Trauma lives in the body.
So does healing.
Specialized, somatic trauma therapy in Atlanta for adults healing from PTSD, complex trauma, childhood trauma, racial trauma, and the wounds that talk therapy alone couldn't reach. Led by Shae Ivie-Williams, LPC and certified Somatic Experiencing Practitioner.
Trauma isn't just something that happened to you — it's something your body is still responding to.
Trauma reshapes the nervous system. It alters how you perceive threat, how you connect with others, how you feel in your own body. Cognitive understanding alone — knowing what happened and why — is often not enough to change how the body continues to respond.
That's why trauma therapy at The Healing Spot goes beyond talk. We work somatically — with the body, the nervous system, and the parts of you that hold what words alone can't reach.
You've tried to understand it. Now it's time to let your body release it.
You may have done years of talk therapy and understand your trauma intellectually — but something deeper still won't shift. You may feel chronically on edge, emotionally numb, or disconnected from yourself. Flashbacks, nightmares, or intrusive memories may still interrupt your life.
Perhaps you've noticed it in your relationships — the patterns that repeat no matter how much you understand them. Or in your body — the tension, the hypervigilance, the exhaustion that doesn't lift with rest.
This is what unresolved trauma feels like. And this is exactly where somatic trauma therapy begins.
Shae Ivie-Williams, LPC · SEP
Trauma therapy at The Healing Spot is led by Shae Ivie-Williams, Licensed Professional Counselor and certified Somatic Experiencing Practitioner (SEP). With over 10 years of experience, Shae brings deep clinical expertise in body-based trauma treatment — integrating EMDR, IFS, Somatic Experiencing, and breathwork to create a whole-person approach to healing. She specializes in working with BIPOC, neurodivergent, LGBTQIA+, and non-traditional clients, offering trauma care that is culturally grounded and identity-affirming.
Trauma is stored in the body —
and the body is where healing begins.
Most traditional therapy approaches trauma through the mind — helping you understand, reframe, and process cognitively. Somatic trauma therapy works at a deeper level, addressing the physiological imprint trauma leaves in the nervous system. We work with sensation, breath, movement, and the body's innate capacity to complete what it started — moving you from survival responses toward genuine safety, connection, and ease.
Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder
Single-incident and complex PTSD — flashbacks, hypervigilance, intrusive memories, emotional reactivity, and the exhaustion of a nervous system that never fully rests.
C-PTSD & Repeated Trauma
Chronic exposure to traumatic experiences — often beginning in childhood — that shapes identity, attachment, and nervous system regulation across a lifetime.
Developmental & Attachment Trauma
Early adverse experiences that disrupted attachment, safety, and development — and that continue to show up in adult relationships, self-perception, and emotional regulation.
Race-Based Traumatic Stress
The cumulative psychological and physiological impact of racism, discrimination, and racial violence — including vicarious trauma from witnessing harm to one's community.
Ancestral & Intergenerational Trauma
Trauma patterns passed through generations — biologically, culturally, and relationally — that shape how we respond to the world before we even understand why.
Sexual, Medical & Accident Trauma
Sexual assault and abuse, medical trauma, accidents, sudden loss, and any experience that overwhelmed the nervous system's capacity to process and complete.
Trauma therapy that works with your body — not around it.
Most therapy approaches treat trauma primarily through the mind — talking, analyzing, reframing. At The Healing Spot, we believe the body must be part of the conversation. Trauma is a physiological experience, and genuine healing requires a physiological response.
Our approach is integrative, meaning we draw from multiple evidence-based modalities to meet you exactly where you are — paced to your nervous system, attuned to your history, and always held with cultural awareness and identity-affirming care.
Body-first, not body-as-afterthought
We track what's happening in your nervous system throughout every session — not just what you're thinking and feeling.
Paced to your window of tolerance
We never push you past what your system is ready for. Slow, titrated, and consent-based — always.
Culturally grounded and identity-affirming
Trauma doesn't exist outside of context. We hold your cultural identity, ancestral history, and systemic reality as central to the healing work.
Multi-modal and integrative
No single modality reaches all of trauma. We blend SE, EMDR, IFS, and breathwork to address it from multiple angles simultaneously.
You are not your diagnosis
We shift from "what is wrong with you" to "what happened to you and what is around you" — always centering your wholeness, not your pathology.
Four evidence-based modalities — woven together for deeper healing.
Rather than relying on a single approach, Shae integrates four clinically proven methods that each address trauma from a different angle — creating a comprehensive, whole-person path toward genuine resolution.
Somatic Experiencing (SE)
Tracking body sensations to help the nervous system complete interrupted survival responses and discharge stored trauma energy — gently, at your pace, without re-traumatization.
Learn more →EMDR Therapy
Using bilateral stimulation to desensitize and reprocess traumatic memories — reducing their emotional charge and installing more adaptive beliefs without requiring you to retell every detail.
Learn more →Internal Family Systems (IFS)
Meeting the inner parts shaped by trauma — the protectors who worked hard to keep you safe, and the exiles still carrying pain from the past — with curiosity and compassion rather than judgment.
Learn more →Trauma-Informed Breathwork
Using conscious, paced breathwork to regulate the nervous system, access stored emotion, and support integration — always within your window of tolerance and never pushed beyond it.
Learn more →Paced to your nervous system. Held with care. Never rushed.
Trauma therapy is not linear — and it is not a performance. Your sessions are collaborative, attuned, and always led by what your system is ready for. Here is a general sense of how the work unfolds:
Assessment & Safety Building
Early sessions focus on understanding your history, establishing your goals, and building the nervous system resources and therapeutic safety needed before deeper trauma work begins. We never rush this phase.
Somatic Stabilization
You learn to track your own nervous system — noticing sensations, identifying your window of tolerance, and developing grounding and regulation tools you can use both in and outside sessions.
Trauma Processing
Using SE, EMDR, and/or IFS, we gently approach and process the traumatic material — titrated in small doses that allow the nervous system to digest and integrate rather than re-overwhelm.
Integration & Consolidation
Healing is not just releasing — it is integrating. We help what has been processed settle into your nervous system, your identity, and your daily life as you move toward lasting change.
Talk therapy hasn't been enough
You understand your trauma intellectually but something deeper won't shift. You're ready to work at the level of the body.
PTSD & trauma symptoms
Flashbacks, nightmares, hypervigilance, emotional dysregulation, or numbness that continues to disrupt your daily life.
BIPOC & racially marginalized
Seeking trauma care that understands racial trauma, intergenerational wounds, and the impact of systemic oppression on your nervous system.
Neurodivergent & LGBTQIA+
Looking for a trauma therapist who affirms your full identity and doesn't require you to translate yourself to receive care.
Childhood & attachment wounds
Adults still carrying the imprint of early trauma — in relationships, self-worth, and how safe the world feels to be in.
High-functioning but struggling
Competent and capable on the outside — but running on survival mode inside. Ready to stop just coping and start truly healing.
What is the difference between trauma therapy and regular therapy?
Regular therapy often focuses on insight, coping skills, and cognitive understanding of problems. Trauma therapy goes deeper — addressing the physiological and neurological imprint trauma leaves on the body and nervous system. At The Healing Spot, trauma therapy uses EMDR, Somatic Experiencing, and IFS to work with the body as well as the mind, reaching what talk therapy alone often cannot.
Do I have to talk about my trauma in detail?
No. Many somatic trauma therapy approaches — including Somatic Experiencing — do not require you to retell your trauma story in detail. EMDR also allows trauma to be processed without extensive verbal narration. We follow your body's lead and work at the level of sensation and nervous system response, not narrative detail. You share as much or as little as you feel ready for.
How long does trauma therapy take?
There is no single answer — it depends on the nature, depth, and history of the trauma, as well as the pace your nervous system can sustain. Single-incident trauma often resolves faster than complex or developmental trauma. What we can promise is that we never rush the work. Healing is not a performance, and sessions will always be paced to what your system is genuinely ready for.
Is trauma therapy in Atlanta available online?
Yes. We offer virtual trauma therapy for residents of Georgia, Florida, California, and South Carolina. Research confirms that modalities including EMDR and somatic therapy are highly effective virtually. Many clients find the comfort of their own environment actually supports the work. In-person sessions are also available in Atlanta's Poncey-Highland neighborhood.
What if I've tried trauma therapy before and it didn't help?
This is more common than you might think — and it's often because the approach wasn't right for the type of trauma, the stage of healing, or the specific person. Cognitive and talk-based approaches work well for some people and some trauma. But for complex, developmental, or body-held trauma, somatic modalities like SE, EMDR, and IFS often reach what other approaches couldn't. We assess what's right for you specifically.
Do you treat racial trauma and intergenerational trauma?
Yes — and this is central to our work, not a specialty add-on. Racial trauma, intergenerational trauma, and the physiological impact of living under oppressive systems are taken seriously here as real, documented forms of trauma. Shae brings a decolonizing and liberation-focused lens to all trauma work, centering cultural context, ancestral wisdom, and systemic understanding as part of the healing framework.
Trauma therapy wherever you feel most at ease.
We offer trauma therapy both virtually and in person. Virtual sessions are available across Georgia, Florida, California, and South Carolina — and research consistently shows somatic and EMDR-based trauma therapy is highly effective online. In-person sessions are held at 1074 Ponce De Leon Ave NE, Atlanta, GA 30306, with free parking available.
Request a ConsultationNo commute, no waiting room
Heal from wherever feels most comfortable and private to you.
Flexible scheduling
Evenings, weekends, and lunchtime sessions available.
Aetna insurance accepted
We accept Aetna for eligible services — contact us for details.
Healing is possible —
even for what you've been told is too complicated.
Trauma therapy at The Healing Spot is by appointment only. Request a free consultation and we'll explore together whether this is the right fit for your healing journey.
Request a Free ConsultationBy appointment only · GA · FL · CA · SC · Virtual & In-Person · Aetna Accepted