Restoring Resilience

Berns Galloway began his professional career as an elementary teacher in Canada before transitioning to psychotherapeutic group work, where he studied humanistic approaches and bodywork, earning a Master's degree from the University of Victoria in 1995. His career has included working as a mental health therapist in a non-profit agency, training and supervising volunteers and graduate students, and maintaining a private practice. Since discovering Somatic Experiencing (SE) in 2000, he has integrated SE bodywork into his therapeutic practice, enhancing its effectiveness. His early experiences working with First Nations peoples on Vancouver Island deeply influenced his appreciation for the somatic work's organic nature and the importance of connection. Berns now teaches SE Professional Training in the US and Canada, continually inspired by the richness of the SE approach.

Maggie Kline has been a marriage, family and child therapist for nearly 40 years and is a retired school psychologist. Originally trained in Satir’s Family Systems, Gestalt, and Humanistic Psychology, she specializes in trauma recovery through the lens of Somatic Experiencing and embodied mindfulness. Maggie integrates S.E. concepts with art, dream work, movement, and attachment play when working with children and teens. She is a senior Somatic Experiencing instructor for SEI www.traumahealing.org teaching internationally and creator of Conscious Connections PlayShops. Maggie co-authored Trauma through a Child’s Eyes: Awakening the Ordinary Miracle of Healing (2007) and Trauma Proofing Your Kids: A Parents’ Guide to Instilling Confidence, Joy and Resilience (2008) with Dr. Peter A. Levine. Her latest book, Brain-Changing Strategies to Trauma-Proof Our Schools: A Heart-Centered Movement for Wiring Well-Being (2020) is intended to inspire an evolutionary shift to relieve trauma and stress in communities and cultivate a culture of kindness.

A Licensed Clinical Professional Counselor and Registered Yoga Teacher (RYT500), this Jamaican-born practitioner’s journey to teaching Somatic Experiencing (SE) is both unique and inspiring. From her early interest in dance and yoga—sparked by her father's practice and her own curiosity—she cultivated a deep connection to her body. This connection grew through studies in West African, modern, and Caribbean dance, and later through yoga and meditation training during her decade-long career in Corporate Information Technology. Her counseling studies introduced her to Sensorimotor Psychotherapy, Yoga for Anxiety and Depression, and Trauma-Sensitive Yoga. A serendipitous encounter with Ariel Giarretto's SE introduction, coupled with a poignant realization about her own life, ignited her passion for SE. Now based in Chicago, her integrative private practice blends SE, Sensorimotor Psychotherapy, yoga, DBT, and somatic touch, supported by humor and personal engagement with clients. She also mentors BIPOC practitioners and supervises counseling interns at the Chicago Women’s Health Center. She is a mother to a college student and a high school senior.