About Me
“The point is that life is constant change from the word go.”
~ Jon Kabat-Zinn
Co-creating self-regulation, trauma healing, and life-design through Transformational Somatics™.
Hello! My name is Trudi Howley (M.S., SEP), and I’m so honored that you’ve found my online base. Welcome, and please allow me to introduce myself.
I am a Somatic Psychotherapist, a Certified Professional Coach, and the founder of Transformational Somatics™, a modality of transformational work that blends therapeutic healing practices and coping skills that helps clients alleviate symptoms of chronic or situational stress, dysregulation, overwhelm, pain, and trauma while proactively building optimal health and wellness.
I believe that all of life is a transition and awareness of the body needs to be included in understanding the mind. I support my clients with the discovery and practice of their unique expressions of personal wellbeing.
Perhaps Dr. Irvin D. Yalom said it best with his words, “It is through willing—the mainspring of action—that our freedom is enacted.” I’ll take this sentiment even further: freedom, especially from trauma and feeling stuck in life, is born not only of wishing for change but also the decision in making a commitment to change. Our precious and often overlooked inner resources include both the power of listening to what both our minds and what our bodies are desperately trying to share with us.
Our bodies and minds are powerful vessels of communication. The trick, though, is that so much of what our bodies and minds are trying to tell us is nonverbal. Not in our words or our stories, but in our subtle feeling states. Our body language. Our subconscious responses. And our microscopic reactions.
Today, I guide my clients to discover new possibilities for their healing and wellness journeys through Transformational Somatics™, blending holistic trauma solutions with practical coping practices. Transformational Somatics™ unlocks the subtle, nonverbal communication clues that our bodies and minds are already trying to share with us—so that we may learn from them, and heal through them.
My goal for my clients is to help them become the true authors of their own life design.
My story as a therapist and coach begins more than two decades ago when my life was entirely dedicated to a very different kind of client… horses! Yes, for most of my life I’ve loved horses, worked with horses, owned horses, bred horses, and ridden horses—in fact, I’m a competitive rider and a United States Dressage Federation Bronze and Silver medalist!
I simply love these majestic, powerful creatures.
And yet, if you’ve never had the pleasure of working with horses up close before, you may not know that horses are not only physically strong (and sometimes intimidating!), but highly sensitive and energetically aware animals. Horses are incredibly responsive to energy, emotion, and the subtle nonverbal communication of the humans around them. As social animals who, much like humans, live in herds, horses became a perfect metaphor for studying how relationship dynamics and nervous systems interact and affect one another.
That’s why, after working with horses for so many years, I began to develop a refined ability to decipher the nonverbal communication of these animals. From reading body language to detecting subtle, even energetic cues, I discovered that earning the trust of a horse is an exercise in learning to observe, understand, and regulate yourself.
Seeing the potential for healing in my work with horses, I became an equine specialist in the field of equine therapy to teach the power of biofeedback through hands-on work with these sensitive animals, all to support the mental health and emotional wellness of others. I have witnessed some incredible healing and transformation in people as they interact with equines!
I am a Somatic Psychotherapist, a Certified Professional Coach, and the founder of Transformational Somatics™, a modality of transformational work that blends therapeutic healing practices and coping skills that helps clients alleviate symptoms of chronic or situational stress, dysregulation, overwhelm, pain, and trauma while proactively building optimal health and wellness.
I believe that all of life is a transition and the body has a mind of its own, and I support my clients in the discovery and practice of their unique expressions of personal wellbeing.
“Trauma exists in the nervous system and the body, not in the content of the traumatizing event”
~ Peter Levine
My experiences — both as an equestrian and a business professional — inspired me to further study psychology. I’ve gone on to become a mental health professional, specializing in trauma resolution, and a certified professional coach.
Today, I hold a Master’s of Science in Counseling with a specialization in clinical mental health counseling. In addition to being a Somatic Experiencing® Practitioner (SEP), which is a three-year specialization in trauma healing, I am trained in Solution Focused Therapy, Attachment Theory, Animal Assisted Therapy, Grief Therapy, Suicide Prevention, Mindfulness, Altered States and Near-Death Experiences, and Dialectical Behavioral Therapy (DBT).
Growing up in England, in a culture where therapy was undervalued, I pursued my own relationship to self-discovery to heal from a life-changing traumatic accident. Therapy and various healing modalities also helped me to resolve adverse childhood experiences including profound grief experienced during my adolescence.
(Also, I have a love of art, photography, and fast cars. I am a huge fan of Formula 1 racing… just in case you were curious to know something else about me!)
I can’t express enough how important the support of others has been to me in my own healing and wellness journey in my life.
That is something that I wish to share with others today — especially those who may feel isolated or stuck but crave finding new ways to move forward in their lives.
It is my passion to support the health, wellness, healing and personal growth of people. I strive to empower my clients by guiding their understanding of the natural wisdom of their bodies, minds, spirits. We do so by exploring a range of coping skills, holistic techniques, mindfulness strategies, and an overarching sense of curiosity to guide possibility and potential. My focuses as a coach and therapist span helping clients to heal from traumatic events, developing self-care, navigating life transitions, making career changes, improving the quality of relationships, and so much more.
Would you be interested in learning a little more about how we can work together — in an open, easy, no-obligation conversation?
If so, I invite you to book a complimentary
30-minute consultation with me!
With possibility and curiosity to guide us, we will discuss your goals, what roadblocks you sense are standing in your way, and how Transformational Somatics may support newfound authorship of your own life’s design.
Thank you for reading, and here’s to your journey of discovery and wellness!
Warmly yours,
Trudi Howley
Licensed Professional Counselor
Board Certified
Somatic Psychotherapist
Certified Professional Coach
Trauma Healing Specialist
PS — If you’d like to learn a little bit more about what Transformational Somatics™ is and how it works before you book your free consultation with me, simply click here to see what common questions clients have about working with me.
PPS — If you’d like to explore my services, service rates, and client availability before you book your free consultation with me, click here to visit my Work With Me page. Thank you!