Exploring embodied integration of arousal states with Arielle Schwartz

‘Exploring embodied integration of arousal states with Arielle Schwartz’ blog article was written by Lauren Thomas, Director of International Childhood Trauma Conference and Youth Participation and Engagement Senior Project Lead at Australian Childhood Foundation.

Psychotherapist, EMDR Therapy Consultant and Yoga Therapist, Arielle Schwartz offers a somatic psychology and therapeutic yoga approach for clients who have experienced trauma and Complex PTSD. Her unique blend of spirituality and science can be found in her writings, guided trauma recovery programs, and applied Polyvagal Theory in yoga for trauma recovery.

When I sat down to talk with her about her planned sessions in the Conference Programme, I was interested to discover that, like many of us, Arielle’s professional framework was informed by her personal journey. Drawn to somatics and therapeutic yoga in her late teens, Arielle found that these were helpful for herself on her own healing journey. And then, whilst studying Somatic Psychology a little later, she was simultaneously a mother to children with sensory processing challenges, and working with the Occupational Therapists and the Speech Therapists who introduced her to additional ways of working with the body.

“When I was just about to graduate from my Doctoral program, I fell in love with the way that the Occupational Therapists brought in all of the reflex integration and sensory tools and how grounding that was for my own children.  

So, I was doing my Doctoral internship work in play therapy and ended up joining the same practice as the Occupational Therapists and the Speech Therapists as it was a multidisciplinary practice… and we got to work together as a team.” 

Later, when Arielle learned about Polyvagal Theory, she gained valuable insights into the importance of fostering a sense of felt safety in relationships. She recognised how this foundation enables children to thrive in classrooms and adults to engage more effectively with their worlds. This understanding resonated deeply with her approach and has since become a core element of her practice.

Across her career, Arielle’s interests have remained focused on how to respond to the impact of trauma and promote recovery and resilience using neuroscience, embodiment approaches and yoga therapy. Currently, she is working with adult clients, reorganizing through a felt-sense model, around what were the impacts of these earliest, maybe even preverbal life experiences.  

During our conversation, Arielle gave an example of an adult client whose breathing is shallow and caught in the upper chest at times – impacted by early traumatic experiences, held in the diaphragm. This client will brace and go back into shock every time they experience the potential of someone rejecting them or being disappointed with them. By empowering clients with awareness of their body and of their active options, clients can be supported to ask.

“How might I be able to breathe and move now, that reconnects to my own adult body that has choices that now that can organize and relate to the world with choices that I didn’t have as a child.”  

In her work, and across the four sessions Arielle will be delivering at the Conference, you can expect to hear and learn this integrated and embodied approach to working with those who have experienced developmental trauma. 

“Honestly, I still draw upon those same tools I learned in that collaborative practice with those occupational therapists. Even as adults, some of the same practices…to connect to yourself in space proprioceptively are equally valuable for adults with complex traumatisation the same approaches that worked with as they are for children who are trying to locate themselves in space in the midst of a world that feels out of control.” 

If you would like to hear Arielle speak during the 2025 International Childhood Trauma Conference, there will be five opportunities to do so across the week. In addition, she will also be a member of our ‘Symposium highlighting expert women in the field of trauma’.

Here are the dates and times you can find her sessions across the week: 

On Monday the 18th of August, from 2- 5:30pm, Arielle will be hosting a Masterclass on Applied Polyvagal Theory – an embodied approach to psychotherapy.  

Also on Monday 18th and again on Tuesday 19th of August, Arielle will deliver keynote (the same session delivered twice so that delegates have two opportunities to attend) on the topic of Resilience and Post Traumatic Growth.  

On Tuesday 19th of August, Arielle will also be delivering a Plenary and a second Keynote. The Plenary Session is titled ‘Somatic Therapies in Trauma Recovery’, which will be an experiential presentation aiming to enhance the embodiment of the therapist as a foundation for somatic interventions you can bring into your work with others. 

The second Keynote will be on the topic of ‘Intergenerational trauma’ – introducing an integrative, mind-body approach to working with collective and generational wounds. 

You can also further familiarize with Arielle’s work via her YouTube channel or buy purchasing one of her six books based upon her integrative, mind-body approach to trauma recovery: The Complex PTSD Workbook; The Post Traumatic Growth Guidebook; A Practical Guide to Complex PTSD; EMDR Therapy and Somatic Psychology; The Complex PTSD Treatment Manual, and Therapeutic Yoga for Trauma Recovery which Arielle will also be available to sign during a programmed book signing at the Conference.  

Register for the 2025 International Childhood Trauma Conference

We are looking forward to welcoming you to our fifth Conference, in which we will gather to share practice, knowledge, and wisdom about how to transform the lives of those who have experienced childhood trauma. Our focus on connection and healing in this conference recognises the profound impact of connection and relationship to self, others, place, community, and Country in healing process.