Lori A. Parker, GCFP, SEP, Ph.D.
Dr. Lori Parker has been involved in teaching, spiritual counseling, and helping others to heal since 1985. She is not a psychotherapist. She is a Guild Certified Feldenkrais Practitioner®, a Somatic Experiencing Practitioner®, and an ordained Zen Buddhist Priest. She was the owner and Chief Instructor of her own private Aikido Dojo for over 35 years. She retired from Aikido in June 2021.
Dr. Parker's training in the Somatic Experiencing Method is extensive. She had the good fortune of doing her Beginning Level and Intermediate Level Training with Senior Faculty Member Raja Selvam. And she completed her Advanced Level Training with Dr. Peter Levine, Founder of the Somatic Experiencing Method, and Kathy Kain, Senior Faculty Member.
Additionally, Dr. Parker has completed 7 Advanced Courses:
- Depression, Aggression, Breath, & Triumph with Dr. Peter Levine
- Somato Typing & Body Reading: The Interplay between Shock & Developmental Trauma with Dr. Peter Levine
- Touch Skills Training with Kathy Kain
- Developmental Shock Trauma Training with Dr. Raja Selvam
- Integral Somatic Psychology with Dr. Raja Selvam
- Shame, Guilt, Energy, & Identity with Dr. Larry Heller
- Working with Clients Whose Access to Sensation is Compromised with Dr. Larry Heller
She has assisted in 52 Beginning and Intermediate Modules of the SE Training Program (with Senior Faculty Members Dr. Raja Selvam, Dr. Larry Heller, Maggie Kline, and Gina Ross). She has also assisted in 14 Advanced Level Modules (with Dr. Peter Levine and Senior Faculty Members Dr. Raja Selvam and Kathy Kain).
After a series of physical trauma, including being struck by a car (as a pedestrian), Dr. Parker experienced such excruciating pain that she had to be packed in ice for much of the day in order to be able to conduct martial arts instruction in the evening. Severe headaches, as well as muscle spasms in her back, neck, and shoulders continued to reduce her physical abilities. She was unable to lie comfortably in any position.
During the four-year training program in the Feldenkrais Method®, the daily pain dissipated and her ability to function without physical pain was restored. Somatic Experiencing® furthered her progress by healing the deeper effects of shock trauma.
Her expression and application of the Somatic Experiencing® method is informed not only by her own extensive formal training, but also by her own extensive rehabilitation process.
She has authored two articles for the Somatic Experiencing Community: Polyvagal Theory: What Is It And Why Should We Care? and Shock Trauma, Autonomic Nervous System Dysfunction And Autoimmune Syndromes: What's The Connection? Additionally, she has co-authored two articles with Somatic Experiencing Faculty Member Dr. Raja Selvam. These articles are titled A Note On Working With Anger In The Context Of An SE Session and Working Around Developmental Defenses In SE Sessions.