Galen Perkins, LCSW, SEP

 (he/him/his) 

Galen takes time with clients to hear their story and think through together how therapy may support them. He draws on his experience working with chronic and traumatic stress, impacted attachment patterns, and the constellation of related effects - depression, anxiety, dissociation, flashbacks, panic, hyper-vigilance, and shock, for example - together with training in Deep Brain Reorienting (DBR), Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing (EMDR), and as a Somatic Experiencing Practitioner (SE). Across sessions, he practices with a sense of trust in the emergent qualities of change. He works together with clients to shape this process. What this means in practice is some combination of the following pieces:

• start with the relational groundwork so that whoever needs to enter the room can enter the room (this takes time, and that is okay);
• uncover the client’s language to describe what’s been hard, what feels like the issue;
• bring attention to moments of vitality and experiences of connection;
• familiarize with nervous system functioning and “bottom-up” therapy approaches -- SE, DBR, EMDR -- as approaches relate to presenting issues, and begin practicing: 
  • notice what feels difficult, distressing, or painful, and bring awareness to how this unfolds in the moment as sensation, imagery, behavior, emotion, feeling, or meaning.
  • relate with automatic ways of coping and self-soothing, and how these patterns present in different parts of life;
  • turn towards the experience and offer time, space, and support;
  • as the client re-orients to what is difficult, distressing, or painful with a sense of their capacity, observe what happens in their conscious relationship with embodied experience; 
  • nurture emergent change, new perspectives, and vitality.

While this is communicated as a list, psychotherapy and somatic approaches are by no means linear, nor are all these parts required. As the process opens and grows, psychotherapy and somatic approaches are recursive - these practices deepen over time. At the end of therapy, Galen’s hope is that changes in therapy are felt and carried over to day to day life.

If you would like to schedule time together, learn more about IITR, or ask any questions that come up as you find the right fit, you can reach Galen by email - galenperkins@proton.me - call, or text - (207) 558-1790. Galen works with adults one-on-one. He accepts MaineCare and self-pay at this time.