Angela Ollswang

Trauma Responsive Embodiment Facilitator

Kia ora, weIcome, and thank you for visiting my website! I am a TCTSY Facilitator, Mindfulness Instructor, and Trainee/Student Counsellor.

I support groups and individuals as they navigate recovery from PTSD/CPTSD, anxiety, depression, grief, and general life stress through the facilitation of evidence-based, adjunctive treatment modalities that have been shown to enhance the mind-body connection. This often takes the form of therapeutic group facilitation, and individual sessions.

I also provide training and workshops for practitioners and organisations that are interested in implementing trauma-informed best practices to better support their clients, staff, or other stake-holders.

Please feel free to reach out with any questions by sending an email to: angelazaunollswang@gmail.com.

About me:

I am a fully certified Trauma Center Trauma Sensitive Yoga Facilitator (TCTSY-F). I undergo a yearly recertification process to receive my annual practising certificate through the Justice Research Institute’s Center for Trauma & Embodiment in Boston, MA. Previously living in Mni Sota Makoce / Minneapolis, Minnesota in the states, I now reside in Te Whanganui-a-Tara/ Welly with my family while pursuing another degree in Counselling and Addictions Practice. I have additional training in meditation, mindful self-compassion, restorative yoga, and other mind-body practices.

I love outdoor activities, hanging out with my tamariki, enjoying a good coffee & a donut, and tending to my medicinal herb garden.

Experience in Clinical & Therapeutic Settings:

I have eight years of experience in clinical settings designing and facilitating trauma-informed group and individual sessions for clients receiving mental healthcare, and currently facilitate trauma-responsive movement group sessions for Whakamātūtū ‘s therapeutic day programme.

Back in the states, I was honoured to provide Mind-Body & Movement groups at North Memorial’s Mental Health and Addiction Care Center in their Therapeutic Skills Partial Hospitalisation Programme, and their Trauma-Focused Intensive Outpatient Programme. I also led somatic therapy groups at The Redleaf Centre for Healing in their Day Hospital and Perinatal Outpatient Program, working with mothers who were receiving treatment for perinatal mood disorders.

Collaborating with the Center for Victims of Torture to facilitate groups for refugees and individuals seeking asylum at their Healing Clinic has been a highlight of my career thus far, and I also brought TCTSY to individuals recovering from disordered eating and substance use/addictions through my work at Reed Healthcare.

I really enjoyed co-facilitating anxiety-focused therapy groups at Wild Tree Wellness & Psychotherapy.

I am also a co-founder of Terra Firma.

Additionally, I have over 12 years of non-clinical experience teaching mind-body practices to participants from all walks of life in various settings, including corporate offices, for charitable organisations, and with the elderly in aged-care facilities.

More about TCTSY:

Trauma Center Trauma Sensitive Yoga is an evidence based, adjunctive clinical treatment for Complex Trauma and Posttraumatic Stress Disorder that was developed by Bessel van der Kolk, David Emerson & Jennifer Turner in collaboration with The Trauma Center in Brookline, MA. TCTSY has foundations in trauma theory, attachment theory, neuroscience, and hatha yoga, with an emphasis on body-based yoga forms and breathing practices.

You’re welcome to read more about the robust evidence base for using TCTSY to treat CPTSD and other common forms of mental distress here: https://www.traumasensitiveyoga.com/about