Gemma brings decades of skill and experience and has a great sensitivity to seeing and sensing the body.
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I could not have gone through this to such depth without Gemma’s sensitive, intuitive and highly knowledgeable accompaniment. Thank you Gemma!
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As a practising GP I sought out Gemma to help me with a chronically painful neck. I have met many patients with chronic pain who have become dependent on very strong painkillers and have significant side effects. I also know that a lot of chronic pain has an emotional aspect . I don’t believe we should separate mental and physical health and Gemma works with both aspects to bring healing.
I would encourage anyone with chronic pain to seek out a somatic practioner before taking strong and addictive painkillers or as a path away from them if you are already dependent.
Gemma has also helped me thrive by working with emotion and body to increase my confidence to take on a leadership role within healthcare that involves public speaking.
I would recommend trying her if there is something you really want to do but you feel held back in some way from achieving it.
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Working with Gemma has been immeasurably helpful, challenging, interesting and ultimately enlightening and empowering. She has an intuitive, light, deeply rooted and compassionate gift and process of witnessing and helping you to discover where the root of dis ease may be found in the body; and then through working with her be released and resolved. Cannot recommend reaching out to her enough when you feel you are ready to do the work.
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‘I have been working with Gemma for about a year now, initially to support my own enquiry into somatic movement as a therapy. I am a yoga teacher with an evolving interest in somatics, in deepening my own embodied practice and how I sensitively share yoga with my students and clients. Regularly sharing time and space with Gemma has given me the opportunity to observe and become more aware of the thoughts, emotions and deeper felt sense that I am experiencing. This has really helped me and my own class students. My own work is moving in the direction of supporting clients who are dealing with trauma; who are looking for a yoga practice which compliments their other therapeutic work.
Gemma is now also acting as my somatic supervisor so that I am able to confidentially discuss my work / clients in a safe space. This has been particularly helpful as I progress through my ‘trauma-informed somatic teacher and coach’ training.
Gemma is a skilled, compassionate and joyous soul; she listens and observes with patience and shares her wisdom in a way that doesn’t impose on my own sense of self.
Our sessions are always very sensitive to my needs and I always come away feeling renewed, settled in my self and at ease.’
Lou Curry
Evolve Yoga Cumbria
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I have worked with Gemma both in person and online over zoom and found the experience nourishing and supportive at a very challenging time in my life. Gemma brings decades of skill and experience and she has a great sensitivity to seeing and sensing the body. She was able to track my experience and offer me helpful prompts to engage with or not as I chose. This offered a great freedom for me to come more deeply into my own body. She tracked my pace too and supported both movement and rest, being sensitive to the need for deep rest within the core of my body and allowing the body to unfold and find its own pace and movement, however tiny and subtle or large and expansive. Together with mark-making and journaling and Gemma responding with her own movement I found the sessions to be rich and surprising and I felt more alive by the end of each session and looking forward to the next one. I was somewhat sceptical about working in this way on zoom and I have to say that it was remarkably powerful and Gemma’s presence was very evident. If you are thinking of exploring your own moving body, I highly recommend working with Gemma.
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I came to Gemma after years of talking therapy and with very little idea of what somatic work involved but knowing there was ‘something else’ I needed. The studio is a beautiful warm, comforting, place with a log burner crackling in the corner and wonderful fellside views from the windows. I don’t know about how the sessions look for Gemma’s other clients, but this is how mine generally go…
We start with a chat – how I’m feeling, any thoughts, dreams, changes I’ve noticed since the last session – I try to keep a journal and jot down anything I notice. Then I lie down and Gemma moves round my body offering intuitive touch, allowing me to completely relax and enabling me to connect deeply with my body in a way that I hadn’t previously experienced. This unconditional touch and holding was like finding water in the desert for me. Sometimes emotions bubble up and tears or laughter flow. Next with gentle encouraging suggestions Gemma helps me to start moving, or rather allowing my body to move. There is no thought involved – just wonderful liberating movement … or stillness led by somewhere deep inside. Sometimes we end the session with drawing – again no thought involved –simply holding a piece of chalk and seeing where it goes.
So how has somatic work helped me? It might sound like a cliché, but I feel that I have ‘come home to myself’. I move more freely, intuitively knowing what my body is asking for. I am less anxious and more present in the moment, more content with ‘what is’ and who I am right now.
I am still a work-in-progress and it’s not always an easy journey – sometimes you meet parts of yourself that have been buried for a long time. It can be tiring and challenging, but the rewards and personal growth are totally worth it. Gemma is kind, gentle and intuitively knows when and how touch or words are needed. For anyone interested in Somatic Therapy but still not sure I would say take that leap of faith with Gemma and you won’t be disappointed.
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‘I’ve had the pleasure of working with Gemma on a number of occasions over the last couple of years. Every session with Gemma has been magic! I recommend her to anyone who is drawn to the work she does. Thank you Gemma!’
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‘I lost my partner to suicide, almost 3 years ago. When I felt ready to deal with some very complex and difficult feelings, I found Gemma. She provided a welcoming safe space for me to gently explore deep inner wounds. She followed my lead and gave me confidence to really face some hard feelings. The feeling of safety, acceptance and care from Gemma allowed me to deal with things that more conventional counselling never could, and I am a very private person so I have been really surprised with how comfortable I have become, and that is testament to Gemma.
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I’m very impressed. The night after the session I woke up with no shoulder pain whatsoever- even on rolling over. This hasn’t happened for months and months! Even though I have had a couple of twinges at work I find I can relax and it goes!
(1-1 client suffering from chronic pain)
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‘Gemma made me feel safe and at ease, the space was wonderfully calm and I felt held and supported emotionally. By the end of my sessions, I felt a huge sense of self love.’
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‘I felt met and witnessed in my body in such a profound way…the first time I haven’t felt alone and hiding with these energies held in my body. I am deeply moved by my sessions and am booking more.’
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‘ L gets so much out of his sessions with Gemma. He is calmer and able to focus for longer periods of time. It is as if he is settling into himself and his life in a way which he was just unable to access prior to Gemma’s sessions. Our days are smoother for us all.’
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“It feels like you saw everything there was to see and R gained so much from last session. She got in the car and then talked all the way home. Like there was freedom and she was not holding so tight. I see a huge softening for her after each session with you. Thank you for offering her this special space.”
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‘Wonderful to see E’s return to confidence after her sessions with you. She was so brave and faced her fears on the climbing walls. She also said you’ve fixed her heel (it’s no longer hurting!). So thank you! My best friend has seen E over the course of her anxiety, and she said yesterday that it felt like we had the old E back. Which is huge!’
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