JERVAIS
DIONNE
BOOK
A SESSION
"Jervais has such a gentle, loving, human approach. She makes healing and learning to love myself accessible—even on the hardest days. I always end our sessions feeling seen, understood, and truly supported. She's helped me connect the dots and build on the skills I need to become a more peaceful, present and resilient human. I always look forward to our sessions." - S.T.
I work at the intersection of counselling and somatic therapy.
I work this way because I have found it is the most effective way to help people move out of chronic survival mode, self-regulate their over-stimulated nervous system and tap into the innate wisdom of their body. This is foundational for true healing to occur.
Individual Counselling & Somatic Therapy
50 Mins
$135 CAD
Online Session
My Approach
I believe to be seen, heard, and fully accepted in any moment is one of the most healing experiences one can have and my approach is always to meet you where you are, just as you are. We are all experts on our own lives and are born with an innate inner wisdom. My intention is to always to create a safe, nourishing and intuitive container for that wisdom to come through.
Our time in the beginning of our work together is spent connecting and getting to know one another. Our therapeutic relationship is sacred, so it's important that we're a good fit for you and your journey. Our first couple of sessions help us discover this and how to best work together and if your focus is nervous system health, we'll start by going through the basics.
Sessions often start with us checking in regarding what’s coming up for you in the moment. You’re welcome to bring anything you like into our time together. Sessions with me feel friendly, deep and relaxed. Often we laugh together.
You'll share where you feel stuck, what's happening in life, what you're experiencing and anything else that feels present for you. I'll listen with compassion, and we'll always move at the natural pace of your needs.
I'll provide relevant and practical at-home exercises that you can start using that day. At the end of each session, I like to leave clients with optional small things to take away as well – videos by teachers or speakers that might be helpful, books, podcasts, articles and even sometimes silly/profound memes.
Why somatic therapy and what the heck does “somatic” mean?
The reason why I integrate somatic therapy into my counselling work with clients is because it can much more effectively help you get to the heart of why you feel stuck, stagnant or constantly anxious and overwhelmed.
The term “somatic” means “relating to the body". Many people seek out somatic therapy after gaining self-awareness through traditional talk therapies, yet still experiencing that their patterns, behaviors and triggers really haven’t changed all that much.
When we have experienced trauma, the body and mind can become stuck in never-ending loops, cycles or survival responses, that often show up in our lives as repetitive or intrusive thoughts, problematic relationship patterns, addictions, fatigue, illness, chronic anxiety, overwhelm and more.
Somatic therapy facilitates the completion of these loops or patterns, supporting the body’s natural capacity to heal, relax, release, rewire and regulate, so that we can process undigested emotional and sensory material.
All of this happens energetically, emotionally, physically and mentally and allows us to move forward in life feeling more empowered, authentic and coherent. The aim of somatic therapy is not about feeling good all the time (though often people find great relief) – it’s about cultivating a flexible and resilient nervous system and leveraging the body’s innate healing wisdom.
Once you discover the ways survival responses show up for you, we can begin to create your own personalized toolbox of self-supportive resources and somatic practices that work especially for your unique system. The added benefit of this is that it grows your agency, and your trust in your own inner compass, to be able to tap into sustainable and tangible shifts in an ongoing way in your day-to-day life.
My experience has shown me that if we cultivate a sense of safety and grounded spaciousness in the body, healing happens naturally and much more effortlessly. What I love about this work is how it supports us in getting out of our heads and back into our bodies where real and profound healing can occur.
Counselling and somatic therapy can be effective in addressing:
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Childhood trauma, or trauma as an adult
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C/PTSD
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Recovering from narcissistic, emotional, sexual or physical abuse
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Relationship issues
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People-pleasing and codependency
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Racing or intrusive thoughts
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Habitual behaviors and addictions that don’t serve you
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Anxiety, stress, fear, worry or overwhelm
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Depression, despair or feeling alone
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Shame, worthlessness, or insecurity
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Difficulty managing or expressing anger
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Grief or loss
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Fatigue or constantly feeling drained
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A major life transition
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Much more
These sessions might be for you if:
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You've never explored any type of therapy, alternative or otherwise, and need an effective place to begin.
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You've tried traditional talk therapy and find it hasn't worked the way you hoped.
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You feel as though you've "tried everything" and feel stuck or hopeless about finding relief and making changes.
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You’re interested in the neurobiology and physiology of the challenges you’re facing, as well as how these might show up in your life.
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You want to learn about your nervous system or how to become a self-healer.
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You want to take your healing journey to the next level or learn to navigate life using a body-centered approach.
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You want a safe place to share, unwind, co-regulate and ground.
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You are struggling with shame or a sense of unworthiness (or have people in your life who treat you that way) and want to increase your self-acceptance and self-esteem.
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You want to clarify your goals and be supported in reaching them.
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You want to learn how to feel more confident and clear in making decisions.
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You are tired of being tired and want to restore a sense of wellbeing and balance in your life.
What happens in a session?
Sessions are totally individualized to best meet your needs and whatever is coming up for you in that particular session. We can talk, play, experiment, express all the big feels, go deep, ground out together, laugh, do breathwork and more. We can just sit together and bathe in stillness and presence, saying very little or nothing at all. Truly, sessions can look different depending on what you actually need, but they will always be a safe, heart-centered and collaborative space in which I hope you’ll find powerful support on your journey.
Learn more about how I came to do this work:
What Clients Say:
"I wanted assistance with moving through my trauma symptoms and in finding healthier perceptions and ways of being. Jervais is remarkably skilled, intuitive, trustworthy, insightful, compassionate… and she gives f-ing amazing practices and resources that are helpful way beyond the sessions."
Want a simple intro to healing your nervous system? Download my free workbook:
Getting Started Healing the Overstimulated Nervous System
If you feel like you’ve tried everything (or many things) and you still feel stuck, the problem is not you! It’s likely that you were never taught how to work with the essential and fundamental foundation for any healing to take place: the ability to work with your own nervous system responses.
It’s not needlessly complex, and it’s not something only “some” people can do based on inborn talents or capacities: it is an easily learnable skill. It just took a long time for therapy to catch up to this piece, and many therapeutic practices are not yet teaching it. The purpose of this free workbook is to help you discover the signs of an overstimulated nervous system, get an intro to nervous system healing and learn somatic practices that you can immediately play with to shift your own state.