Emily Barrie (she/they)
Registered Psychotherapist #15917
MA Spiritual Care & Psychotherapy
Somatic Therapist & Bodyworker, CYT500
Birth-/Death-/Cycle-Worker
Founder at The Feeling Space
waitlist closed: not currently accepting new clients.
hi there, I'm Em.
Your body is telling a story -
and I am honoured to listen.
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I work with: Individuals (18+), Couples, Relationships, Groups
My approach is: Somatic (body-based), Trauma-Focused, Compassionate, Spiritually-Integrated, Anti-Oppressive & Justice-Oriented, Queer/Trans-Centered, Nature-Based, Arts-Integrated, Client-Centred & Consent-Based, Gentle, Strengths-Based, Holistic/Transpersonal
I have trained in: Integrative Somatic Therapy Practice™, Somatic Bodywork, Holistic Nervous System Care, Trauma & Attachment, 600 hrs in Yoga/Trauma Yoga, Full-Spectrum Somatic Birthwork, Emotionally Focused Couples Therapy, Subtle Body Energy Work, Queer & Justice-Oriented approaches, Anti-Racist Eco-Spirituality, Ancestral Healing Practices and Therapeutic Ritual/Ceremony ​
I draw from: Somatic attachment-focused therapies, trauma-informed mindfulness therapy, experiential therapy, parts work, arts and play based approaches, polyvagal theory, spiritual/ transpersonal/ancestral therapies, somatic eco-therapy, grief work, birth/death/cycle work
I offer: In-person body psychotherapy & somatic bodywork, group psychotherapy, peer consultation, workshops & trainings.
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Supporting folks with:
ADHD/ASD/Neurodivergence
Ancestral, Cultural & Intergenerational Trauma
Anxiety, Depression & Numbness
Attachment Ruptures & Developmental Trauma
Chronic Stress & Urgency
Cyclical Living & Menstrual Mental Health
Ecological Attachmet, Eco-anxiety & Climate Grief
Embodied Relationships, Boundaries & Conflict
Empaths, Highly Sensitive People, "Giftedness"
Gender, Sexuality & Queerness
Generative Masculinities
Grief, Loss & Death/Dying
Pain, Illness & Discomfort
Pregnancy, Postpartum, Fertility & Pelvic Wellness
Spirituality & Embodied Consciousness
Trauma, PTSD/C-PTSD
About Em (she/they)
Arms Wide on a Fallen Tree - Vancouver, BC, 2024
Hello! It's an honour to have you here. Here's some more about me if you're interested:
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I am a Registered Psychotherapist with a Master’s Degree in Spiritual Care and Psychotherapy from Wilfrid Laurier University and an Honours Degree in Human Rights and Gender Studies from Carleton. I am trained as a transpersonal somatic therapist and bodyworker, somatic birthworker/deathworker, trauma yoga teacher, and researcher in queer feminist theology. I've been leading community ceremonial practices in somatics and embodied spirituality for 10+ years, and consider myself a cycle-worker in service to the great life/death/life rhythms of our Earth, cosmos, psyches, bodies, and breath.
The Feeling Space is the expression of 2+ decades of thoughtful meandering in creative arts, folklore, transpersonal somatics and grief work. After being diagnosed with PTSD in my teens, I set my heart to finding loving and embodied ways of tending to trauma. This brought me to trauma yoga, birthwork, expressive arts, ritual, ceremony, and earth-based practices for digesting trauma and building resilience. It is a joy and an honour to now share this work in my community.
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In my personal life, I am an artist and musician, a parent, a nature-lover, an Earth-based spiritual practitioner, and a neurodivergent (AuDHD) nerd who loves all things magic, fantasy, and folklore. When I'm not in the therapy office, I'm probably researching ancestral spiritual-somatic-ecological practices, blending modalities, thrifting, snuggling and wrestling my friends, or revelling in nature with my partner and kiddo.​​
​In my practice, I work experientially to support folks in connecting to their body as a key source of wisdom and healing. I have completed 1000+ hours of training in biodynamic and experiential approaches to healing trauma, including 500+ hours of trauma yoga and polyvagal education, touch skills for trauma with Kathy L. Kain, online studies in touch skills for developmental trauma with Dr. Aline LaPierre, and studies in Integrative Somatic Therapy Practice (ISTP™) and Integrative Somatic Bodywork Practice (ISBP™). I participate in ongoing practice and mentorship in ancestral somatics, and love to invite ecological-ancestral therapies, expressive arts, play-based therapies, and other mind/body trauma processing methods into this work, with a key focus on embodied spiritualities and ecological and ancestral attachment repair. I am inspired by creative and embodied ways of healing, and love to work eclectically, blending modalities to incorporate gentle arts, play, spiritual, and nature-based approaches into my body psychotherapy work.​
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Prior to completing my Master’s degree in Psychotherapy, I was a full-spectrum birthworker and somatic childbirth educator specializing in cyclical consciousness and supporting survivors of trauma and their families through all stages of the perinatal experience. In this work, I developed a special appreciation for working with 2SLGBTQ+ folks and families as they navigate experiences of conception, pregnancy, birth, postpartum, and parenting. I love to work with families navigating experiences of gender transitioning, coming "out", family-building, meaning-making in the context of queer identity, and finding and embodying queer joy.
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I am a settler here on Turtle Island, currently living and working in so-called Guelph on the traditional home of the Chonnonton (Attiwonderon) and Haudenosaunee First Peoples. I am of Irish and Scottish descent and have strong eco-spiritualist values that root me deeply into loving and reciprocal relationships with my ancestors and their traditional practices, as well as the land I am currently on. I seek to do this work with humility, love, and justice, and my core values are compassion and collective liberation for all. I believe that by healing our bodies and our nervous systems, we can move toward deeper, more intimate expressions of our selves, which will support us in dreaming new futures for the world we want to build together. It is my honour to walk alongside you in this work.
Contact
Rate: $175/hr for individuals, not currently seeing couples
Hours: Monday-Thursday. 9:30 am-1pm
Location: In-person in Guelph, ON