“I hope you will go out and let stories happen to you, and that you will work them,
water them with your blood and tears and you laughter till they bloom,
till you yourself burst into bloom.”
Clarissa Pinkola Estes
ABOUT
SUE MURPHY
Being a student of life, I believe in our innate ability to heal, be present and find self-compassion and self-regulation. All that I do revolves around that - whether it is being a parent, somatic therapist, yoga teacher or companion...
I am a Somatic Experiencing Practitioner (SEP), an Experienced Registered Yoga Teacher (E-RYT500) and a Yoga Alliance Continuing Education Provider. I am also a Certified Chakra Practitioner and Reiki Master. Before that, I was a public school Art Teacher with a Master's Degree in Secondary Education.
With over 14 years of experience teaching Yoga, I've taught in studios and gyms alike. I have the great fortune of guiding my students in Yoga on and off the mat. As trained trauma-informed Yoga Instructor, I also work within Yoga teacher training programs to teach the importance, and how-tos, of Trauma-Informed Yoga. I created the yoga program in the Patchogue Medford School District and the Somatic Movement and Mindfulness Program in the South Country Central School District. I am now in my fourth year working with the students and staff in South Country and enjoying every minute of it! I have also brought my work of trauma-informed care/education to Hauppauge Central School District and the Brentwood Union Free School District. My work through Eastern Suffolk BOCES has enabled me to work with the McKinney-Vento homeless population in local shelters.
As a member of the Patchogue Wellness Center, I offer personal Somatic Therapy sessions to people of all ages. Keep scrolling, or click on the Somatic Therapy page, to see how Somatic Therapy can help you feel like YOU again.
I look forward to working with you!
May our minds be at peace,
Our hearts kind,
Our bodies strong,
And our spirits courageous...
And so it is.
SOMATIC THERAPY
In these challenging times, Somatic Therapy can help you find the calm in everyday life. It is a holistic, body-centered approach to therapy that helps you release the effects of stress and trauma. Sessions can weave together the tools of Somatic Experiencingtm, the science of Yoga and/or energy work to help you rediscover your innate ability to heal. I can help guide you to build your capacity to find greater clarity, calmness and a sense of presence. Together we can delve into topics such as anxiety, depression, boundary work, stress disorders, self-care practices, resiliency - anything that will bring you back to You.
This work can be incredibly therapeutic. I work with the experiences of the body to release stored traumatic wounds and effects of high stress. I am not a psychotherapist and I do not provide talk therapy or cognitive therapy of any kind.
Having extensive experience working with people of all ages, everyone is welcome.
WHAT IS SOMATIC THERAPY
Somatic Experiencing (SE™) is a body-oriented therapeutic model applied in multiple professions and professional settings...including mental health, medicine, physical and occupational therapies, bodywork, addiction treatment, first response, education, and others. It is the life’s work of Dr. Peter A. Levine. The SE approach releases traumatic shock, which is key to transforming PTSD and the wounds of emotional and early developmental attachment trauma. It offers a framework to assess where a person is “stuck” in the fight, flight or freeze responses and provides clinical tools to resolve these fixated physiological states.
Somatic Experiencing International
WHAT IS SOMATIC EXPERIENCINGTM
You’re helping me and it’s so honest caring and real…I so trust you and feel so comfortable with you. Meeting you was one of the best things I did for myself. Thank you for being YOU!!
Current Client
*Name withheld for confidentiality
TESTIMONIAL
In-person appointments available at Patchogue Wellness Center and Telehealth appointments available, too.
SCHOOL DISTRICTS
A trauma-informed school prioritizes the well-being of all students and staff. How do we do that if teachers are not trained in the effects that trauma and high stress have on the body and mind - making it physiologically difficult to learn? I am a Yoga Alliance certified instructor, and an Advanced Level Student of Somatic Experiencingtm, who provides trauma-informed trainings, classes and support for teachers, students grades K-12, administrators and staff.
Staff workshops train the teachers, administrators and personnel to look at trauma/stress, and their effects, from all angles. Trauma symptoms come from many different situations so we discuss individualized events, systemic trauma, intergenerational trauma, developmental trauma etc. The educators are taught why it is important to not only look at the behavior of the student but also its origins. I discuss how trauma/stress symptoms can manifest in differently in individuals and explain how the child's experiences might be influencing his/her/their own interactions with other students and adults. Knowing the “whys” and hows” is vital for every educator.
Staff workshops consist of learning the science behind the traumatized mind and body and then how to successfully bring that information into the classroom. Once a person begins to understand the defensive mechanism of the brain and nervous system, they are more equipped to interact effectively with their students. The teachers have the ability to see things differently and create their lesson plans to better meet the needs of the class. We discuss the body’s release of stress and tension using somatic and mindfulness tools.
The educators are provided with many different solutions that they can then, in turn, teach their students. They are given material that they can take with them to help reinforce the information they learned in the workshop, as well as, ideas and projects to do with their students.
PROFESSIONAL DEVELOPMENT
I provide somatic and mindfulness classes for the teachers, staff and administrators. These classes are for the sole purpose of providing support for the employees of the district. When the staff has the time set aside to take care of their own well-being and to learn to self-regulate then they can lead the way for their students to do the same.
STAFF CLASSES
I weave the science of somatic movement and mindfulness tools together to provide students with ways to learn to self-regulate. These fun, active classes help students to hold and explore their emotions while addressing the pillars of Social Emotional Learning.
STUDENT CLASSES
The South Country Central School District has been partnering with Sue Murphy, a certified yoga instructor to teach our students not only that they can control their thoughts and actions but how they can most effectively do this. Sue Murphy has been visiting our classrooms, virtually this year, with thematic lesson plans, objectives and strategies-introducing and reinforcing social emotional resilience using yoga and mindfulness techniques. The program has been invaluable in teaching our students that yoga is much more than poses performed on a mat. The program is about self-esteem building, self-awareness and self-regulation through mindfulness. Sue Murphy has done wonders in providing our students with strategies to practice these mindfulness techniques so they can utilize them off the mat.
Kerry Carson
Director of Special Education and Student Support Services
South Country Central School District
Sue Murphy is an amazing yoga teacher! My students enjoy her lessons every week! Sue is a wonderful, caring and thoughtful person. Her compassion for yoga and calm demeanor are contagious. She teaches the children that they can control their thoughts and actions and more importantly she teaches them how. Sue gets the students actively involved and engaged in her lessons by using visuals and fun interactive stories. The students also learn yoga poses as well. Sue also uses guided mediation at the end of each lesson which brings calmness and peacefulness to our classroom. My class has weekly virtual sessions with Sue which are highly beneficial for all of my students. We can’t wait for Sue to come back in person!
Melissa Satterly
Special Education Teacher
South Country Central School District
TESTIMONIALS
CONTACT
