GRACE Scarbrough
As a Somatic Experiencing practitioner, I offer you an opportunity to dive gently into your own body’s deep wisdom, its messages, and its unique needs and desires for health.
Malcolm Gladwell’s research in "The Tipping Point" showed that it takes 10,000 hours to master a skill or discipline. With over 20 years as a bodywork therapist, having provided at least 10,000 massages, I bring this level of mastery of the body to each Somatic Experiencing session. My approach is integrated, grounded, and holistic. I have trained with the Trauma Healing Institute, am a licensed massage and bodywork therapist, and hold a Masters Degree in experimental psychology. I have also worked extensively with my own trauma, drawing on transformative body-based modalities. As a Somatic Experiencing practitioner, I offer a lifetime of interest, education, and experience with the body’s wisdom to guide and facilitate this process for you.
I'll meet you where you're at and guide you to the next level of health!
Psychology Teaching Assistant, University of Kentucky, Lexington, KY—1992 to 1995
Instructor, Daoist Traditions, Acupuncture School, Asheville, NC 2004-2005
EDUCATION
Somatic Experiencing International
Boulder, CO - January 2022
Central Florida School of Massage Therapy
Winter Park, FL - 1999
Master of Science in Experimental Psychology University of Kentucky - 1995
Bachelor of Arts in Psychology
University of Central Florida - 1992
PROFESSIONAL EXPERIENCE
Massage Therapist in Private Practice
1999 to present
Instructor, Asheville School of Massage and Yoga, Asheville, NC
2016 to 2020.
Instructor, Center for Massage and Natural Health,
Asheville, NC - 2005 to 2017
Adjunct Instructor of Psychology, AB Tech
Asheville, NC—2004 to 2006
Adjunct Instructor and Full-Time Instructor
Valencia Community College, Orlando, FL - 1995 to 1998
Research Assistant, National Institute of Mental Health,
Lexington, KY - 1994 to 1995
Somatic Experiencing Practitioner
Showing up for yourself takes courage. I have deep empathy and compassion for the vulnerability of doing this healing work. I understand the feeling of overwhelm and despair, and am here to provide a gentle, knowledgeable, and compassionate therapy that gives birth to a sense of resilience and possibility.
From my experience as a massage and bodywork therapist, I bring a lifelong vocation of tuning into bodies and their subtle (and sometimes not so subtle) responses to each session. Having experienced trauma myself, I have received many Somatic Experiencing sessions, as well as several other healing modalities.
I trained with the Trauma Healing Institute, which is a worldwide organization that teaches and licenses Somatic Experiencing practitioners. The training takes 3 years and involves coursework, giving practice sessions, receiving personal sessions and receiving supervision. This work is natural and very comfortable for me. Do not worry that what you have is too big…....you are not alone. And I am not doing this work alone, there is a worldwide community trained in healing trauma through this method.
A Background with Bodywork
In 2008, I received the #1 BEST of in the Asheville Mountain Express in the category of Massage Therapy.
When you engage in Somatic Experiencing with me, you receive an integrated approach that draws on the entire toolbox of a broad education to create a unique session tailored to you and your needs.
I LOVE working with the human body and bring this love and non-judgement to each session. I’ve studied many different modalities including Shiatsu, Thai yoga bodywork, cranial sacral therapy, deep tissue massage and hot stone massage, as well as some more esoteric modalities like reiki, aura balancing/noetic field therapy, and aromatherapy.
"Over the years, I sought and took advantage of many supportive resources and pathways, still I suffered from the trauma and grief of it all. Amazingly, somatic experiencing did what I can only describe as 'sweet sadness tinged with happy memories'...not even bittersweet, no longer unbearable, nor soul crushing feelings from the past. A heavy weight has been lifted. I no longer freeze when I think of the traumatic event."
- Satisfied client
Voted "Teacher of the Year"
I bring decades of classroom experience to each session. Working with large groups and noticing patterns of how people integrate information and how to present challenging concepts is something that I love. I have fine tuned methods for having the “ah ha” experience. When it is helpful to explain a concept or when understanding will help shift your process in a positive direction, the teaching component is woven neatly into the therapeutic experience.
As an educator since 1996, I had a teaching assistantship and taught undergrads while in graduate school. Later I taught several psychology courses including teaching honors students and a course on death and dying at Valencia community college that boasts a student population of 70,000.
After massage school, I shifted gears to teaching massage and bodywork therapists in 2006. I have taught ethics, Thai Massage, shiatsu, aromatherapy, hot stone massage, and somatic psychology at massage and acupuncture schools.
Foundation in Research Psychology
Somatic Experiencing is based in the most recent research in neuropsychology and animal science. While we work with the subtleties of the nervous system, we are using techniques that have been fine-tuned through a plethora of research, and a tremendous amount of interest from the scientific community.
I have been fascinated by the field of psychology since I was a pre-teen, and I love “geeking out” on the science of health and healing. I am continually studying and learning more about the science behind trauma therapy, as the field grows and evolves.
My background includes not only decades of experience with the energy of healing, but also a strong foundation in the verifiable science of healing. I received my Master of Science from the University of Kentucky with an emphasis in experimental social psychology in 1995. My masters degree research was on long-distance and short-distance relationships, and used reaction time experiments to measure closeness, as well as self-report measures. I was also a research assistant in the University of Kentucky’s medical center in the neonatal intensive care unit studying the variables that impacted neonatal survival. It was a rigorous science-based program, in which I poured through hundreds of pages of research studies regularly, conducting my own original research, and teaching undergraduates. I bring this foundation of science to the subtleties of Somatic Experiencing, making for a very balanced approached.
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We’re all in this together. Stress, trauma and overwhelm can leave us feeling alone and isolated. In this spirit, please feel free to provide feedback for how I can make this site more inclusive.
Any suggestions for photos or copy is welcome.
“Between stimulus and response there is a space. In that space is our power to choose our response. In our response lies our growth and our freedom.”
Quote by Viktor Frankl, neurologist, psychiatrist and holocaust survivor
SOMATIC EXPERIENCING in BLACK MOUNTAIN
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