There are many paths to healing and change. The journey is an active one and there is success in simply taking the first step - acknowledging a desire to be different.​​​​​​

Thomas Sterling

LCSW, SEP

I have worked in social services since 1987, I graduated from UC Davis in 1988 with a Bachelors in Psychology and from CSUS in 1994 with a Master’s Degree in Social Work. I became licensed as a clinical social worker in 1998. I have worked in a variety of settings but much of my career has been working in Community Mental Health and Federally Qualified Health Centers. I began my private practice in November of 2014 and have been a full-time sole proprietor since April, 2017

Most recently, I have focused on learning more about somatic psychology and completed my Somatic Experiencing Practitioner certification in January, 2018. Somatic Experiencing is a body-based, “bottom up” approach to treatment of single event and developmental traumas.

​As a former competitive gymnast, I am deeply interested in embodiment and learning more about how our bodies and nervous system store information about the world. With the “Threat Response Cycle” as a starting place, I have been exploring the rich experiences and interactions we have between our neo-cortex and limbic areas of the brain.

As social beings, designed to live most healthfully in small groups, I have become interested in mirror neurons, that part of our nervous system that keys into the agitation and calm of the people around us.

With these and more classical tools of Cognitive Behavioral Therapy, I provide a comprehensive set of skills to help you approach most any problem.

Somatic Experiencing®
A body-based approach to trauma healing
Resilience News
Strategies, research and links to trauma healing
Our Autonomic Nervous Systems and the Threat Response Cycle.

Our Autonomic Nervous Systems and the Threat Response Cycle.

Oct. 14, 2020 by

Our nervous systems are amazing! Did I say that before? The Autonomic Nervous System, ANS, is designed to mobilize resources to “do work” or to settle, digest and repair. We

Healing From The Bottom Up

Healing From The Bottom Up

Oct. 17, 2018 by

Our bodies are amazing! They have the innate capacity to discharge traumatic stress and recover from overwhelming experiences. Sadly, our clever neo-cortex often gets in the way as it plans,

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