Attuned Therapy

What is Attuned Therapy and Why Would Someone Want to Have it Done?

Attuned Therapy is a psychotherapeutic approach that is completely body-based. It is based on the understanding of neuroscience and co-regulation, and is completely dependent upon the client’s willingness to release their trauma and pain so that they can move forward in their lives. The clients who are best suited for this therapy approach are clients who have experienced trauma in their lives but are unable to process it in other ways, as well as those who are not interested in talking about their past but are ready to begin anew. This approach is based upon the understanding that we are all connected, and by using hands-on touch, the therapist is able to support the client’s nervous system to release any pain or trauma stored in their body.

This often results in the client feeling completely at peace in the world, and also allows the client’s body to release any disease or limitations that have been created as a way for their body to get their attention. These limitations are often created as a way to get client’s to begin to slow down and enjoy their lives, which is what Attuned Therapy is all about – finding true peace and happiness while we live our life’s purpose. This approach is not meant to replace any medical attention that clients have been receiving, but rather can be a great additional complementary therapy used to help clients feel more comfortable in their bodies while they work towards their path of healing. Healing is what our bodies know how to do best, and when we let go of anything stuck in our bodies, our bodies can heal themselves very easily.

How Was Attuned Therapy Developed?

Tori Hamilton created this approach as a way to help her clients release their pain and trauma without ever having to speak it. She was very interested in blending attunement through psychotherapy with the knowledge she learned about anatomy and physiology as a nurse. Through her experiences supporting clients with Reiki healing, she was able to recognize patterns showing up in the client’s bodies while she was becoming very still and touching the client in specific areas. She recognized that the patterns were similar to how she grew up, winding around the body like a long road. She realized that the nervous system and circulatory systems are interconnected, and that they are able to heal the clients without having to do anything more than to lay her hands on her clients in specific spots and ensuring that she herself was completely calm and at peace. Co-regulation requires that one person maintains complete calm, and through this attunement the other person is able to relax fully and feel safe in the world. This safety allows the client to release everything that they had been carrying for years and years, and it is as simple as this. It is simple, and yet it is not because in order for someone to be fully calm and at peace, they must heal themselves fully first. This is what most healing modalities do not consider – the healer must first become healed before they are able to take on anyone else’s pain. And this is what happens through attunement – the client releases their pain and suffering through the hands of the therapist, who then is able to release the pain and suffering easily because they have been taught how to ground themselves completely. 

What Can I Expect After An Attuned Therapy Session?

After an Attuned Therapy session, the client can expect to feel very tired and a little confused as to where they are. This resolves within a matter of minutes and the client is able to continue on with their day as usual. We always recommend that the client rest as much as possible after the session and drink plenty of water and eat nutrient-dense foods. This is because the body will be trying to heal itself for the next 2-4 weeks, depending on what ailments the client has had and how uncomfortable their body has been feeling.

Sometimes pain can become worse, when the client has not been able to be fully connected to their bodies through dissociation. Oftentimes in these cases, the clients were overriding their body’s messages, and once they receive Attuned Therapy they are fully able to feel how their bodies feel. When this happens, we recommend that clients rest as much as possible and listen to what their bodies are trying to tell them. Sometimes they may also get sick, and this is the body’s way of telling them to slow down and rest when they are usually too busy to listen.

When the client has been experiencing significant pain or a chronic health disease, it usually takes multiple sessions before the client is able to experience relief. The clients often need between 1-6 sessions, depending on what is going on inside their minds, nervous systems, circulatory system and the rest of their body. The practitioner is able to visualize the body’s internal system and see where there is reduced functioning and limitations placed upon the client in order to gain attention. If we think of a car, we have a check engine light and other symbols that come flashing up at us when the car is not working properly. Our bodies are much the same, only it is our body becoming uncomfortable or changing it’s shape or experiencing disease that is telling us that something isn’t right. Through this type of therapy modality, we are able to release anything that no longer serves the client through attunement and the client will move forward in life in a new way.

The clients are able to let go of what they no longer need, and yet sometimes it can still be hard to let it go. When this happens, clients may feel very irritable and annoyed with life, and make rash decisions. In these cases, we recommend that clients do nothing other than care for themselves until they are able to reach a state of clarity. It is not recommended to make any serious life decisions within the month after Attuned Therapy, though sometimes it is required because the way in which the client was living beforehand was extremely toxic or unhealthy.

The clients may experience mental health symptoms such as increased anxiety or a depressive episode after the first session because their brain is going to be rewiring over the course of the next few months. This can at times result in some flashbacks of traumatic events, though the client will not feel bad about what happened but rather feel at peace with their story because it was a very long time ago and they are fully in the present now. It can be helpful to book a psychotherapy session with one of our trained therapists after your Attuned Therapy session to help you process through what you experienced during the session and what you notice in your life afterwards.

There are minimal risks to this type of therapy, though there is always the potential that the client may regret having it done if they are uncertain whether they want to change their life for the better. The client may feel some disappointment as well if they are excited to experience this and feel as though nothing has really changed. This is a very good sign, and often means that the client was living a very aligned life and that they may instead need to make some minor life changes to make it easier to cope with their life stress. It is not possible that this therapy will make a client’s mental health or physical health symptoms worse than they have been in the past. Instead, it often makes life much better and helps the client feel more alive with a purpose to fulfil in life.

We are fully aware that this type of therapy is not meant for everyone, and we hope that you will consider this decision carefully so that you are able to make an informed decision before embarking on this wonderful journey towards healing and self-awareness. We are honoured that you have considered coming here to heal and move forward in your life in a more aligned way.