A vital framework for understanding embodied trauma and helping clients heal—a trauma-informed guide for somatic practitioners, movement therapists, bodyworkers, and personal trainers
Guided by the principle that if trauma happens to the body, healing happens through the body, Trauma-Informed Bodywork offers an inclusive, consent-driven, and mutually empowering approach to trauma-informed healing.
Authors Chelsea Haverly and Emily Young explain how trauma is stored in the body—and how this makes movement-based practices an essential tool for trauma recovery. Haverly and Young cover key concepts—like complex trauma, vicarious trauma, body-related trauma,; and nervous system regulation—and explore how they present when working with clients.
Haverly and Young walk you step-by-step through insightful guidance on topics like:
What movement professionals need to know about trauma and nervous system dysregulation
Different kinds of trauma, how they’re experienced, and how they show up in the body
Embodiment in the face of stress
How trauma disrupts our ability to inhabit our bodies—and how movement can facilitate healing and release
Letting the body lead
A practical guide for implementing trauma-informed personal training (TI-PT) principles
How to facilitate coregulation with clients...
...nurture a “brave space,” expand clients’ windows of tolerance, and offer support through somatic releases
Trauma-informed business frameworks
Decolonial, whole-heart principles for values-driven, person-first care
What’s next
Practical guidance for applying and embodying the work
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Featured on
When the Body Has Something to Say: Somatics, Trauma, and Therapeutic Relationship
Featured on the Therapy Chat Podcast
When Movement Becomes Healing: Trauma-Informed Embodiment
Trauma-Informed Approaches to Starting an Exercise Program
Meet the Authors
Chelsea Haverly LCSW-C
Chelsea Haverly, LCSW-C is a somatic therapist and intuitive bodyworker, dedicated to the intersection of healing, movement, and community care. She is the co-creator of the Trauma-Informed Personal Training Certification and the Embodied Parts Integration Framework. Chelsea is guided by curiosity, with a wanderer’s heart and a deep reverence for the healing journey. As a mother raising two strong-willed children with her life partner, she is personally devoted to healing intergenerational patterns of hurt and supporting others in doing the same. Chelsea thrives in collaborative spaces, especially those enriched by deep thinkers and feelers. She’s an avid reader and nature lover who is fiercely committed to slow mornings and joyful rest practices that nourish the nervous system and invite delight.
Website: Hope Ignited Training
Emily Young LCSW-C
Emily is a Trauma-Informed Personal Trainer, Somatic Grief and Trauma Therapist, and the owner of The Embodied Trainer. Through her work, she helps individuals reconnect with their bodies using movement, nervous system attunement, and trauma-responsive practices.
With the understanding that trauma is often held in the body, Emily supports clients in cultivating safety, choice, and agency while addressing both the emotional and physiological impacts of trauma. She is also the co-author of Trauma-Informed Bodywork and the co-creator of the Trauma-Informed Personal Training Certification. In this role, she trains and mentors movement professionals who want to understand how trauma shapes physiology, behavior, and one’s relationship to movement—as well as how to support clients with care, nuance, and respect.
Emily’s work blends Somatic Therapy, Internal Family Systems Therapy, and strength training to create a grounded, relational, and healing-centered approach to movement.
Website: The Embodied Trainer