somatic Skills for Hard Times:
Workshop Content Overview
This experiential workshop is facilitated in a trauma-informed, retreat style using elements of Polyvagal Theory, Bartenieff Fundamentals, Dance/Movement Therapy, Creative Arts Therapy, Interpersonal Neurobiology and more to foster recuperation, process stress and encourage renewal.
Experiential (9-11:30am):
Participants will journey through embodying these skills and caring for their own nervous systems through live demonstrations and experiential practice.
Q&A and Application (11:45-12:15pm):
Participants will reflect on their learning and plan practical applications to support their clients in their clinical work.
Workshop Investment & Requirements
Workshop Fee: $250
Sign up and pay here
Max of 16 participants for a personalized experience
What you bring:
Yourself wearing comfortable clothes and an open heart
Any favorite blanket, journal, or small trinkets that bring comfort and meaning. Favorite coloring supplies, pens or pencils
Snacks for breaks and your own water
Kim Provides:
All workshop facilitation and content delivery
Handouts and additional art materials
Evidence-based, continuing education appropriate content
Q&A time
Opportunity to schedule additional support
“Kim has a calm, supportive presence, which I find very grounding. I trust her and have confidence in her perspectives and approaches. Kim is creative and shares her knowledge in an engaging, easy to understand way. She creates an environment that encourages learning, exploration and self-development.”
-Joanna Gardy, LMHC
“Kim understands the gap between the somatic approaches and traditional verbal therapy. She has tools and a vision to help practitioners on either side to close the gap. I admire her passion!”
— Yu-Ling Hu, Board Certified
Dance/Movement Therapist
What Other Experts Are Saying:
Who Should Join This Workshop?
-
Mental health clinicians, social workers, psychologists, and others in the mental health field
Hospital behavioral health workers
Community mental health workers
Those who work in education
Graduate students
Professionals in healthcare
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Comfortable with experiential learning and body-based practices
Have curiosity about the mindbody connection and their own care
Seeking both personal renewal and professional development
Interested in expanding their self care toolkit with somatic approaches
