Session Restrictions
What types of questions can I NOT ask?
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General information on psychology is not the same as therapy.
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Your coach is trained in Somatic Psychology with a lens of trauma-informed coaching. Your coach specializes in awareness of manual nervous system stimulation. Your coach is trained to cover sympathetic nervous system actions (fight, flight, fawn, freeze, appease) in everyday life, identity, goal development, achievement, social situations, and self-development.
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I have a specialty in metacognition. I explore the pros and cons of self-analysis and where self-analysis can lead to a subtle distortion of the self-concept and an unconscious stimulation of the nervous system. This means I cover everyday, casual, non-pathological self-distortion as guided by intentional conscious involvement and unconscious aftermaths.
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My passion is to strengthen the public's sense of identity. This extends to the following topics: (1) defense against unwanted social influence, (2) nervous system regulations in applied social situations, self-development, career development, and goal development, (3) unconscious cognition blocks, (4) awareness of daily conscious programming, (5) not getting stuck in your self-development by understanding how the physiology reacts to internal and external choices of change.
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This is to provide directions for education, along with experimental information on my areas of expertise. This is not to provide advisement or therapeutic services. Again, general information on psychology is not the same as therapy.
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The following topics cannot be covered during your session:
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• Mental Health Diagnosis
• Information On Mental Health Symptoms
• Intrusive Thoughts
• Hyper-fixation
• Excessive Rumination
• Compulsion
• Excessive Disassociation
• Addiction
• Depersonalization & Derealism
• Providing Therapeutic Services
• Information On Complex PTSD
• Behavioral Changes Due To Brain Damage
• Abusive Relationship Dynamics
• Sexual Dysfunction​
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What happens if I ask a question that falls outside of the services that you offer?
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No problem - I will provide you with a reason we are unable to provide an answer at this time so you are aware. We are unable to answer a question if (1) it falls outside the specialty of our services, (2) it falls outside the guidelines of questions we cannot answer. I may inform you of a related question I would be able to answer under my services. Otherwise, we may redirect to a topic I can better serve your needs.​
Boundaries Of Trauma-Informed Coaching
I may need to reference traumatic life events, situations, or topics to provide reference to the type of coaching I may need. Is this okay?
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Yes, it is fine to reference traumatic life events, situations, or topics. I am a trauma-informed coach, which means I have taken training that allows me to be aware of the following:
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• How trauma impacts the nervous system. Additionally, how to handle a client that suddenly gets overstimulated when they were not expecting to.
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• To listen to clients' trauma stories and integrate a client’s life experience into sessions. Secondly, to include clients' life stories, including traumatic stories, into the understanding and strengthening of a client's goals.
Your coach is not trained to diagnose or heal these trauma stories. Your coach is trained to regulate your nervous system in the present moment towards your goal. In general, somatic psychology sessions focus on digesting what is in the present moment, as opposed to what has been in the past - involving analyzing the current state of your nervous system. Trauma-informed coaching means your coach can handle clients with a traumatic past and is educated on what that does to the nervous system. ​​
Overstimulation In Sessions
Should I expect overstimulation or disconnection in my nervous system regulation sessions?
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Both overstimulation and sudden disconnection are very normal responses in nervous system regulation coaching sessions. In fact, they are a natural byproduct of confronting a client's current nervous system state. We are regulating overstimulation and disconnection around a client's goals. Many sessions may include moments of overstimulation or disconnection. Your facilitator will also be watching a client’s body language for something called, “somatic cues” to notice what is happening to a client's nervous system, that potentially a client may not notice in themselves. Your facilitator will directly discuss overstimulation, disconnection or significant somatic signals noticed. In some cases, it will be a good idea to ground the overstimulation or disconnection. In other cases, we will be contacting and expanding the feeling. Either action is decided by both the coach and the client per session, per moment.
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Grounding practices are great to calm overwhelm. However, metabolizing nervous system signals involves deeply feeling and facing sensations - and is what allows a client to regulate large nervous system signals over time. Metabolizing a nervous system signal is a more active and sometimes uncomfortable process. Grounding will calm overstimulating but will not metabolize nervous system signals. It is important for a client to understand that difference when undergoing nervous system regulation.
To regulate overwhelm or disconnection, we may have to increase the awareness of overwhelm or dis-connective nervous system signals. Embracing uncomfortable sensations is an important part of nervous system regulation. It is an important phrase in somatic psychology, “You can’t regulate, what you can’t feel.” If a client is overwhelmed or disconnected, we need to guide the client toward being able to feel that. That being said, if a client becomes too overstimulated, we focus on grounding and proceed at a safe and healthy pace based on each client’s needs.
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What if during our nervous system regulation practices I feel emotional, have a wave of anxiety, or have a breakdown? Does any of my behavior fall outside of session guidelines? Does this behavior make me unfit for sessions in the future?
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When establishing goals in sessions, we are often working with the client’s valuable life wants needs, and aspirations. This can make each session vulnerable in its own way. Additionally, some sessions can often be a process of facing nervous system signals that make one uncomfortable and want to turn away from themselves and their goals in life. In this way, experiencing overwhelm, disconnection, anxiety, confusion, and other activating or hazy nervous system signals is an organic part of the process.
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Additionally, when a client’s sympathetic nervous system is active, it is normal to have for the heart to race or breathing to increase. In the process of metabolizing stored nervous system signals from years ago, this often is a natural byproduct of regulation to experience a range of emotions. In sessions, we are dealing with your real-world problems, challenges, and deep wants in life. A client is safe to experience a range of emotions during their sessions. Emotions do not make a client unfit for sessions, in fact, that is part of the process.
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A coach is trained to track a client’s Window Of Tolerance, which tracks to see which nervous system circuit is most active and dominant in a client at any given time. If your coach sees that there is overwhelm or disconnection outside of a client’s tolerance level, both the client and coach will discuss that and ground the activation before continuing. During nervous system regulation, it is very normal to recall memories, old emotions, or old unprocessed sensations from the past. This is also normal. We will regulate it as we go. If a client is displaying more extreme mental health symptoms, your coach will inform you and refer you to another specialist and discuss whether it is safe to continue with sessions or whether they have to be placed on hold.​
Nervous System Coaching Versus Therapy
What is the difference between nervous system regulation coaching and therapy?
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Therapy focuses on diagnosing and treating mental health symptoms. Therapy also involves breaking down patterns within your past and your traumas. Coaching does not involve the diagnosis or the treatment of mental health symptoms. Coaching focuses more on your goals in the present moment and regulating sensations that come up with the present moment. You may inform a coach about your past, and your past may come up organically in sessions. However, the difference is we won’t be discussing in detail the past or analyzing it. We will instead use that information to paint a picture of your current nervous system and apply regulation techniques in an informed way. Your stories inform a coach on how to better serve your regulation needs. Your stories are not analyzed to treat mental health symptoms or diagnose you in any way.
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Dysregulated nervous systems can display symptoms that are often similar to mental health symptoms. However, a dysregulated nervous system is not necessarily a pathological issue and can happen to anyone. For example, anxiety is a sensation many people feel. However, this does not mean that everyone has an anxiety disorder. Constant states of anxiety or extreme panic attacks need to be treated by a mental health professional. However, anxiety that is not constant or extreme is often treated in nervous system regulation coaching. Another example is dissociating from your nervous system signals. Disconnecting from nervous system signals is a regular and many people experience it on autopilot every day. However, if one finds themselves disassociation entire parts of their identity, disassociating and believing they are another person entirely, or shutting down for hours at a time - that client needs to be treated by a mental health professional. However, small moments of disassociation and checking out of the nervous system are often something taken care of in nervous system regulation coaching. The difference is in severity, diagnosis, and past experience that make nervous system coaching currently unsafe until treatment. If you have a question if nervous system regulation is right for you, email thesubcodex@gmail.com.