Summit: Somatic Trauma Healing

Peter A Levine, Ph.D., is the developer of Somatic Experiencing®, a naturalistic and neurobiological approach to healing trauma. He holds doctorates in both Biophysics and Psychology. He is the Founder and President of the Ergos Institute for Somatic Education and the Founder and Advisor for Somatic Experiencing International. Dr. Levine is the author of several best-selling books on trauma, including Waking the Tiger, Healing Trauma (published in over 29 languages). He has received Lifetime Achievement awards from Psychoth erapy Networker and from the US Association for Body-Oriented Psychotherapy. He continues to teach trauma healing workshops internationally. Learn more at somaticexperiencing.com.

Nkem Ndefo is the founder of Lumos Transforms and creator of The Resilience Toolkit, a model that fosters embodied self-awareness, supports stabilization from the impacts of personal and collective trauma, and nurtures adaptive capacity in the face of stress—all within an ecologically sensitive and social justice-oriented framework. She brings extensive experience as a clinician, educator, researcher, and community strategist to innovative programs that address trauma and inequity, build resilience, and catalyze liberatory change for individuals and organizations across the U.S. and globally. Nkem is especially committed to working in solidarity with people most impacted by violence and marginalization.

Stephen W. Porges, Ph.D. is Distinguished University Scientist at Indiana University where he is the founding director of the Traumatic Stress Research Consortium in the Kinsey Institute. He is Professor of Psychiatry at the University of North Carolina, and Professor Emeritus at both the University of Illinois at Chicago and the University of Maryland. He served as president of the Society for Psychophysiological Research and the Federation of Associations in Behavioral & Brain Sciences and is a former recipient of a National Institute of Mental Health Research Scientist Development Award. He is the originator of the Polyvagal Theory, a theory that emphasizes the importance of physiological state in the expression of behavioral, mental, and health problems related to traumatic experiences.

Dr. Richard Schwartz began his career as a family therapist at the University of Illinois at Chicago, where he discovered that family therapy alone did not achieve full symptom relief. Patients described being plagued by "parts"—inner networks resembling families. As they separated from their parts, they shifted into a state of curiosity, calm, confidence, and compassion he called the Self. From these explorations, the Internal Family Systems (IFS) model was born in the early 1980s. Schwartz now lives in Brookline, MA, and is on the faculty of Harvard Medical School's Department of Psychiatry.

Dr. Aline LaPierre is the creator of NeuroAffective Touch®. A licensed Marriage and Family Therapist, author, teacher, and former faculty in the somatic doctoral program at Santa Barbara Graduate Institute, she is currently President of the United States Association of Body Psychotherapy and Editor-in-Chief of the International Body Psychotherapy Journal. Dr. LaPierre co-authored the bestselling book Healing Developmental Trauma, and is trained extensively in many forms of bodywork. In addition to directing the NeuroAffective Touch Institute, she maintains a private practice in West Los Angeles.

Dené Logan is a Marriage and Family Therapist, a group facilitator, and an author based in Los Angeles. In addition to working with clients in private practice, she is a mindfulness coach, a yoga teacher, and specializes in supporting others in showing up more authentically in all of their relationships - including (and perhaps most importantly) in the relationship with themselves. Dené utilizes her background in depth psychology to infuse archetypes, ritual, and metaphysics into the exploration of how each of us can reclaim the aspects of our authentic selves that we’ve been culturally conditioned to turn away from in an attempt to maintain attachments. Her first book, Sovereign Love: A Guide to Healing Relationships by Reclaiming the Masculine and Feminine Within, is available now.

Dr. Arielle Schwartz is a clinical psychologist and leading voice in trauma healing. An internationally sought-out teacher, she is the author of seven books, including The Complex PTSD Workbook, The Post-Traumatic Growth Guidebook, EMDR Therapy and Somatic Psychology, and Applied Polyvagal Theory in Yoga. As founder of the Center for Resilience Informed Therapy, she offers a mind-body approach to trauma therapy and shares mental health and wellness insights through her writing, speaking, social media, and blog. She believes the journey of trauma recovery is an awakening of the spiritual heart.

Dr. Albert Wong is the Director of the Trauma Certificate Program at Somatopia. He maintains a private counseling and consulting practice centered around somatic psychotherapy and is the founder of the online somatic education platform, Somatopia: www.somatopia.com.

Frank Anderson, MD, is a world-renowned trauma expert, Harvard-trained psychiatrist, and global speaker. He is the co-author of the IFS Skills Training Manual (2017), the best-selling Transcending Trauma (2021), and his memoir To Be Loved: A Story of Truth, Trauma and Transformation (2024). Dr. Anderson has a long affiliation with Bessel van der Kolk at the Trauma Research Foundation and is a former lead trainer at the IFS Institute under Richard Schwartz. He is the director and cofounder of the Trauma Institute and Trauma-Informed Media, dedicated to integrating neuroscience with cutting-edge therapy and bringing trauma healing to the world.

Dr. Scott Lyons (DO, PhD, MS, MFA, CHT, BMCP/T, RSMT, SME, BMCP, IDME, SEP, CST, BFA, RYT-500) is a Clinical Psychologist, Osteopath, and Mind-Body Medicine practitioner who specializes in therapies for infants, youth, and adults. Additionally, Dr. Lyons holds a BFA in Theater/Psychology, and an MFA in Dance/Choreography. Scott is the creator of The Embody Lab — a hub for embodied education, self-discovery and healing— and developer of Somatic Stress Release™ — a processes of restoring our biological adaptation system.

Maggie is a somatic practitioner and embodiment guide, focused on nervous system and body-based practice. She has taken her training and personal practice over 10+ years and created The Core Rising Method, a unique combination and flow of body-based techniques from the worlds of somatic healing, embodiment, yoga, breath and experiential meditation. TCR Method feeds Maggie's passion of connecting people to the wisdom of their bodies, because she believes that this connection to Self is the foundation to collective healing and a new path forward.

Luis Mojica is a somatic therapist, trauma nutritionist, and founder of Holistic Life Navigation, where he educates people around the world how to recover from stress and trauma. He uses whole foods, self-inquiry, and Somatic Experiencing as relational tools to befriend the body and find safety within yourself.

Licia Sky is a somatic educator who works with traumatized individuals. She is the co-founder & CEO of the Trauma Research Foundation.

An internationally recognized breathing/movement and somatic trauma resolution specialist, Betsy Polatin, MFA, SEP, AmSAT, was a professor at Boston University’s College of Fine Arts for twenty-five years. She is author of the best-seller, HUMANUAL, an Epic Journey to your Expanded Self, and The Actor’s Secret. Her work is presented at International Conferences in the U.S. and abroad, and is greatly influenced by the teachings of spiritual and Meditation Masters. Betsy has co-taught with Peter A. Levine, PhD. and Dr. Gabor Maté. Betsy is the author of a chapter in the 2025 Norton Professional Series book, Somatic-Oriented Therapies – Embodiment, Trauma, Polyvagal Perspectives. As a well-known educator, she has published numerous articles in the Huffington Post. She has a training/nontraining course and maintains an international private practice online.