1-2-1 Trauma-Sensitive Breathwork Therapy

Core Information at a Glance

What is Trauma-Sensitive Breathwork?

Breathwork can mean many different things. In my practice, it begins with becoming curious about the breath that is already happening: how it moves through the body, how it changes with what we are feeling, and what we notice when we give it some attention. Sometimes we may simply notice the sensations of breathing; at other times, we might experiment with a different depth, rhythm or pattern and see what happens.

I am less interested in teaching you the “right” way to breathe than in helping you develop a deeper relationship with your own breath. What feels useful can vary from person to person and from moment to moment. A slower breath may feel settling in one situation; at another time, a more energising or expressive breath may feel more appropriate. Sometimes the most useful thing is simply to notice the breath that is already there without trying to change it.

Trauma-sensitive describes how I facilitate this work, rather than a particular breathing technique. Your experience takes priority over following an instruction: you can change what you are doing, pause, shift your attention or stop. More intensity is not necessarily better, and I am not trying to produce catharsis, an altered state or a particular emotional response.

Trauma-sensitive practice also means recognising that distress does not arise only from within us. Our bodies and breathing are shaped by relationships, environments and material conditions, as well as by past experience. Greater resource is not simply about becoming better at tolerating what harms us. It may support rest and recovery, but it may also support clearer boundaries, connection with others, creativity, action or change.

What brings people to breathwork therapy?

People are often drawn to working with breath because they want another way into their experience. They may feel stuck in their head, find it difficult to notice or name what they are feeling, struggle with anxiety, or notice that their breathing becomes shallow or restricted when they are under pressure.

Others are interested in breath because it already feels meaningful to them, or because they want to explore emotional expression in a way that involves the body as well as words. Some are curious about breathwork but know that highly intensive or cathartic approaches are not what they are looking for.

You do not need to know in advance whether breathwork will be useful for you. It can become one thread within the wider therapy, depending on what feels relevant as we work together.

What does breathwork with me actually involve?

We may begin simply by noticing your breathing without trying to change it: where you feel it in your body, whether it seems easy or restricted, and how it shifts as we talk or pay attention to different parts of your experience.

From there, we may experiment with different ways of breathing for a short time — perhaps changing the depth, rhythm or pace, allowing the breath a little more space, or exploring something more active or expressive. These are offered as experiments rather than techniques you are expected to “get right”. We notice what happens, pause, and decide together whether it feels useful.

Breathwork with me usually happens in short periods rather than as a long sustained exercise. It may be woven into therapeutic dialogue or alongside other parts of my practice, including Transforming Touch, Family Constellations and EMDR. For some people, breath becomes a regular thread across sessions; for others, it appears only occasionally.

What you notice can be subtle or more pronounced. There might be a sigh, warmth, tingling, a sense of more space in the body, emotion becoming more available, or a feeling of greater steadiness or presence. Memories, images or associations can sometimes arise too. I am interested in what these experiences mean to you, rather than assuming they are literal memories or proof of a particular story.

Nothing particular has to happen for the work to be useful. A stronger experience is not necessarily a more successful one. The aim is to develop familiarity with your own responses and more choice in how you work with your breath.

Can my breath become a resource outside therapy?

One of the things I value most about working with breath is that it can become something you carry with you. Over time, the aim is not simply to remember a technique I have taught you, but to develop enough of a relationship with your own breathing that you can notice what is happening and experiment with what might help in the moment.

That might mean taking a few deeper breaths before going back into a difficult conversation, quietening your thoughts by noticing the movement of your belly when you can’t sleep, or using your breath as a resource enabling you to pause before reacting. At other times, breath may help you stay with stronger feelings such as anger, frustration or grief without immediately shutting them down or being overwhelmed by them.

For some people, this can also support a greater sense of power and agency. A breath cannot remove a bullying boss, make the rent affordable or end discrimination; it cannot change the injustices in the world that affect how you feel day to day. But it may help you stay connected with yourself: to notice what you feel, recognise what matters, gather enough steadiness or momentum to make a choice, set a boundary, seek support, rest, speak, act or keep going.

In that sense, breath can support both movement and pause. Sometimes the resource is in finding enough energy to act. Sometimes it is in finding enough space to stop, recover and not push through. Neither is inherently more resilient than the other.

The longer-term hope is that breath becomes less something you “do in therapy” and more something you know you can return to — one embodied resource among others, available to support connection with yourself and greater choice in how you respond.

How does breathwork fit within my wider somatic therapy practice?

Breathwork is a core part of my practice, but it is not something I offer as a standalone technique. It sits within a wider process of somatic and systemic therapy, alongside therapeutic dialogue, Transforming Touch, Family Constellations, EMDR and other ways of exploring what is happening in our bodies, relationships and wider lives.

My own relationship with breath is part of this too. I use my breathing to notice, pause, ground and stay present in difficult moments, and sometimes clients respond spontaneously to that. In this sense, breath is not only something I teach; it is part of how I practise and how I accompany someone.

How to get started

If you are interested in working with me, the usual first step is a 60-minute Orientation Session. This is a standalone session where we can talk in more depth about what is bringing you, what you are hoping for, and whether my way of working feels like a good fit.

If you would prefer to make written contact first, you are welcome to complete my Individual Session Enquiry form or email me. If you have a few practical questions about availability, format or next steps, I may also offer a free 15-minute introductory call after we have been in contact by email.

We can explore whether breathwork, Transforming Touch or other aspects of my somatic and systemic practice may be useful for you, whether you are looking for regular or ad hoc sessions, and whether in-person or online work feels most appropriate.

There is no requirement to commit to ongoing therapy at the Orientation Session. If we both feel it makes sense to continue, we can agree the next steps together.

You can find current fees, availability, practical information, enquiry options and links to book an Orientation Session on my Bookings, Hours and Fees page.