Gavin Versi (He/His/Him)

I am trained in Brainspotting (Phases 1 and 2) and use it to promote deeper processing in clients. Brainspotting, which evolved out of EMDR, is built on the theory that where we look affects how we feel. It involves a client identifying a spot where, as they gaze, they experience heightened activation. This promotes processing in the sub-cortical (emotional) part of the brain. My training was experiential, meaning that I experienced this modality as a client as well as a practitioner.

I draw heavily on Allan Schore's Modern Attachment Theory, which reframes traditional attachment theory into emotional regulation theory. I have a deep understanding of attachment thanks to my curiosity about the root cause of attachment behaviors like avoidance (hypoarousal) and anxiousness (hyperarousal).

I am trained in somatic experiential therapy (SomEx), a modality that was designed specifically to treat trauma, especially the developmental trauma that may lead to out-of-control behaviors. I have been fortunate to have experienced great benefits from somatic therapy myself. I believe that our body is our greatest tool for healing. Indeed, it wants to heal - we just need to slow down and listen to it.

I am trained in somatic experiential therapy (SomEx), a modality that was designed specifically to treat trauma, especially the developmental trauma that may lead to out-of-control behaviors. I have been fortunate to have experienced great benefits from somatic therapy myself. I believe that our body is our greatest tool for healing. Indeed, it wants to heal, and will do so when it is safe to feel.

I see addiction as a disease of the nervous system. Like any disease, nobody chooses it: it chooses us. What we can choose is to overcome it. It is usually a maladaptive, coping response to difficult experiences. It detaches us from our authenticity and negatively impacts relationships, including the relationship we have with ourselves. By addressing the trauma that led to addiction, we can overcome it. Prior to becoming a therapist, I volunteered as a recovery coach.

I see addiction as a disease of the nervous system: an unhealthy way of regulation. Like any disease, nobody chooses it: it chooses us. We can choose is to overcome it. It is usually a maladaptive, coping response to difficult experiences. It detaches us from our authenticity and negatively impacts relationships, including the relationship we have with ourselves. By addressing the trauma that led to addiction, we can overcome it. Prior to becoming a therapist, I volunteered as a recovery coach.

I see addiction as a disease of the nervous system: an unhealthy way of regulating. Like any disease, nobody chooses it: it chooses us. But we can choose to overcome it. It is usually a maladaptive coping response to difficult experiences. It disconnects us from our authenticity and negatively impacts relationships. By addressing the trauma that led to addiction, we can overcome it. As well as substance addictions, I specialize in process addictions like sex, pornography and social media.

Codependency may show up as people pleasing and denying one's own needs. I like the famous analogy of being on an airplane: to be in a relationship, we must tend to ourselves (put on our own gas masks before helping others). Life is about relationships and there is none more important than the relationship we have with ourselves. To treat codependency, I draw on the teachings of theorists such as John Bradshaw, Pia Mellody, and Melody Beattie.

My extensive training in body-based approaches such as somatic therapy and Brainspotting can be effective for the treatment of PTSD. I believe that, like almost all so-called 'disorders', PTSD is the body's method of finding a way to cope with adverse experiences and environments, not least in childhood. Through a slow, intentional process of reconnecting with one's body, we can heal such trauma.