Certified Rolfing® Practitioner
Certified Feldenkrais® Practitioner
Certified Hypnotherapist
Interdisciplinary Therapy Assistant student (Bow Valley College)
During my teenage years, I struggled with emotions I couldn’t understand or express. I sought help through psychotherapy, but after my first session, I felt completely frustrated and gave up. I spent the entire session in silence because I literally couldn’t find the words to describe what I was feeling.
For years, I suppressed my emotions and avoided confronting them. Everything changed, however, when I discovered Rolfing® Structural Integration, a form of body therapy. This experience opened the door to a journey of self-discovery, where I began using my body to connect with my emotions and sense of self.
For the first time, I had something tangible—my body and its sensations—to help me understand what I was feeling. This completely shifted my perspective.
The impact was so profound that it inspired me to become a Rolfing® practitioner. Through continued education, I also became a Feldenkrais® practitioner and a hypnotherapist. Today, I’m honored to use this knowledge to help others achieve a better connection between their body, mind, and emotions. This holistic integration helps them alleviate chronic pain, improve posture, and enhance self-image.
As Gabor Maté puts it:
"The essence of trauma is a disconnection from ourselves. Trauma are not the terrible things that happen from the other side - those are traumatic. Trauma is the very separation from the body and emotions"
Denis Shimada
Basically, anyone who believes in the body-mind-emotion connection and would like to improve one or more aspects of this trio, as a way to improve the whole. This may include people who:
suffer from non-specific chronicle pain.
would like to improve their posture.
feel disconnected from themselves.
are looking for ways to work on their self esteem.
"Beneath every behavior there is a feeling. And beneath each feeling there is a need. When we meet that need rather than focus on the behavior, we begin to deal with the cause, not the symptom."
If your perception of what bothers you is primarily physical: Felt Sense Way
people usually come here with: non-specific chronicle pain, postural related discomfort, reduced mobility, a general sense of tightness in the body
the initial integrative process consists of 10 sessions (we'll work the whole body, each session on different parts. The aim is to achieve a more organised and integrated whole)
based primarely on manipulation, movement and body awareness
exploration of sensations felt through the body (sense of weight, volume, length, support)
methods used: Rolfing® and Feldenkrais®
If it is more of an emotional nature: Hypnotherapy Way
people come because of: low self steem, depression, sense of disconnection from oneself and others, trauma, fobias.
Process:
free 25 minutes consultation
treatment session (approximately 3 hours)
follow up session (approximately 45 minutes)
Regardless of the way your process begins though, it is common for people to eventually venture the other way as well. Afterall, life is dynamic and things happen. But as long as we have tools to help us navigate, we can come out the other way not "fixed", but better integrated.
** I am not nor do I claim to be a psychologist or psychiatrist. My approach is based on knowledge of somatic education, body work therapy and hypnotherapy.
*** At the moment I am only accepting new clients for a study case project to collect feedback on the methodology. ***
I am selecting candidates to go through the process, with a symbolic voluntary contribution. The contribution doesn't have a minimum value because it has less to do with money and more to do with providing the opportunity for the candidate to give back for the service provided and, in this way, balance the professional relationship.
To participate the ideal candidates must:
be interested and open to new experiences, available and willing to connect to their body sensations, have something that they want to change or improve (physical or emotional posture, non specific choronicle pain, self image).
commit to the process (from 1 to 10 sessions, depending on my evalutation of the case).
give feedback after each session.
give a testimonial after the end of the process, if able to acknowledge any benefit.
If you are interested and fulfill the requirements, please apply by expressing your preference for the bodywork approach or the hypnotherapy.
Location: will be informed after the selection but a point of reference is the Memorial Park, Calgary.
To make an appointment, please, fill in this form here.
"I was born with a congenital malformation in my feet that left me with permanent impairments in my legs and body. It was always very uncomfortable for me to perform simple everyday activities like walking, specially barefoot, or to have a general sense of balance. I always felt as if I were using a body that someone had given to me, poorly adapted to my own self.
But after the very first session, I was able to feel balance like never before, to the point where I could put on my pants without the need of any support! I could walk barefoot feeling pleasure instead of pain. And I now feel that my body is the right size for me and that it serves my purposes. I no longer feel it like a prison that I must bear. Instead, I feel comfort, safety, strength, balance and pleasure in it.
It changed my life! I am eternally grateful to Denis for putting his knowledge and professionalism in the service of my process. I'd recommend it to anyone."
Juliana
"... by learning to pay attention to the sensations in my body I also learned how to deal with certain situations that used to cause me anxiety.
In some public situations I would feel so anxious that my own physical body would restrict my actions. It was as if my body had a mind of its own. Through this process, I now feel that I am in charge."
Thiago
If you would like to offer my services to your patients, clients, staff or community, let's connect and talk!
I'm always interested in meeting new people, exchanging ideas and learning new ones. Drop me a message here and let's grab coffee sometime.