Katie Connolly
Speaker. Teacher. Healer
Welcome to My Somatic Counselling Practice
Drawing upon my strong knowledge of the body, the nervous system, and trauma sensitive approaches, I bridge science and intuition, helping clients of all ages to connect with and honour all aspects of themselves, so they may gloWithin and experience greater love, peace, joy! We are whole beings with innate gifts that we often forget about through our life experiences. As an Expert Registered Yoga Teacher, Craniosacral & Somatic Practitioner, and Masters of Counselling Candidate, I bring a holistic approach to all I do, and honour this within all my clients. With a passion for supporting highly sensitive & neurodiverse families, I founded a Yoga Alliance Registered Children's Yoga School and am the recipient of the Mom’s Choice Awards® Gold for my Children's Yoga Cards.
How do I support Highly Sensitive & Neurodiverse Individuals & Families?
Below you will see I support clients with various needs to create more aligned, joyful living, to include addressing; overwhelm, burnout, and healing intergenerational patterns. I do so in a very holistic manner, considering the systems in which we exist and those within ourselves, exploring root concerns and helping you to create more supportive systems for your needs, or your child. I draw upon Narrative, Dynamic Narrative Exposure Therapy™, Internal Family Systems, Somatic and Play Therapy and other modalities that we together determine would best support your needs, or your child's.
Many parents struggle with the overwhelm of information, their child's big emotions, and feel helpless not being able to support their child as they thought they would. It of course doesn't help that we also have so much on our plates, constantly drawing our attention externally, making it very hard to listen to our intuitive wisdom. I believe our children chose us to be their guides here on Earth, and we are here to learn together. Yes, this means often they are here to teach us very challenging lessons that require us to go within. I also honour that this going within can be challenging for many.
I believe in accessibility, choice, and have practiced trauma-sensitive work since 2011. I support you in learning sustainable practices to develop your neuroceptive skills (listening to your body wisdom) and nourish your nervous system. I guide clients in learning to connect with their body wisdom, from which many have become disconnected due to the demands of life or trauma. This is particularly important for parents, as it offers them the confidence in trusting they know how to support their children, so you can both honour your light.
I have been supporting families and educators with Somatic practices since 2011, and look forward to connecting with you!
Specialties
Developing self awareness & neuroception for intuition & resilience
Highly sensitive & neurodiverse clients - ADHD, Autism, ODD, OCD
Empowering parents in supporting their HS/ ND child(ren)
Anxiety, overwhelm, burnout, depression & sleep patterns
Comprehending near death & out of body experiences
Perfection, procrastination, body image & eating
Body autonomy & creating healthy boundaries
Attachment, parentification & intimacy
Releasing intergenerational patterns
Finding your voice & self-expression
Tapping into your full potential
Chronic pain patterns
Modalities
While I offer a variety of modalities, the choice is completely up to my clients:
Narrative Therapy and Dynamic Narrative Exposure Therapy™
Internal Family Systems
5 Factor Cognitive Behavioural Therapy
Solutions Focused Therapy
Craniosacral & Somatic Experiencing
Breathwork
Safe & Sound Protocol
Meditation & mindfulness
Bilateral art & sound practices
Art Therapy
Play Therapy
Neuroaffective Touch®
Braindance™
My qualifications
Masters of Arts Counselling Psychology (MACP)
Bachelor of Business (UBC)
Certificate in Adult Learning (U Calgary)
Expert Registered Yoga Teacher (ERYT-500)
Registered Prenatal Yoga Teacher (RPYT)
Registered Children's Yoga Teacher (RCYT)
Registered Children's Yoga School (RCYS)
Yoga Alliance Continuing Education Provider (YACEP)
Craniosacral Therapy, Infants + Children (Visionary Healing)
Craniosacral Therapy Level 4 (Visionary Healing)
PESI Trauma & Memory Course: Somatic Experiencing® Skills
Certified Safe + Sound Protocol (SSP) Provider
Dynamic Narrative Exposure Therapy™ Provider
NeuroAffective Touch® Provider
Art Therapy Practitioner
Chronic Shame in Clinical Practice: An Embodied Relational Perspective
Mom’s Choice Awards® Gold Recipient
Braindance™ Instructor
How can we work together?
See below! I offer support through 1:1 sessions virtually and in-person, group. I also offer many resources for you to explore at your own pace, to include; courses on the gloWithin App, Children's Yoga Cards, and my 5 Minutes to Mindful Parenting Book. I also lead yoga trainings, and speak for various organizations. To get to the most supportive resources for you, see below.
You are a...
If you are looking for 1:1 support virtually or in person...
What Katie shared with me after was all absolutely true, and a helpful take away I can work with. I am still feeling shifting happening in my body the day after. I would highly recommend Katie to be part of your healing journey.
VIRGINIA
Katie creates an atmosphere allowing for anything that comes up to be felt.
CAROLIN
Katie delivers an amazing amount of care and healing energy into her practice. I truly feel that my session with Katie helped put me on the path to healing and feeling more like myself. I highly recommend and value Katie’s practice.
ALINA
About Katie, Somatic Parenting Coach
I was given the gift of breathwork and meditation as a child by my Mother, and discovered somatic tools to move through emotions. As a highly sensitive person prone to ADHD tendencies, having these tools from a young age helped me to be resilient and stay aligned with my intuition. I have always a strong spiritual practice and understand this through quantum physics or energy. Coincidentally my incredible maternal grandfather was taken in by Schrödinger (developed fundamental of quantum theory) as a refugee from Austria, and illustrated many of his books while pursuing his engineering degree.
Children are predominantly in a Theta brainwave state, here and deeply connected to the energetic world. As a child I went out of body often (experimenting) and at 21 I had a life-changing near death experience, opening the door to healing from 11 years of body dysmorphia and other experiences. Perhaps now you can see why I am so passionate about supporting highly sensitive and neurodiverse families with simple tools to nourish their nervous system, to help them continue to shine their light.
As a teen I recognized our lifestyles were not conducive to thriving families, which inspired me to create Studio 202, a healing community space in North Vancouver. In 2020 I closed this space due to world events and as it was the source of my postpartum anxiety with my eldest. After completing a challenging contract as an Executive Director (which led to a third burnout), I realized I needed to focus on my passions again and brought my offerings online.
Miraculously we had our youngest during this time but do to lack of sleep for a year, I struggled with a very humbling postpartum depression. For a few months all I could do was meditate. This is what prompted me to pursue my Masters in Counselling, 12 years after first considering it.
I am telling you this because while our situations are unique, with connection and the right support we can heal and create greater alignment in our lives for peace within, and lead our children by example. As a society, we have largely been taught to over-ride our intuition, experienced trauma disconnecting us from this innate gift, or we simply struggle to connect with our body wisdom due to the many daily demands. I believe this is in part why we are seeing such high rates of anxiety, depression, and burn out.
Children are naturally connected to their intuition, and as conscious parents we strive to honour this as we guide them on their journey… but are we honouring this in ourselves?
I believe as parents that we know what is right for our child and try our best each and every day. I also understand the challenges and gifts of being a Highly Sensitive parent (and introvert), and specialize in working with highly sensitive and neurodiverse families through a very holistic model. My role is to support you in understanding the environments in which you exist and to create supportive ones to sustainably nourish you, allowing you to tap into your intuitive wisdom and lead your family by example.
I offer this support virtually and in-person through my group and training sessions, through 1:1 work, in my speaking engagements, and through the gloWithin App courses. You are welcome to learn more about my offerings here.
While I am passionate about my work, I nourish myself through my nearly lifelong meditation practice, being active in nature, expressing myself creatively, going on adventures, and spending time with those I love.
I look forward to connecting with you on this journey!
🌺 Katie
ps. You can read more about my qualifications below
“The way we talk to our children becomes their inner-voice”
~ Peggy O'Mara
