My Approach to Helping
Choosing a therapist who's a good fit for you is an important decision. Finding someone whom you like and feel comfortable with can really help you begin your process of change. Feeling supported can certainly make talking about difficult issues much easier. My approach to psychotherapy emphasizes how your relationships will improve as you learn more about your emotions and your body interact. We will discuss your relationships, (even the one with me,) to learn more about how you can make more satisfying choices in your life.
More Info About My Practice
Please check out the Therapy Groups on our Center's website for group opportunities for growth and healing that I and my colleagues are facilitating. Group therapy experiences are an excellent way to gain additional support while encountering the difficult work and pain that we may be facing.
I am happy to discuss fees with you and whether you wish to use your insurance to help cover services. I accept cash, check or credit cards for payment.
My Role as a Therapist
Sean Baker MFT, SEP is co-owner and CEO at The New Beginnings Center in Camarillo, California. Certified in Somatic Experiencing and Gestalt therapy, Sean combines body-mind approaches to resolve clients? distress related to trauma, eating disorders, and medical conditions. As professor at Pepperdine University and IOP Director at New Beginnings, he has trained clinicians in Gestalt therapy, trauma treatment, and LGBTQIA+ client concerns. Sean served as President of IAEDP Central Coast and presents at national conferences on somatic approaches to trauma treatment. Sean advocates for transgender mental health care and works with LGBTQIA+ clients at the Santa Paula PRIDE Clinic.
Theoretical Influences that Guide My Work
Trauma is part of life and most of us have been traumatized in one form or another. Although not all traumatic events result in symptoms, trauma-related issues are widespread in our modern lives. Unresolved trauma may manifest in the following ways:
Anxiety and panic attacks
Chronic pain
Rage
Migraines
Addictions
Gastrointestinal disorders
Dissociation
Chronic tension
SE is typically part of face-to-face sessions and involves a client tracking sensations in the body. It's effective for both Shock Trauma and Developmental Trauma and is often used as an adjunct to talk therapy.
Here's some simple reasons why you might consider Somatic Experiencing:
1. Something bad happens.
2. You don?t know how to deal with it.
3. It gets stuck inside of you.
If our bodies know how to heal, then why haven't we done so? Just as we have a primitive part of our brain that governs survival responses, we also have higher brain functions of emotional and cognitive responses which often interfere with this natural process. In other words, we often overthink it. Somatic Experiencing is a method of supporting our bodies to access this innate capacity for healing and to apply it to resolving trauma.