Celia Neustadt is a Somatic & Systemic Family Constellation Practitioner and assistant teacher at Family Constellations: Journey to the Heart. Her mission is to help individuals and groups heal through connection to their bodies. She specializes in working with individuals battling emotional and physiological symptoms rooted in trauma. This includes: chronic pain, auto-immune conditions, PTSD, sexual dysfunction, chronic depression & anxiety, and disordered eating. She also specializes in working with individuals and practitioners experiencing talk-therapy fatigue, who are curious about the magic of somatics.

She brings over a decade of study and practice to this work after healing her own debilitating chronic health symptoms. In addition to her core modalities, she weaves Parts & Inner-Child work, energetics, earth-based healing, and emotional release. Celia holds a BA in Sociology from Pomona College and is pursuing an MSW from the University of Buffalo. She has received Glamour Magazine’s Woman of the Year award and the Napier Award for Creative Leadership, and her work has been featured by the Aspen Institute, Woodstock Radio, Mother Jones, and BuzzFeed.

Celia lives in the Hudson Valley with her partner, dog and kitty after traveling the world in pursuit of her own inner truth. Celia fills up her cup by talking to plants, running trails, perusing local farmers markets and dancing under the stars.

Masters in Social Work at University of Buffalo (in progress)

Somatic Experiencing International, Beginner I, II, & III (in progress)

Family Constellation Practitioner & Teacher at Journey to the Heart with Marilene Metzler (2022-2025)

Yoga Alliance 200 hr YTT with Dan Ward (2021)

Qigong and Taoist Tantra with Mantak Chia (2017-2021)

Herbalism and naturalism, apprenticeship with Desi

Trauma happens when the nervous system is overwhelmed by an experience that is too much, too fast, or too soon, sending the body into the freeze response. For many reasons which we can explore together, the body can get stuck in freeze. Somatic Experiencing (SE) facilitates the completion of the nervous system’s stress response by tracking sensations within the body. Somatic Experiencing is singular in its ability to work slowly and safely with trauma, allowing the body to deactivate the stress response and return to a regulated state. SE is ideal for those who have not been able to find relief through talk therapy. SE helps individuals working to heal acute and developmental trauma as well as pain and chronic health symptoms that are trauma related.

What a session looks like:‍ 
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We begin with creating a safe container through grounding and orienting practices, learning how to track sensations and activation patterns. As client, you would then be invited to share the issue you are bringing. From there, we pick a point to focus on–either a bodily sensation or an experience. Then we invite the experience into the body to the extent it feels safe. Next–through gentle and grounding guidance–I will help your nervous system have a new experience of going towards the scary moment in a way that feels safe and then coming out the other side, through the deactivation of the stress response. One of the core principles of this work is that the body is the guide, meaning whatever is present in the body is the invitation to healing (even if the logical brain doesn’t understand the direct connection). Clients can expect to learn how to regulate their nervous system, move from an activated to a deactivated state, release stored trauma and tension, process stuck emotions, and self soothe.

Systemic Family Constellations is an experiential modality that helps us see the unseen forces keeping us from thriving. We look at the origin of deep-seeded patterns, intractable symptoms and rooted beliefs. This modality is ideal for those wanting to free themselves from intergenerational patterns of trauma. It’s particularly useful for those who may not know about their ancestry. It can bring resolution to those experiencing difficulty related to complex family dynamics like adoption, estrangement, developmental trauma, loss & grief, miscarriage/abortion and mysterious health symptoms.

Constellation work is soul work, guided by the heart’s desire. Once the heart’s desire has been identified, we connect with the Field to receive information in the form of sensations and signs. The Field, Knowing Field, Morphogenetic Field is the energy that is all around us, inside us, throughout all time. The Field helps us to see something in a new way and shows us where a shift is possible. We may use objects to represent people, parts, places or energies and place them in a constellation to see a fuller picture of the issue. After we see something in a new way, sentences of the soul are offered to facilitate a movement to bring your intention into reality.

Because Family Systemic Constellation Therapy is an experiential modality, it is quite complex. I have recorded a longer form video to explain more, which you can watch here.

What a session looks like:

We begin with an interview to hone the issue you are bringing. I will ask you questions about your issue to build the energy of the Field. I am feeling for the place in which the energy is electric because that is an indication that the energy is ready to shift. Then we will begin the constellation. I will invite you to choose objects to represent people in your family. You will place these objects in front of you. Depending on how you place the objects–direction and proximity–we will develop a hypothesis about what the Field is revealing.

I will offer Sentences of the Soul for you say out loud to help see what has not been seen. There is often great emotional catharsis simply in seeing. Then, I may guide you in a Movement of Soul to make your heart’s desire manifest.

Examples include: If someone has taken on a role that is not theirs, we will give it back. If someone is trying to solve something for someone in their family, we bow to their fate. If a child has stepped into a parental role, we help the child be small again. If a deep trauma occurred–that prevented a child from having their needs met–we create a new somatic imprint by allowing the child to reach out and have their needs met now. Sometimes movement is not what is needed but acceptance of one’s fate. This can bring great peace as well. Each constellation will come to a natural closing point when the energy dissipates and it’s clear to all that the work is complete.

In an integrative somatic session, clients have access to my full range of somatic modalities: Somatic Experiencing, Family Constellations, Parts & Inner-Child work, energetics, earth-based healing, emotional release, and life-force activation pleasure practices.

This session is ideal for the client who intuits they would benefit from a body-based approach to the challenges they face. This type of session is also helpful for clients who want to learn a specific somatic tool to integrate into their lives. I recommend this type of session for clients who are curious to explore somatics but don’t know exactly what would be supportive.

What a session looks like:

We begin with conversation so I can learn a little about your curiosities and challenges. Then I will share with you what kind of somatic practices I think could be helpful for you. We will discuss the practice and I will seek your consent before we begin. Then I will guide you through a somatic experience. After, there is time for discussion and reflection as well as possible recommendations for how to integrate what we’ve done into your life more fully.