Therapeutic Approaches

Three complementary methods
in service of your wellbeing

My work draws on brief therapy approaches that are holistic and internationally recognised. Each method offers a unique perspective on trauma and emotional regulation. Together, they form a focused and complete framework, tailored to your situation.

Somatic Experiencing®

Developed by Dr. Peter A. Levine

Somatic Experiencing® (SE) is a trauma therapy approach that supports the resolution of trauma by working with body sensations and nervous system regulation.

This method is grounded in the observation that all living beings possess an innate capacity to move beyond the effects of trauma. SE facilitates the completion of natural protective responses — flight, fight or freeze — and the release of survival energy held in the body and nervous system.

The approach is gradual and gentle: it guides you towards a growing tolerance of difficult sensations and suppressed emotions, developing your capacity for resilience and self-regulation.

This approach may help you if:

  • You feel constantly on edge — anxious, tense, or unable to switch off
  • You have experienced a traumatic event — whether sudden or anticipated — such as an accident, assault, surgery, shock, etc. (see the video below for a fuller explanation of how the nervous system responds to traumatic events)
  • You live with chronic pain or unexplained physical tension
  • You feel cut off from yourself or your own feelings
  • You are longing to feel safe in your own body again

Somatic Experiencing® is based on a refined understanding of how the autonomic nervous system responds to stress. Contemporary advances in neurobiology, including Polyvagal Theory, help illuminate these regulatory processes.

🎬 Somatic Experiencing in plain language — Karima Reisinger, Emotion Institute (French audio, English subtitles)


NARM®

NeuroAffective Relational Model — Dr. Laurence Heller

NARM® (NeuroAffective Relational Model) is a relational and integrative approach that works with developmental wounds and relational patterns rooted in early experience.

NARM places particular emphasis on the development of emotional autonomy — the capacity to make genuine choices, set boundaries, and act from a place of inner authority. Rather than analysing the past, the approach explores the patterns that manifest in present experience.

NARM works at the intersection of relational understanding, somatic awareness and affective neuroscience, offering a respectful framework centred on the person’s own resources and capacity for growth.

This approach may help you if:

  • You find yourself repeating the same relational patterns despite wanting things to be different
  • You feel disconnected from your emotions or your body
  • You struggle to set boundaries or to trust your own needs
  • You carry a deep sense of shame or of never quite being enough
  • You wish to develop greater emotional freedom and self-trust

Rooted in attachment theory and informed by developmental psychology, NARM® was developed by Dr. Larry Heller following his work and training in Somatic Experiencing®. It integrates a somatic understanding of regulation with a relational exploration of identity, supporting greater autonomy and authentic connection.


Systemic Constellations

Family and organisational — inspired by Bert Hellinger

Systemic Constellations are a phenomenological approach, centred on direct observation of what emerges in the present moment, without prior interpretation. They allow us to explore and resolve hidden dynamics within family or organisational systems.

This approach is particularly powerful for working with transgenerational dynamics — inherited patterns that shape your present, often without your awareness: invisible loyalties, family secrets, unresolved trauma passed silently from one generation to the next.

Constellations can be offered in individual or group sessions (up to 20 participants), and are equally suited to family contexts and professional and organisational settings.

This approach may help you if:

  • You repeat family patterns you don’t fully understand
  • You carry a weight or sense of responsibility that doesn’t feel like your own
  • You experience recurring professional blocks or team conflicts that resist resolution
  • You want to understand the transgenerational dynamics quietly shaping your life
  • You are ready to free yourself from invisible loyalties that no longer serve you

Systemic Constellations are practised internationally and are recognised for their capacity to produce rapid, lasting shifts — even when years of conventional therapy have not resolved the underlying pattern. They can be offered in individual sessions or in groups of up to 20 people, making them equally suited to family contexts and professional or organisational settings.

An Integrated Approach

Every session is tailored to you

At Emotion Institute, based in Basel in the tri-border region of Switzerland, France and Germany, I combine and adapt all three approaches to your individual situation. Initial guidance is integrated into your first session, so that together we can identify the most suitable path forward for you. Sessions are conducted in English and French.

Book your first session