You Can't Think Your Way Into Feeling Safe in Your Own Skin.

In this rich, relational conversation, Janina Fisher sits down with somatic psychologist, yoga teacher, and trauma expert Dr. Arielle Schwartz to explore how embodiment can transform the treatment of complex PTSD and dissociation.

They trace Arielle’s path from early work with adjudicated youth and community mental health into somatic psychotherapy, EMDR, and private practice—and how Janina’s work on structural dissociation and parts has deeply influenced Arielle’s clinical lens. Together, they question the long-standing emphasis on “event-focused” trauma treatment and instead highlight the power of working with implicit experience, the nervous system, and everyday triggers.

Across the conversation, Janina and Arielle explore:

• How yoga, somatics, and Buddhist-influenced training at Naropa shaped Arielle’s clinical foundations
  

• Why classic EMDR protocols can inadvertently harm highly dissociative clients—and how integrating somatic awareness changes everything
  

• The shift from processing events to working with the effects of trauma: implicit memory, nervous system patterns, and parts
  

• Structural dissociation, protector parts, and the inner conflicts that keep clients stuck (“I want closeness / I’m terrified of closeness”)
  

• Why “resource-heavy” work, safety, and widening the window of tolerance can reduce the need for intense memory processing
  

• The power of simple language—like “notice”—and why some clients can’t even tolerate the word body
  

• Proprioceptive practices (contact, weight, boundaries in space) as safer gateways into embodiment for highly traumatized or dissociative clients
  

• “Embedded relational mindfulness” and how a therapist’s own embodied presence can prevent burnout and compassion fatigue
  

This episode is especially relevant for:

• Therapists working with complex PTSD, dissociation, and highly defended nervous systems
  

• EMDR clinicians wanting to work more safely and somatically
  

• Somatic, parts-oriented, and body-based practitioners refining how they talk about “the B word” with clients
  

• Anyone curious about how neuroplasticity, parts work, and somatic mindfulness intersect in trauma recovery
  

🎧 Settle in, notice what happens in you as you listen, and join Janina and Arielle in this grounded, embodied dialogue about what truly heals in trauma therapy.

https://drarielleschwartz.com/

Dr. Arielle Schwartz, PhD

Renowned speaker, author, and esteemed clinical psychologist, Dr. Arielle Schwartz has been widely recognized for her research and clinical advancements in trauma treatment, which have shaped the landscape of trauma recovery and elevated the standard of care all across therapeutic settings.

Dr. Schwartz promotes a strength-based, embodied approach to trauma recovery that emphasizes self-driven healing to facilitate post-traumatic growth. Drawing on the principles of EMDR, somatic psychology, mindfulness-based therapies, and relational psychotherapy, she developed Resilience Informed Therapy—an integrative model of care for facilitating recovery from childhood trauma, PTSD, complex-PTSD and Dissociation.

Dr. Schwartz has been teaching therapeutic yoga since 2008, and she is the author of Therapeutic Yoga for Trauma Recovery, a widely referenced guide to applied Polyvagal Theory for trauma recovery. She has also authored numerous books covering extensive research and guiding techniques in trauma treatment.

https://drarielleschwartz.com/

www.resilienceinformedtherapy.com/

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