Embodying Self together in Presence
Workshops, Groups & Meditations with Parts Work and Somatic Practices
Welcome to Embodying Self.
A space for practitioners to slow down, turn inward, and meet themselves while staying in relationship with another.
Drawing on Internal Family Systems (IFS), Somatic Experiencing (SE), and NeuroAffective Touch (NAT), this work is grounded in a relational, body-based approach that respects the pace of the nervous system, the role of protective parts, and the unfolding of each individual.
“Embodying Self provided an exceptional learning experience for our trauma recovery team. Becoming IFS-informed has significantly enhanced our clinical work and outcomes for service users. Elise combines deep knowledge with embodied understanding, creating a rich and inspiring learning environment.”
- Sue Bell, OBE, DL (CEO and Clinical Director of Kids Inspire).
Embodying Self welcomes practitioners from their range of therapeutic and healing backgrounds, particularly those interested in the connection between mind, body, and relational processes, and are drawn to deepen both their clinical practice and their own inner experience.
These practices are explored through meditations, workshops, supervision groups and ongoing development spaces, held both in person and online.
“Working at the pace and intelligence of your system.”
Workshops
Our workshops offer an opportunity to explore embodied presence together in direct relationship with another.
Drawing on IFS and somatic practices, they create a space to follow parts in real time through the body, through contact, and through shared presence.
Workshops are held by Embodying Self, alongside guest facilitators whose work aligns with this approach.
Groups
These closed groups provide a space for ongoing learning, inner reflections and client supervision within a supportive and collaborative environment.
Through live demonstrations, shared inquiry and consultation, the work is explored together, allowing a deeper understanding of how IFS parts work unfolds in practice and personal experience.
Meditations
These groups are open to those with both IFS experience and those who are simply curious to explore their parts.
They offer a space to come together, turn inward, and gently explore the inner landscape and the aspects of Self that live within it.
Each session includes a guided 15–20 minute meditation, followed by space for reflection, journalling, and shared inquiry.
The Story
Embodying Selfwas founded by Elise Parsons and grew from a simple recognition: that meaningful healing involves the whole of our experience - Mind, Heart, and Body - held together in awareness.
Rooted in Internal Family Systems and informed by Somatic and Relational practices, this work stays close to what is actually happening within ourselves, and between us.
There is often a quiet longing for a way of being that feels more honest, more simple, more connected, more grounded.
This work supports the conditions for that to be felt, both within ourselves and in how we meet others.
“At the heart of my work is a simple intention: to create spaces where we can come together and gently arrive as we are. A space where the need to perform softens, allowing something more natural to emerge and unfold - an experience that can be then recognised, trusted, and lived in our work and daily lives.”
- Elise Parsons
Elise started her journey as a bodywork therapist in her early twenties, spending several years immersed in contemplative and meditation practice within Yogic and Buddhist monastic communities, becoming a registered Biodynamic Craniosacral Therapist in 2008. She built a highly successful practice in Bath based by placing equal value and emphasis on the body and the mind.
In pursuit of a holistic approach to trauma therapy, she was drawn to the work of Dr Peter Levine and in 2015 she qualified as a Somatic Experiencing Trauma Therapist (SEP). This led her to a deep interest in the work of Richard C Schwartz PhD, the creator of IFS, and trained with the IFS Institute, becoming a level 3 certified Internal Family Systems (IFS) practitioner, and more recently NeuroAffective Touch (NAT).
Elise was a co-founder of OneSelf Institute, bringing training to practitioners through an in-person approach.
She has supported many IFS UK training courses as a member of their senior assisting staff and was inspired to create Embodying Self to bring Parts Work and relational practices to practitioners from diverse therapeutic and healing backgrounds.
Elise is known for her warm relational approach, as well as playful sense of humour. She works alongside each person, trusting the intelligence of their own system to unfold when met with the right support.
Being a fully qualified supervisor with Centre for Supervision Training and Development(CSTD), all sessions may be counted towards UKCP and BACP annual supervision requirements.
“I felt Elise’s depth of experience, both with the material and the deep spiritual enquiry; I enjoyed her presence, clarity and lightness.”