Hello!
I help adults and children achieve their optimal physical health and emotional wellbeing.
My Story
My young adult years were mired by involuntary commitment, addiction and incarceration because of the impact of childhood trauma on the development of my brain and nervous system. In uncharted territory, I forged my way to mental wellness and physical health. Years into my professional career as a body and brain Therapist, I suffered a traumatic brain injury, which caused a recurrence of mental and emotional instability. In my compromised state, rather than being treated by a neurologist, I was once again involuntarily committed to a psychiatric hospital. After securing my release and accessing care for my brain and nervous system from a CranioSacral colleague, I was able to return to light work duties a mere five days later. My experience with that hospitalization and recovery from brain injury drove me to become an author. It’s my mission to support others on their journey to wellness through treatment and education on the interconnectedness between physical and mental health, and the impacts of trauma on the body and brain. See BIO plus Licenses & Credentials below.
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Official Bio
Before studying Therapy, Patricia took a five-year vow of poverty to volunteer with underserved communities, in Peace Corps Ghana and then with AmeriCorps VISTA on Indian reservations stateside as well as in Appalachia. By the time she entered the work force as a chemical analyst, her history of childhood trauma was beginning to catch up with her. Since her preteens, Patricia had been treated with psychopharmaceuticals and talk Therapy. Although these interventions kept her alive, she continued a downward spiral of despair, dysfunctional coping mechanisms and broken relationships. A connection with an exceptional massage therapist led her to pursue massage school. There, she experienced a paradigm shift with her introduction to CranioSacral Therapy, which opened a world of possibilities she’d never imagined for herself. With CranioSacral Therapy, other bodywork, yoga and EMDR (eye movement desensitization reprograming) she began healing trauma at its roots in the body, releasing the destructive emotions she’d been carrying along with the physical tolls she’d believed were permanent. Patricia holds Diplomate and Techniques certifications through the Upledger Institute International, where she’s an advanced preceptor, teaching assistant and was invited to serve as a Primary Therapist at the international Alzheimer’s Research Intensive Therapy programs of 2018-19. She also serves as a Primary Therapist at group Therapy programs for Integrative Intentions. To help bridge the gap between physical and mental health care, Patricia also earned her Certificate in Traumatic Stress Studies from the Trauma Research Foundation. A graduate of Marshall University, she holds professional licenses in West Virginia as well as Florida and Ohio. Patricia is a four-time nationally ranked USA Yoga athlete. She is the owner of Body Smarts in Charleston, West Virginia, where she lives with her wife, Rose Ayoob, MD, in their home overlooking lush forests in the Kanawha Valley. She enjoys white water rafting, kayaking, hiking, biking, making music, dancing and any opportunities the Universe provides for a rich human experience.
Licenses & Certifications
West Virginia State License
Certificate in Traumatic Stress Studies | Trauma Research Institute
Florida State License
Techniques Certified | Upledger Institute International
Ohio State License
Diplomate Certified | Upledger Institute International
CRANIOSACRAL CERTIFICATIONS | The Upledger Institute International oversees two levels of certification. Patricia C. Rogers, CST-D earned her Techniques Certification in 2014 and her Diplomate Certification in 2016. The first level, Techniques Certification, ensures a keen understanding of anatomy, physiology and CranioSacral Therapy techniques. This certification requires successful completion of essay, objective and practical exams to demonstrate knowledge and proper practice of techniques. The advanced level, Diplomate Certification, ensures proficiency in the practice of SomatoEmotional techniques including Therapeutic Imagery & Dialogue. This involved certification process includes another tier of essay, objective and practical exams, documentation of case studies, preceptorship, and academic presentation or publication.
TRAUMA CERTIFICATION | Patricia earned her Certificate in Traumatic Stress Studies from the Trauma Research Foundation to help bridge the gap between physical and mental health care. Led by renowned psychiatrist Bessel Van der Kolk, MD it features 25 of today's leading trauma experts. This training, primarily geared toward talk therapists, covers the roots of trauma in the body, as well as the impacts trauma has on brain function.
MEDICAL LICENSURES | Upledger CranioSacral studies may be pursued by practitioners with a variety of educational backgrounds and manual licensures including massage therapists, physical therapists, occupational therapists, acupuncturists, chiropractors, nurses, midwives, psychotherapits, doctors of osteopathy and medical doctors. CranioSacral Therapists most commonly hail from massage therapy backgrounds because of their highly developed palpation skills. Patricia holds active massage therapy licenses in West Virginia (2018-3650) Ohio (33.022034) and Florida (MA 57039).
ABOUT CRANIOSACRAL THERAPY
The advanced practice of CranioSacral therapy (CST) may be supportive for any number of physical, neurological and emotional conditions and is designed to improve both physical and emotional wellness. CST works to relieve tension and enhance function of all the systems of the body, including musculoskeletal, immune, digestive, endocrine, neurological, and specifically the brain and spinal cord. This non-invasive, light touch therapy fosters a profound sense of safety, supporting the rest-and-digest branch of the nervous system while lowering fight-flight-freeze response, allowing for the release of strain patterns throughout the body’s tissues and, when appropriate, facilitates the release of destructive emotions the body tends to hold onto. Because CST fosters safety and relaxation, it is uniquely suited to address traumas, no matter how large or small, at their roots in the body. So, how does this uproot old traumas from the body? Sometimes, the memories of negative experiences get stuffed down. It’s human nature to stuff down emotions associated with negative experiences, so we can get on with life. For some people, this happens because of Big-T-Traumas that make headline-worthy news stories. For everyone else, this happens because of the little-t-traumas we all experience, like the heartache of your parents’ divorce, or that fender bender that gave you whiplash. Over time, traumatic memories stored in the body become destructive, leaving us in pain, both emotionally and physically. That's where the advanced practice of CST comes in, a natural extension of CST called SomatoEmotional Release (SER). When underlying emotional baggage puts a strain on the body, SER helps bridge the gap between physical and emotional health care. By supporting a deep sense of safety and relaxation during a CST session, emotions may naturally begin to percolate to the surface. When this happens, emotions may be discharged, which helps restore the tissues of the body, and especially the nervous system, to greater balance. The use of imagery techniques may be employed, when therapeutically appropriate, to help the mind connect more deeply with the body and assist in the SER process. To date, the Upledger Institute International supports 132,000 manual therapists in 122 countries.
IS THIS MENTAL HEALTH CARE?
Our culture draws an artificial line in the sand between physical health care and mental health care. For decades, pioneers from both sides of the divide have been working to close that gap. For example, from the field of talk therapy comes: •Sensorimotor Psychotherapy of Pat Ogden •Somatic Experiencing of Peter Levine From the other side of the divide, a surgeon developed: •SomationEmotional release (SER)®—the advanced practice of CranioSacral Therapy (CST) of Dr. John Upledger Dr. John Upledger was ahead of his time in understanding the ways trauma impacts the body. Decades before the publication of The Body Keeps the Score, a book that is revolutionizing mental health care, Dr. Upledger was running clinics for Vietnam veterans, treating them with this body-based therapy. Upledger’s holistic approach to patient care drew on his background as an osteopathic physician and surgeon in combination with his study of acupuncture and psychology, especially the work of Fritz Perls, Carl Jung, Robert Assagiaoli, and Robert Johnson. SER techniques were developed from an amalgam of his studies and experiences. With a combination of CST and SER techniques, Dr. Upledger treated physical and emotional conditions alike from neurologic disorders and orthopedic injuries to post-traumatic stress disorder. SER is a valuable component of the advanced practice of CST. Though these techniques were developed based on principals from the field of psychology, they are used for the express purpose of facilitating release in the tissues of the body. There is no agenda for verbal communication beyond facilitating the body’s sense of safety and improvements in structure and function of the tissues of the body. Patricia C. Rogers, CST-D does not counsel or give medical advice, personal recommendations, or interpretations of client experiences, nor does she diagnose or prescribe. Although our medical system continues to separate physical health care and mental health care, the advanced practice of CST simultaneously addresses emotional trauma and the physical body.