CHELSIE CIMINELLI, LCSW, Clinical Director, Transforming Touch® Level 1 Practitioner
Hi, I’m Chelsie. I support adults, couples, and families. Some of my specialties include developmental and attachment trauma, codependency, anxiety, depression, and self-esteem. I love helping my clients tackle the chains of perfectionism and self-doubt to be free to thrive in healthy relationships.
CODEPENDENCY
It’s okay to ask for what you need. This is something I need to remind myself of on a daily basis. For many of us, we focus so intently on making sure everyone else is taken care of and we completely abandon ourselves and ignore our own needs. This leaves us feeling exhausted, depleted, and quite frankly, resentful because we think to ourselves “why isn’t anyone taking care of me?” I teach my clients what a healthy relationship looks like because if this wasn’t modeled to you at some point throughout your life, no one can expect you to know what it means! I support my clients in learning how to identify and fulfill their needs and establish boundaries with others. At first, learning to follow through with boundaries is scary, hard, and uncomfortable, and I walk through those muddy waters with my clients, so they never feel alone.
INNER CHILD WORK
We all have a voice inside of us repeating the same messages that were spoken and/or unspoken during our childhood. The negative or critical messages keep us bound in shame, fear, and self-doubt and hold us back from reaching our full potential. I help my clients give a voice to their inner child and allow the little girl or little boy inside of them to express what they could not express at the time. I then teach my clients how to reparent themselves and meet the needs of the child that were unmet for so long.
TRAUMA
When we experience an event that is physically, emotionally, and/or spiritually painful and overwhelming, our bodies go into a state of shock and we don’t always have the necessary tools to fully process these experiences. When these experiences aren’t processed, they get stuck in our bodies and can manifest as anxiety, depression, ADHD, anger, dissociation, intrusive thoughts, difficulty sleeping, appetite changes, and many more. I help my clients release the trauma that has been stuck in their bodies as well as any self-limiting or negative core beliefs that formed as a result of the trauma. When the trauma is released and we begin to heal, we become re-connected with ourselves, which is so necessary in order to have healthy, meaningful, connected relationships with others.
I am trained in Transforming Touch and Transforming Intentional Touch and use this modality to treat attachment and developmental trauma. The modality is based on the idea that when there are ruptures during early development, they continue to disrupt a person’s life. It incorporates presence, regulation, and relationship to repair these ruptures by repairing early reflexes. Transforming Touch works directly with the nervous system to reset your neurological patterns. As the nervous system builds capacity and becomes regulated we become more resilient which then allows healing. It provides the nervous system with a safe and secure response to stimuli instead of an activation/threat response.
Transforming Touch is an effective way of facilitating regulation within the nervous system and can be used with or without touch, in person, or remotely during virtual sessions (using Transforming Intentional Touch).
HOW I HELP
It is difficult to allow myself to be vulnerable, and when I do I heal the pieces of myself more and more. With that being said, I believe my role is to provide a safe and supportive place for my clients to be vulnerable, so they can let go of fear, shame, and doubts and grow their feelings of joy, connectedness, love, and authenticity. I help people become the best versions of themselves and live fulfilling, meaningful lives. I help people find their voice and walk with purpose. I am a recovering perfectionist who was filled with self-doubt. In my recovery I have learned how much perfectionism and self-doubt have held me back from reaching the goals I set for myself. As I continue on in my healing journey, I am experiencing what it means to be “thriving not surviving” and I love that I get to share the healing process with my clients.
I graduated from the University of Buffalo with a Master of Social Work degree and relocated to South Carolina in 2019 with my family. I am dually licensed in North Carolina and South Carolina. I am a Certified Partner Trauma Therapist Candidate; a trauma treatment specialist working with partners who have experienced betrayal trauma as a result of addiction, infidelity, and/or other betrayals. I have experience in child welfare, school social work, and outpatient mental health with children, teens, and adults. Some of the approaches I utilize are experiential psychotherapy, cognitive behavioral therapy, and trauma focused modalities.
MORE ABOUT ME
I am a wife and mother of two boys who keep me busy and entertained with their high energy. My favorite activity is to lay in the sun and read a good book. I like to stay active walking, hiking, playing sports and swimming. I also love cooking and baking, and enjoy being adventurous in trying new recipes. I am passionate about nutrition and the interconnectedness between our physical, mental, and emotional health. If I did not follow my heart and love of helping people heal, I would be the owner and operator of a bakery serving “paleo” sweets and treats. As a person who has food sensitivities and cannot enjoy too many indulgent foods, it would be amazing to give other people with the same food sensitivities/allergies the opportunity to enjoy yummy treats without worrying about getting sick. I am on my own recovery journey from codependency and perfectionism and am reaping the rewards of doing my own work; happy healthy relationships with myself and the most important people in my life.
“In our culture, we associate vulnerability with emotions we want to avoid such as fear, shame, and uncertainty. Yet we too often lose sight of the fact that vulnerability is also the birthplace of joy, belonging, creativity, authenticity, and love.” — Brene Brown