My brain feels totally different since working with Tegan - all in a good way! I moved quickly with her through many layers of trauma that other therapies, including multiple rounds of EMDR, hadn’t been able to fully extract or resolve. The experience of working with Tegan is fun, supportive, rewarding as heck, and also hard, harrowing, and fascinating. Tegan has been there with me every step of the way, including flanking me through confusing experiences between sessions: I can message her anytime and I know she’ll be there for me. In the wake of working with Tegan, I find myself reacting to former triggers wondering where the stressor went, or laughing at the situation rather than being crippled by it. I find myself annoyed rather than incapacitated, active rather than paralyzed, and flexible rather than rigid, in places where I used to stumble and fall apart. It’s wild how casual these massive changes feel. And Tegan has set me up with many tools to use while I’m on my own between sessions, explaining that this work is cumulative, so I can help support myself every day. I feel myself gaining more agency and resting more deeply than I ever have before. When I look in the mirror, I now see a kind and present friend. It makes me very excited, to see so many results already, and I now look forward to my future: curious just how much better it can get.
~ Kaitie ~
Community Song Leader
Richmond, CA
I came to this coaching with decades of emotional trauma baggage, specifically deep doubts about my value and self-worth. Simply remembering a wrong done to me in the distant past, or a perceived injustice in the present, sent me into a physical state of fury and panic. I had done talk therapy for years, and had intellectually uncovered the issues at the core of my discomfort, but it wasn't until working with Tegan that I was able to address the physical residue of that trauma and release it from my body. Turned out the issues I understood intellectually were not the issues that actually plagued my body. Practicing the Subtle Body Basics brought instant clarity of the underlying archetypes of my suffering and allowed me to release decades of toxicity in just a few sessions.
I'll never forget the moment I realized how profound the clearing had been - I was speaking with a group of fellow creatives and the subject of the casting of a certain role came up, a high-profile role I had been promised several years ago and which I and my fellow cast members felt I deserved. Due to corporate miscommunication, lack of oversight, and perhaps open malice on the part of management, I was not cast. Every time I thought about the situation I was engulfed in a burning anger that felt like acid indigestion of the soul, and which always inevitable morphed into feelings of bitterness and self-pity which poisoned my work environment and my personal life for years. After 4 sessions of Subtle Body Basics - none of which, by the way, included specifically addressing this casting issue - I was having a conversation with new friends who were familiar with the project but not my situation, and they admitted shock when they discovered I had not been cast. During their comments I waited for the accustomed wave of burning despair and outrage that always accompanied this subject, and was astonished to feel . . . nothing. I was calm and untroubled. I even smiled. I realized in that moment that this casting situation, which I had considered a defining trauma of my life, was actually related to other much more basic experiences from long ago that had been addressed with the Subtle Body Work. Once I knew in my body that this particular situation was not the actual issue, I was free of the extreme discomfort that had surrounded it for so long! It is such a joy to be liberated from the anxiety of that particular casting situation, and to experience examples, day by day, of the dissipation of the sting of other emotional wounds that I had become resigned to bearing as part of my identity.
I continue to use the tools I learned in my 5 sessions with Tegan to address traumatic "flare-ups" from many other situations that arise, and am delighted and amazed at how successful these tools are at diffusing and eliminating intense emotional discomfort. I feel lighter, freer, more optimistic than I ever have before, and I'm developing a real friendship with the spirit of my physical body, one based on respect and communication. I cannot recommend this work highly enough!
~ Cynthia ~
Performing Artist
Orlando, FL
Before working with Tegan at Traumarama Coaching, the connection between my mind and body was pretty tenuous. Although I was making progress with traditional therapy, I was curious about bringing in a different approach to aid in trauma release. Within just a few weeks, I felt several positive mental and physical integrations start to increase and deepen.
With every session, we added new tools that helped me feel more grounded and in control of my body, surroundings, and choices. I found myself feeling calmer, more connected, and more in control of my emotions both professionally and personally. I learned ways to check in with myself and explore and validate my feelings as they occurred, rather than stoically repressing them- my usual MO.
Being able to identify, understand, and release unwanted energies in my body and spirit has been a game changer in my healing journey. I’m excited to carry the methods and ideas Tegan has skillfully and sensitively taught me forward in my life. It’s inspiring and comforting to have these accessible, relatable techniques easily at hand now. I feel so energized by them and optimistic about the deeper changes and relief they’ll continue to bring.
~ Tifanie ~
Independent Design Consultant
Los Angeles, CA
I was curious and hopeful when I began working with Tegan. As a woman in my mid-forties with fibromyalgia and C-PTSD, I had a wealth of traumatic issues to work with. Tegan is an excellent and compassionate listener. She would skillfully summarize the information that I brought to her so that I was confident in being understood. She was a gentle, but firm guide and talented teacher throughout our time together. One issue that we focused on was my fear and anxiety when men who I do not know, are working on my house. The sounds of their voices and the noise of the repair work typically sets off a trauma response. During sessions with Tegan when trauma waves would rise and emotions became intense, Tegan did not flinch. She encouraged me to work through these moments using my new skills and techniques as she companioned me fearlessly. Rather than attempt to stuff down or escape the trauma waves, we rode them out to release them. I now have new tools in my toolbox to continue my trauma healing and release. This is truly a gift and Tegan is a highly skilled trauma release coach!
~ Jennifer ~
Minister
Philadelphia, PA
I did Subtle Body coaching with Tegan over the past year and it has been a wonderful experience. I was concerned that our pre-existing friendship would be an issue, however, Tegan is so excellently skilled at creating an environment and conversation that is completely objective, yet also safe, warm, open, and affirming.
I was led through the Subtle Body sessions and was able to go at my own pace with Tegan as a great accountability source. I could reach out to her if I was confused, having difficulties, or just frustrated. She would gently talk me through it all. More specifically, during an impromptu session, I shared I had a difficult conversation with a friend which started to bring out all my anxiety ticks. Tegan gave me space to share the whole story to a listening ear while also coaching me through the breath work, tapping, and awareness exercises. We were able to acknowledge every shift my body had in building my anxiety, why it is there, and how to release it. It was amazing to have her clear coaching during a time when my anxiety was at its highest. It allowed us to evaluate it, be curious about my responses, and understand and forgive myself.
That has been my greatest takeaway; understanding my anxiety better and having compassion for it. Thank you, Tegan for introducing me to this work and for the calm it brings out in all of us.
~ Kehau ~
Wedding Planner & Dance Instructor
Pasadena, CA
Working with Tegan has been transformative for me. Both as a coach and as a person, she is the real deal -- authentic, understanding, and ready to go deep. In our work together, she has tailored her teaching to my needs and my personality, met me where I am, and brought just the right balance of warmth and tough love to help me really see results. Thanks to Tegan, I have so much more self-knowledge and access to my own intuition than I used to, and pretty much every aspect of my life is clearer and easier for me to navigate than it was before. I hadn't even known how valuable having the right coach could be before I met Tegan, and I would recommend her without a sliver of hesitation to anyone prepared to show up and do the work.
~ Rosalyn ~
Actor and Editor
London, UK
I used to say that I experience myself sort of in front of and to the right of the center of my physical body. Way at the beginning of starting this work with Tegan, we spent a lot of time on establishing safety, and eventually I got myself settled properly back inside the meat cage.
But the real fun started after a rejection sent me into a depressive spiral that, frankly, scared me with its intensity and left me fed up that THIS JUST KEPT HAPPENING. It didn't seem to matter how much or how intricately I pulled the fear and the story apart in therapy, I was still getting triggered, the triggers still hurt, and they seemed to be getting worse. I felt like I was living half a life with all this fear holding me back and this fatigue holding me up.
The work was intense, it was hard, it was worth it. It is ongoing. Tegan is incredibly skilled at holding you accountable and not letting you get away with any bullshit while being deeply compassionate. And...things are better. I have had similar things happen and they just aren't hitting as hard. I can think about what did happen with more objectivity. My therapist even graduated me to as-needed instead of being on the regular schedule.
~ Veronica ~
Web Developer
Los Angeles, CA