Not every clients is ready to receive therapy.
Even when they show up.
Even when they say, “I want to heal.”
Here’s the truth no one talks about enough:
You can offer the most attuned presence,
The most skillful intervention,
The exact right EMDR target or somatic practice—
But if your client is still in survival mode,
Their system won’t let it land.
Because healing doesn’t happen in flight-or-fight.
It happens in presence.
In stillness.
In the body’s openness to receive.
That means part of our job as trauma therapists is this:
We don’t just deliver therapy.
We prepare clients to use it.
We help their nervous systems arrive.
We support them in metabolizing—not just understanding—the work.
3 ways to prepare clients to receive therapy
(not just attend it):
Start with attunement, not intervention.
Before you “start the work,” notice the breath, body, and pace.
Can their system tolerate contact?
If not, slow it all the way down. Make co-regulation the intervention.Name the states.
Help clients track their own nervous system shifts.
“Notice what happens as we talk about this…”
“This might be a moment to pause—what does your body need here?”Invite post-session integration.
Offer simple, doable prompts:
→ “After today, give yourself 10 minutes alone. Let what we did settle.”
→ “Notice what comes up in the next 48 hours—your system might still be processing.”
Because therapy doesn’t just happen in the room.
It happens in the way the system processes the work—in its own rhythm.
As Pat Ogden reminds us:
“Trauma isn’t healed through insight alone. It’s healed when the body has a new experience.”
And that means therapy has to be more than talking.
It has to be received.
Think on this.
Let me know what about this resonates with you and your work.
Warmly,
Esther
If you’re a trauma therapist craving more precision, more depth, and more presence in your sessions—
That’s exactly what we build in the Trauma Training + Mentorship Program.
This isn’t about doing more.
It’s about doing with clarity.
38 CEUS + Certificate in Integrative Trauma Treatment
Somatic and parts work tools
LIVE consults
Real-time support on your trickiest cases
A cohort of therapists who get it
If you want to build sessions that land and help clients actually feel the work—not just talk about it— Apply now by booking a consult below.