Allison Leslie

Title : Building the Nest: Somatic EMDR, the Human-Animal Bond & Trauma Therapy

Guest : Alison Leslie, LCSW, SEP Release

Date : 2026-04-17 Audience : Trauma Clinicians, EMDR Therapists, Grief Therapists ============================================================

[INTRO]

Welcome to Kathy on the Couch, your podcast for everyday clinicians who sit with grief, trauma, and the hardest human experiences every day. You weren't meant to carry this alone — and this is a space for therapists who hold space for others and sometimes need a place to be held too. I am Kathy — your EMDR consultant, trainer, and thanatologist specializing in methods of death, dying, and bereavement. I created this podcast to support those who do the deep work, especially trauma and grief therapists and EMDR clinicians who want real conversations, meaningful support, and a community where the hard questions are finally welcome. We're also thrilled to announce the Kathy on the Couch Membership Community — your home for grief and trauma consultation and professional growth. Inside you'll find a monthly consultation group, monthly NBCC CE training, course modules, resource kits, and a community that holds space for those who hold it all. If you're looking for deeper connection, join our membership community. If you're an EMDR therapist seeking certification or consultation, visit EMDR University. And please give us a five-star review wherever you get your podcasts. Now let's get comfortable and head on over to the couch.

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SEGMENT 1] Topic: Alison's Origin Story — Nature, Animals & the Missing Body Piece in EMDR Tony introduces Alison, noting they connected through mutual colleague Becca at the EMDRIA conference. Alison shares her clinical journey: from a recreation therapy undergrad at Indiana University — where she "played in the woods for four years" — to animal-assisted social work, foster care programs with shelter dogs, and eventually a three-year somatic experiencing training that brought her back to EMDR. KEY POINTS: - Alison initially found EMDR clunky and confusing, and set it down - Somatic experiencing revealed what was missing: the body - Once the body piece clicked, EMDR and SE integrated seamlessly - Her foster care shelter dog work showed her that animals help clients form new predictions — "a living being cares about me" - The neurobiology of the human-animal bond and of EMDR/SE all point to the same thing: creating enough safety for new learning ============================================================ [SEGMENT 2] Topic: The Nest Metaphor, Pendulation & Phase Two EMDR Alison introduces the Nest Metaphor — a nature-based framework she created for trauma conceptualization, history taking, and healing. Discussion covers pendulation as a somatic resource, and the critical importance of phase two preparation as building capacity for comfort — not just processing trauma. KEY POINTS: - The Nest Metaphor uses the imagery of bird nests across a life span: womb nest, early home nest, today's nest, future nest - Clients often unconsciously build the same nest they grew up in — in a different tree, in a different city - A photo of a nest built with cigarette butts: adaptive for the bird, harmful for the nestlings — opens conversation about ACEs, environmental racism, and systemic harm - Pendulation (somatic experiencing): the natural rhythm of expansion and constriction — moving into difficulty and back out to resource - Connection to the Dual Process Model of grief (Stroebe & Schut): oscillating between loss and restoration - Phase two EMDR: building capacity to tolerate comfort BEFORE reprocessing — "if it's not safe to be safe, the body scan will register as danger" - "We have everything we need to heal inside" — the therapist's job is to create conditions, not be the change agent ============================================================ [SEGMENT 3] Topic: The Human-Animal Bond as a Somatic Resource in Trauma Therapy Alison explains how companion animals already function as co-regulators in clients' lives — and how clinicians can bring that into the therapy room as a bottom-up somatic intervention. Discussion also covers linked violence and the limits of the human-animal bond for some clients. KEY POINTS: - The human-animal bond is not simply "unconditional love" — animals co-regulate us when their own nervous system is safe and settled - Teaching clients to slow down and really receive their animal's greeting creates measurable physiological shifts: oxytocin, lower blood pressure, ventral vagal state - "If your dog is sleeping next to you during a panic attack — what does that tell you? It's safe." - We can use companion animals to build interoceptive awareness and predictive safety from the bottom up - Linked violence: animal abuse, domestic violence, child abuse, and elder abuse are statistically connected — animals are also used as tools of control and threat - The human-animal bond is not a resource for every client; hold both the healing potential and the harm context ============================================================ [OUTRO / CTA] Primary CTA: Join the Kathy on the Couch Membership Community Thank you so much for joining us on another episode of Kathy on the Couch. We hope today's conversation sparked new ideas and offered you practical tools you can bring into your practice. Rewired360 is here to companion you along your clinical career path. Until next time — keep connecting, keep learning, and keep rewiring for success. Take care. ------------------------------------------------------------ GUEST RESOURCES: Website : www.empower-healing.com Email : [email protected] Facebook : https://www.facebook.com/alison.leslie.empower.healing LinkedIn : www.linkedin.com/in/alison-leslie-234abb277 UPCOMING TRAININGS (at time of recording): - April 2026 | Nest Metaphor (3 hrs) — Advanced EMDR Institute - May 2026 | Somatic EMDR (15 hrs) — Trauma Therapist Institute ALWAYS INCLUDE: - Join the KOC Membership : https://www.rewired360.com/koc-membership - All Rewired360 Trainings : https://rewired360.ce-go.com/courses/all - All Links & Resources : https://linktr.ee/rewired360 ============================================================ GUEST BIO (for show notes) Alison Leslie, LCSW, SEP Alison Leslie is a trauma-informed clinician, consultant, and educator known for making complex trauma work feel both grounded and doable. Her clinical work and teaching focus on bridging EMDR therapy, somatic therapy, ego state work, and the human-animal bond, with particular attention to dissociation, attachment wounds, and chronic stress physiology. Alison is the creator of The Nest Metaphor, a nature-based, somatically informed framework designed to strengthen and support the healing process. Using the "nest" as a lived, non-judgmental lens, she helps clinicians map how early environments shaped nervous system capacity, protective strategies, and a client's relationship to safety, support, and agency — while building the future nest that supports flourishing over survival. She has co-authored chapters and articles on trauma and the human-animal bond, presented at EMDRIA conferences in 2023, 2024, and 2025, and holds multiple EMDRIA-approved advanced trainings. ============================================================ END OF TRANSCRIPT