Spring BodyTalk

30/06/2025

Also noteworthy, I have a specialization in working with people living with all forms of diabetes

30/06/2025

I haven’t been in touch for a long time, but I wanted to let you know where I am before Spring BodyTalk disappears completely!

COVID marked a turning point in many areas of my life, including my work. Over the past few years, I pursued a Master’s in Counselling Psychology to learn about comprehensive and integrative mental health care. As a licensed counsellor, I now offer ethical, steady support through moments of emotional intensity and everyday challenges.

I am constantly in awe of how the therapeutic relationship invites healing, growth, and self-awareness. I welcome people interested in exploring identity, transitions, neuro-functioning, multiculturalism, grief, anxiety, and caregiving. I also work with kids, teens, and couples. Sessions often combine conversation, art, and somatics tailored to individual needs.

Practically speaking, my services are covered by many private insurance plans in most provinces and territories.

You can read more about my approach here: https://www.valleyinnerspace.ca/erica-desousa

I'm not sure what will happen with this page, but I'll be phasing out my Spring Bodytalk email. You can reach me at [email protected] with any questions.

30/04/2023

I've been learning about the neurobiology of trauma and this need for escape.

Current culture often exacerbates shame and self reproach for not doing better, but there is a more compassionate way to resolve trauma and live all in.

23/04/2023

I'm on a break from school and have time for distance sessions. Lately, I've been contemplating:

* decolonizing health care, education, and society in general because while privilege in a (post) colonial system makes life easier for some and harder for others, it does nothing to truly support the growth and evolution of humanity. (If the system doesn't work for everyone, it works for no one).

* Traumatic events have lasting impacts when we experience it alone. Healing trauma happens in relationship. Our culture rarely values or facilitates deep, supportive relationships, yet we are alway intuitively trying to find our way back to them for everyone's sake.

* The messaging women have received for centuries about how and who to be in order to be safe runs wide and deep. Stepping out of that quicksand takes bravery, courage, and many hands pulling you up on to stable footing.

* Embracing the changes of midlife offers amazing opportunities for the lessons and growth of the previous decades to become precious gifts and acts of service in the world.

Let me know if you want to connect and see what we can work on together 💚

02/03/2023

My first ski of the season, made possible in part by the expert needling of Shannon Reynolds - Acupuncture who helped open up my lungs so I could breath more deeply and metabolize oxygen and qi. My spleen was stimulated to help remove aquired burdens that obscure my ability to understand my own needs. And then the small intestine received the support to prioritize my needs, which this morning was intense activity, fresh air, and open space. And communicating with all of you folks 😊

Check out Shannon and thank you for supporting women doing important, exceptional work in a health paradigm dominated by patriarchal and colonial ideas of wellness and healing.

18/02/2023

Hi folks, I contracted hard this winter to get better acquainted with a part of myself that is ever curious and interested in the circumstances of life, without attachment and without taking it personally. It left very little time for sessions and clients.

As spring unfurls, I have a bit of space, time, and excitement for recorded distance sessions if anyone has interest in working together through BodyTalk-ish sessions. My work is constantly evolving, recognizable yet expanded in what I experience as more complex, comprehensive, and integral ways.

I'd love to hear from you!

01/12/2022

Yesterday marked the end of my time on Little Road in Wolfville. I loved being part of a multidisciplinary space with practitioners full of integrity and heart. When I am ready for a new space, my standards are going to be very high!

For now, I am happily offering distance or outdoor sessions as time allows between studies and family.

Big shout out to Jenn, who has stuck with me through all of my clinic spaces, and even connected me to the wonderful community at The Lifehouse. She also has the foresight to take photos to mark occasions 📷, in this case her birthday!

02/10/2022

Canadian followers- please help us remove tax from mental health services provided by counsellors which increases accessibility for all.

Among providers of mental health services in Canada, Counselling Therapists/Psychotherapists are the only mental health professionals required to charge GST/HST. Get Rid of This Tax Today!

04/01/2022

As we enter 2022, how will you approach your stressor? We are a culture living in distraction, not a new phenomenon but much easier in the age of cell phones and screens. From the article:

"Mindfulness is a form of meditation that really is the cultivation of intimacy with awarenes"

Cultivating intimacy with awareness. If I need to have a resolution, that would be it 😊

It's counterintuitive, but an effective way to manage our negative reactions to life's stressors actually involves slowing down and paying very close attention. Jon Kabat-Zinn, the founder of mindfulness-based stress reduction, explains how to begin a meditation practice — and how doing so can hel...

19/07/2021

All true 💚

Still practicing in Wolfville and online 💚

We have some bitter-sweet news to share with our Lifehouse community. Erica de Sousa, our BodyTalk Practitioner, will be reducing her work commitments as she embarks on a Master's Degree. Her last day at The Lifehouse will be Wednesday July 21 st. Erica has been a vital part of The Lifehouse Family for many years offering incredibly insightful BodyTalk sessions to our Practice Members. We prefer to think of Erica's departure as more of a hiatus or sabbatical and wish her all the best in her future endeavors. We are very much looking forward to when her path, once again, crosses with The Lifehouse.

We believe that BodyTalk is an invaluable and much loved service at The Lifehouse and, with Erica's guidance, we are in the process of sourcing another BodyTalk Practitioner to join our team in the very near future.

24/06/2021

Sending a huge thank you to my clients who showed up in my office yesterday with the courage to be curious, vulnerable and brave. It was a phenomenal day of sacred self discovery and I am forever grateful for the privilege of being a part of it with you.

💚 🙏