Linda Thai, LMSW
Hello from Linda Thai!
There’s 5 minutes left in a session with your client, who has been on and off disregulated throughout your time together. You’re concerned about them leaving the session in that state, but what can you do?
If that’s at all familiar, my course with Academy of Therapy Wisdom will change how you approach those situations…
In it I teach practical, body-based techniques to help your clients regulate their nervous systems and leave sessions feeling calm and in control.
These techniques will work for you too-in your personal life, and in those precious moments between sessions when it’s so important for you to practice self-care and work to regulate your own nervous system.
This course, Somatic Hacks for Calming the Nervous System, offers simple, effective tools you can start using right away.
In this workshop, you’ll move beyond theory and learn body-based therapy hacks that work in real time to calm the nervous system, regulate emotions, and complete the stress response cycle.
Whether you’re a therapist, counselor, or healer, these techniques are designed to be easy to learn and easy to teach, helping both you and your clients build resilience and foster emotional well-being.
I promise you that when you start putting these life-changing hacks to work for you and your clients, you’ll be amazed at how easy self-regulation can be!
Introduction
This course takes for granted that you already know about polyvagal theory and the window of capacity, and that you’re just looking for more tools to add to your toolbox.
Through the tools Linda will teach you, you’ll learn how to empower yourself and your clients to get to know themselves and what works for them.
Vestibular Engagement for Emotional Regulation
When trauma narrows our ability to engage with the world, intentional movement such as swaying side to side tells the brain it’s safe to expand. This module teaches how vestibular engagement can unlock joy, release tension, and re-activate the social engagement system. Without understanding the power of movement, clients may remain trapped in patterns of rigidity and stillness, unable to explore new possibilities for connection.
Using the Eyes to Hack the Stress Response System
Learn how small, intentional eye movements can signal safety to the brain, helping to overcome the narrowed vision and tension that accompany trauma. This module demonstrates how to gently guide clients into trusting stillness and reconnecting with their bodies. Without these techniques, clients often remain caught in hyper-vigilance, unable to relax or focus.
Making Sounds to Release the Peri-Trauma Response
Explore the power of sound and vocalization as a way to counteract trauma’s “be quiet, stay small” narrative. This module encourages adding playfulness and experimentation to sessions, helping clients feel more at ease and better regulated. Sound-based techniques help clients that have struggled to move beyond the silence imposed by trauma.
Self-Holding and Self-Swaddling Techniques
Discover the calming effects of self-holding and self-swaddling techniques, which mimic the sensation of being soothed and supported. These tools can enhance co-regulation in therapy and promote a deep sense of safety. Therapists and clients alike may feel emotionally frayed at the end of a long day, but these techniques are restorative practices that help build resilience.
Bilateral Stimulation Techniques
Bilateral sounds and movements help clients stay grounded, keeping the prefrontal cortex engaged so they can think clearly and focus during sessions. This module shows how to use these techniques to overcome overwhelm and maintain emotional equilibrium.
Completing the Stress Response Cycle
Learn how to integrate multiple somatic hacks into a cohesive practice that helps clients complete their stress response cycles. By closing sessions with these techniques, you’ll empower your clients to leave feeling calm, centered, and ready to face the world.
Lesser-Known Breathwork Techniques for Nervous System Reset
Breathing techniques like the physiological sigh and 4-7-8 breathing offer quick and effective ways to reset the nervous system. This module provides easy-to-teach strategies for helping clients regulate their emotions through intentional breathwork. These tools are some of the simplest, most accessible ways to achieve calm.
Closing Thoughts
This final module ties everything together, emphasizing curiosity and collaboration as key components of nervous system regulation. Try one hack each week and invite clients to share their experiences, fostering a deeper connection and mutual understanding. Without this mindset of experimentation and trust, growth can feel stagnant, limiting both therapeutic progress and personal growth.
This mini-course is made up of 9 on-demand modules...
Meet Your Presenter
Linda Thai, LMSW
Linda Thai LMSW (she, her) is a trauma therapist who specializes in cutting-edge brain – and body – based modalities for the healing of complex developmental trauma. As an educator and consultant, she is gifted with the capacity to contextualize, synthesize and communicate complex and nuanced issues pertaining to the impact of oppressive systems upon identity, mental health and wellbeing, and the invisibilized wounds of racial trauma. Linda is passionate about breaking the cycle of historical and intergenerational trauma at the individual and community levels, and deeply believes in the healing power of coming together in community to grieve.
Born in Vietnam, raised in Australia, and now living in Alaska, Linda is a former child refugee who is not only redefining what it means to be Vietnamese, to be Australian, and to be a United States-ian….she is redefining what it means to be wounded and whole and a healer.
Sudha –
Linda’s teaching style is very down to earth and shows up with authenticity.She makes the strategies and learning so practical and easily implementable along with combining the science behind the why – which I so much appreciate!
Sally S. –
Linda Thai offers a broad scope of nervous system regulation strategies that are available for clients and therapists alike. These resources are an essential toolkit for individuals to explore and discover for their own benefit. Plus, the humor, joy and authenticity Linda extends makes it a pleasure to watch!
Michelle –
Just learning from Linda calms my nervous system.