Meet Suzanne Snijder van Wissenkerke of Integrative Bodywork in Claremont

Today we’d like to introduce you to Suzanne Snijder van Wissenkerke.

Suzanne, please share your story with us. How did you get to where you are today?
Moving to the Los Angeles area in the 1990s with my young family, I didn’t have any contacts, support network, or career path. Although I had lived a few years in Asia and Europe during my 20s, returning to the US, now married and with a child, felt disorienting. To try something different, I signed up for an evening massage class. From that first class, I learned to trust my hands and listen. I worked part-time in massage at an athletic club while our kids were little and kept following more courses.

Great, so let’s dig a little deeper into the story – has it been an easy path overall and if not, what were the challenges you’ve had to overcome?
I loved the neuromuscular training so much that I studied and became certified in it. Working with structural alignment was initially gratifying, as I got to exercise my new skills, relieve people’s musculoskeletal pain. But when some clients returned week after week with a pain pattern repeating and not resolving, I felt frustrated. Thus began my exploration into the gentler, facilitative approaches of body therapy.

We’d love to hear more about your practice.
My current practice integrates the Somatic Experiencing (SE) approach with supportive contact (or self-touch, when working via video during COVID-19 times) and my other bodywork tools. In the SE approach, we’re working directly with the nervous system to encourage self-regulation or balance. Many of my clients are seeking help with dysregulated systems expressed as anxiety, depression, fibromyalgia, IBS, chronic pain or dissociative patterns.

In my role as a body therapist, though we will of course chat, I do not interpret or counsel but help contain so that physiological shifts emerge organically. My practice is facilitative, which differentiates it from physical therapy, which is primarily manipulative, and from psychotherapy, often analytical and primarily cognitive/emotional. I do prefer to work as a team with clients’ other health professionals and will refer out often.

Is there a characteristic or quality that you feel is essential to success?
Listening.

Pricing:

• Somatic Experiencing session (60 min) $100.
• Somatic Experiencing session (90 min) $135.

Contact Info:

• Address: 114 N. Indian Hill Blvd., Claremont CA 91711
• Website: https://integrativebodyworkclaremont.com
• Phone: 9092398313
• Email: [email protected]

Image Credit:
Jessica Chang

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