Elspeth Messenger

Elspeth works in private practice with a wide variety of clients in Edinburgh and online, and assists at Somatic Experiencing trainings in London, Edinburgh, and Bangalore in India. She is a member of BACP, Trauma Training in Scotland, SETI/FHE, and Co-Chair of SEA UK. Having worked for years with university students, witnessing the struggle some of them had with anxiety, with relationships, with family dif?culties and with addictions and self-harm, she trained in psychotherapy at the University of Edinburgh. In 2003, she moved to Lagos, Nigeria, for 5 years and worked there in trauma recovery counselling, and in HIV/AIDS training and counselling, for large oil companies and in the healthcare sector.  She found that while psychotherapy/counselling was helpful, it was not enough to combat ?ashbacks and other symptoms of trauma. In Somatic Experiencing she found something more effective. She attended a workshop by Peter Levine in 2010, and later completed the SE Practitioner training in London run by SOS Internationale (http:// www.sosinternationale.org). Elspeth integrates a variety of trainings  with a long-standing interest in the inclusivity of Franciscan spirituality, valuing and being present to all living things, and including the body in an understanding of psychological and emotional healing.  She continues to pursue an interest in how neurophysiology informs our healing and recovery from trauma. Her belief for clients is one of hope in their ability to ?nd an experience of ‘good’, to develop their capacity for aliveness, greater freedom, increased calm, comfort, hope, playfulness and enjoyment of life. In SE, we don’t ‘?x’ or ‘treat’ clients: we listen, attend, and follow, making space for the body to complete natural survival defenses, to reconnect with others, and return to natural ?exibility. Elspeth has attended workshops and trainings given by Daniel Siegel, Stephen Porges, Kathy Kain, Bessel van der Kolk, and several of the other speakers at the summit, and continues to ?nd their trainings and books hugely helpful in her work!