my journey
I started therapy at a young age. Over many years of talk therapy, I was able to get clear on the ways in which I struggled with feeling not good enough. I was able to pinpoint how my experiences — within my family of origin and in society — conditioned me to criticize my feelings, thoughts, and needs and to believe I had to prove myself worthy of approval, connection, and love. While it was validating to name and analyze these dynamics, this cognitive approach only brought me so far in terms of shifting my sense of self and how I moved through the world. My insights from talk therapy didn’t translate into a capacity to show up differently, despite a deep yearning to.
When I began working with a somatic practitioner, I discovered how my body carried my feelings of self-doubt, smallness, and fear of displeasing others. As I tuned into my bodily sensations, I developed a capacity to witness and offer care and compassion to the wounds in my being at a deep level. By learning to be with and honor my physical experience, my body responded by releasing patterns of tension and creating space for me to inhabit myself with more ease, wholeness, and strength.
Since 2015, somatic work has opened up new possibilities in how I perceive, interact with, and relate to myself, others, and my environment. I’m tremendously grateful for the transformations somatic inquiry has ignited in my life. And, I am still a work in progress, as we all are.
I hope to collaborate with you in cultivating a gentle, curious, and compassionate self-awareness of your own body and its wisdom. I invite you to read what I shared about somatics in this PhillyVoice article.
~Mariana Pardes
training & education
I draw from a variety of somatic modalities, principles, and applied skills including the Rubenfeld Synergy Method/Transformative Touch, polyvagal theory, Somatic Experiencing, generative somatics, parts work, nervous system tracking and capacity-building, and neurophysiology of stress and trauma. I have participated in the following trainings/programs:
Transformative Touch/Rubenfeld Synergy Method through the Somatic Therapy Center (Philadelphia, PA), a somatic bodywork modality that integrates the Alexander Technique, Feldenkrais Method, and Gestalt Therapy, L1, 2018-2019
“The Power of Embodied Transformation” through the Strozzi Institute / Coaches Rising with Staci Haines, Alta Starr, Nathaniel Shara, & others, 2020
Movement for Trauma with Jane Clapp & Kai Cheng Thom, L1, 2021
Somatic Embodiment & Regulation Strategies with Linda Thai, L1-L3, 2022
Internal Family Systems (IFS) Basics Course with Bonnie Weiss plus ongoing practice sessions, 2022-2023
Mitsui Collective Kollel, Cohort Two, focused on embodied, anti-oppressive Jewish practice in community, 2022-2023
Somatic Trauma Therapy Training with Babette Rothschild, 2022-2023
Wounds Into Wisdom: Breaking the Cycle of Intergenerational Trauma with Tirzah Firestone, 2024
Prior to stepping into my current role as a somatic practitioner, I previously worked as a social researcher, educator, and community organizer on projects and issues relevant to LGBTQIA+, Latine, Jewish, and low-income communities. I hold an M.A. in Latin American & Caribbean Studies from New York University and a B.A. from Swarthmore College.
I am currently pursuing a Master of Education (M.Ed.) in Counseling Psychology at Temple University, with the intention of pursuing licensure as a Licensed Professional Counselor (LPC). Please note that at this time I am not a licensed mental health professional and I do not provide psychological or medical diagnoses, advice, or services.
specializations
I connect well with folks navigating anxiety, adult survivors of childhood emotional abuse (especially narcissistic parents), folks navigating complex trauma/c-ptsd, artists & creative folks, adult children of immigrant parents, highly sensitive people (HSPs) and neurodivergent folks, queer and trans people, Jews, and/or folks who are guided by anti-oppressive and liberatory values and practices. I tend to be a good fit for folks who rely upon adaptive strategies such as people-pleasing, perfectionism, over-achieving, chronic emotional caretaking of others, consistently deferring to the preferences and desires of others, and/or minimizing one's own needs and feelings in an effort to secure approval, connection, and/or a sense of security.
my lens & positionality
I am a queer, sensitive (highly sensitive person or HSP), allistic, currently able-bodied, cisgender woman in my mid-40s with access to white privilege. I was born in South America and raised in the U.S. within a class-straddling Ashkenazi Jewish-Argentine family that's experienced multiple transnational migrations, both voluntary and forced, over the past three generations. I work within the framework that we live within a myriad of intersecting systems of power, privilege, and oppression that shape our bodies, our sense of self, and our patterns of behavior, thought, and ways of relating to others. I believe that embodied practices are integral to honoring the fullness of our humanity, repairing harms we’ve experienced, and nurturing our liberation (at personal, collective, and structural levels).
land acknowledgment
I live and practice in Philadelphia, PA, which is part of the unceded territory of the Lenape peoples.
“Mariana offers such a warm, caring presence—she has a way of making you feel comfortable and seen right away. She is always curious and brings a sense of play and humor that help ease the heaviness of trauma healing. She moves with integrity and you can feel her commitment to being a thoughtful and ethical practitioner. I also recommend her audio series as a great way to start out with somatics or deepen your practice on your own time. I have learned so much from Mariana and highly suggest working with her!“
-Lena Glickman, Seedling Somatics
