I trace my lineage of resistance to my grandfather. The story most often told about him is about an act of refusal in the face of state violence in Soviet occupied Poland. Of course, my queer, Mad and disability justice ancestors are closely at my back as well. Though I have been practicing (and receiving!) mental health support for over 15 years, my current offering is specifically oriented to supporting those in liberation movements and impacted by systems of violence.

My therapeutic practice is rooted in somatic modalities; specifically, my training in Somatic Experiencing (SE). This means that my central therapeutic approach centers the body, felt-sense and nervous system. Chances are, if you are dancing, practicing ceremony, protesting, sitting by a river, belly laughing with a friend etc., you are already “doing somatics”. Our bodies live and remember joy, resilience, survival and trauma. Somatic Experiencing, as a therapeutic modality, takes this knowing and engages a process of trauma re-negotiation through felt-sense and nervous system support. Or put another way, it helps us with experiences in which things were “too much too fast” or “too little too often”. Central to my approach is an inherent trust in your knowledge and wisdom, meaning that we work gradually, moving towards an embodiment that makes you feel more capacity + choice.

Aga Forfa, MSW, SEP (she/her)