Join us on the Full Frontal Living podcast for a riveting discussion with Melina McConnell on the transformative power of choice in healing and relationships. Melina, a seasoned expert in somatic therapy, shares her insights on moving from codependency to interdependency and the vital connection between the mind and body.

In this episode, you'll learn about:

• Understanding Oneself: The first step in supporting yourself and others in relationships.
• Transition to Interdependency: Essential for fostering healthy connections.
• External vs. Internal Regulation: Understanding dependencies and the importance of self-regulation.
• The High Achiever’s Challenge: Balancing external influences with internal control.
• Mind-Body Connection: Valuing emotions and their physical manifestations.
• Overcoming Functional Freeze: Techniques to stimulate energy flow and combat shame.
• Trauma Insights: Unpacking developmental trauma and its lasting impact.
• Nervous System Health: Managing stress through understanding sympathetic and parasympathetic responses.
• Stress and Health: Counteracting physical stress effects and maintaining homeostasis.
• Collective and Individual Healing: Tackling personal fears for broader community health.

Special Segment:

Lisa reflects on her personal struggles with addiction and the transformative role Melina played in her recovery journey. Melina discusses her shift from addiction counseling to somatic therapy, emphasizing the holistic approach to healing.

Resources:

• Explore more on somatic therapy at Melina McConnell's website: https://melinamcconnell.com
• Recommended reading: "The Body Keeps the Score" by Basil van der Kolk. https://www.amazon.com/Body-Keeps-Score-Healing-Trauma/dp/0143127748

This episode is a call to harness the power of choice in your healing and relationships. For Lisa’s free guide to protecting your energy when life is life-ing checkout the following link: ⁠www.lisacarpenter.ca/protect

About Melina McConnell:

Melina believes that trauma steals our sense of safety, curiosity, competence and sense of belonging, leaving us with symptoms of nervous system dysregulation and other (often) painful body manifestations. She is a firm believer that we are innately designed to heal and that taking a mind-body approach is essential in healing the effects of human experiences. 

Melina is a somatic trauma therapist and IFS-informed counsellor. She supports her clients through the intersection between neuroscience, trauma and attachment from what she calls a psycho-neuro-biological approach. She helps clients address the underlying causes of these symptoms through somatic practices and somatic IFS, encouraging the movement of stuck survival energies, renegotiating boundary breaches and repairing attunement ruptures from early life moving clients towards wholeness and health. Melina has advanced training in therapeutic touch and includes this as a regular part of her practice. 

She maintains a private practice in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada assisting individuals in the areas of trauma (developmental trauma, shock trauma, c-PTSD, PTSD), human development and attachment, anxiety, depression, chronic pain and the physical and emotional effects of chronic traumatic stress and addictions.