Robin Dunn Bryant, Trauma-Informed Somatic Therapist in Tallahassee
Hey, y’all, I’m Robin. I’m a Registered Clinical Social Worker Intern who specializes in empowering Black women and historically marginalized people. I am a somatic counselor and use trauma-informed techniques to help them understand themselves deeply and create healthy, fulfilling relationships.
I love working with clients who want to heal from interpersonal and intergenerational trauma and break generational curses.
I have provided trauma-informed support to clients for over a decade and have expertise in several somatic techniques, including Trauma Release Exercises (TRE), yoga, meditation, reiki, and breathwork.
What I love most about working with my clients is helping them focus on healing the mind and the body.
I absolutely love seeing them develop a sense of groundedness and peace and noticing how the stress and trauma held in their bodies dissipates.
I don’t provide one size fits all therapy. I take my time to get to know my client’s individually and tailor my holistic approach to their unique needs.
As a Black woman therapist, I deeply understand the impact of historical, cultural, and systemic trauma on marginalized communities, particularly the Black community.
What are you passionate about as a therapist?
I am passionate about empowering women to know and understand themselves deeply so they can create and nurture their intimate relationships.
In particular, I am especially interested in women who are navigating the intersection of being a daughter and a mother and the bold women setting out to break generational curses in their families.
Bring on the people who have their heels dug in, saying this stops here!
Where Did This Passion Develop?
Let me do the obligatory (and necessary) thing here and say that my family was complicated.
My folks were pretty good parents: engaged and supportive of our efforts and progressive in their shared approach.
They were pretty good parents and terrible partners. No one knows a marriage except for the two people in it, and there’s a limit on how deeply a child can know their parents, but I’ll say without hesitation they moved through their marriage wed to their wounds.
Looking back on their relationship now, as a wife, mother, and person who helps people heal from relational trauma, I see so much more clearly.
I understand both of them in ways I never expected and can see how their childhoods shaped them and me. I also see how the work I’ve done is shifting things for my children.
I’ve been working to heal my familial trauma since I got pregnant with my oldest. First with more traditional talk therapy and then, since 2006, through talk therapy paired with somatic techniques.
I understand how confounding the healing process feels, how crucial it is to have an engaged and well-versed counselor, and how difficult it can be to navigate differing realities simultaneously.
How does my passion influence my work as a therapist?
It all started at what I call point A - yoga. When I first started practicing, I was not at all embodied or emotionally connected.
I was so numb that I didn’t realize it fully, even though I kept experimenting with things that would help me not feel so disconnected from myself.
I’d been in and out of therapy for years and knew that I was missing a crucial aspect. I found that when I began developing a yoga practice.
Not only was I paying attention to my body, how it felt in space, and the limitations it had and didn’t have, but I was also finding a sense of groundedness and peace that I’d never felt before.
I knew early on that I wanted to teach people yoga.
Actually, all of the modalities and techniques that I offer clients I’ve experienced myself.
Each time a lightbulb came on, I realized that not only did I want to learn more for myself, but I was compelled to teach others.
How do I use my passion to help others?
My training has focused my attention on the human body as it relates to the human psyche.
I have learned how to recognize stress and trauma held in the tissues, to help people begin to notice their bodies, and encourage them to find and listen to their voices.
My approach is beyond a simplistic “problem, description, solution” design.
I have the desire and ability to look into all of the factors in front of me, encapsulate the problem, and offer solution points from various angles.
This means that if we work together, I will take a holistic approach to your treatment.
In addition to talk therapy techniques, I will use somatic techniques, such as Trauma Release Exercises (TRE), yoga, meditation, and breathwork, to help clients begin to recognize what and how they are feeling, develop a sense of embodiment, and release stress or trauma held in the body.
