Edges of Expression: Somatic Therapy & the Creative Self

​Thursdays, Oct 30 – Dec 11 (no class Nov 27)
6:30 – 8:30 pm

​How do we free our authentic voice, our aliveness, and our creative power—especially in community?

​This six-week trauma-informed group bridges somatic therapy and creative expression. Together, we’ll draw on practices from somatic education, clowning, movement, theater, writing, and visual arts to explore what it means to arrive more fully in ourselves while in connection with others.

​Each session will include guided practices—such as somatic tracking, mindfulness, movement, peer listening, and playful creative processes—that help us connect inwardly and express outwardly. Rather than pushing past limits, we’ll learn to include and honor our edges, discovering that safety, risk, and play can coexist. Guided by a somatic therapist, we’ll use the intimate group setting to explore the “role layer”—the conditioned roles and masks we take on—and practice what it means to shed them to live and express more authentically.

​Through experimentation and community support, participants will practice:

• ​Warming into connection and expression

• ​Surfacing and softening creative blocks

• ​Exploring the role of voice, throat, and truth-telling

• ​Meeting the “role layer” and uncovering what lies beneath

• ​Honoring personal comfort levels while cultivating radical aliveness

​Each class will have its own arc, responsive to what emerges in the group, building toward greater authenticity, expressivity, and connection.

​Rose Oceania, RSMT/E, is a registered somatic expressive arts therapist with a private practice for adults and children in Woodstock, NY. She is also a longtime dance theater and interdisciplinary artist and performer. Rose is thrilled to bring together her two passions: creativity and body-based healing practices.

​The workshop takes place at Rose’s private studio in Woodstock, NY, featuring a spacious, barn-like movement space with high ceilings and natural light, alongside a wooded path, pond, sauna, and bonfire.

​​What Are OlioCircles?

​​Group processing and peer support have been central to non-Western approaches to healing for thousands of years. At Olio, we are committed to creating spaces where you can find purpose and belonging, helping to usher in a new vision of society.

​​Traditional therapy is valuable, but it often mirrors the isolating systems that contribute to our distress. As Patricia Kim says, many so-called “mental illnesses” may be more accurately understood as social illnesses, caused by societal and environmental factors such as perceived isolation, competition, and diminishing community spaces.

​​Led by a therapist and supported by a dedicated group of 10 people, these Circles can be thought of as a complement to your existing therapy, or as a new approach to healing done in a group setting rather than one-on-one.

​​What Is Expected of You

​​An open mind, a willingness to participate (at your own pace and depth, of course), and the desire to support others and be supported.

​If cost is a barrier, please reach out to discuss sliding scale options.