Meet Chanel Vysohlid, Your Somatic Experience Therapist
“As a Somatic Experience Therapist, I believe somatic healing isn’t about fixing or altering yourself. It’s about meeting your shadows, behaviors, and trauma at their source. It's a journey beyond healing. It’s a route to awakening your purpose, power and gifts. It’s about becoming whole.”
-Chanel
Our story
First of all... nice to meet you! I’m Chanel Vysohlid, and your healing is my passion!
For those on a celestial journey, I serve as an oracle, a conduit guiding you back to your internal sanctuary through an intuitively informed approach. For those driven by intellect, I’m an R.H.N, Somatic Experience Therapist, Breathwork Facilitator, Certified Mind-Body Nutrition and Dynamic Psychology Coach, Reiki Master and E-RYT 200.
Prior to finding somatic healing (or I should say it found me), I had lived through a 16-year battle with an eating disorder, and worked as an addiction counsellor, I witnessed first-hand the limitations of clinical treatment based approaches, cognitive therapy and mindset coaching.
Going from practitioner to practitioner for years on end, I know the frustration of trying things that never seem to give lasting results – as well as the sense of disconnection from having no one to guide you on your path to true healing.
So, I created The Self-Worth Lounge.
As a Somatic Experience Therapist, I believe that the willingness to feel during your healing journey is just as important as the steps and tools you use to move forward. My intention is to provide a space where I can meet you where you are... where you feel safe within your (incredibly brave) vulnerability. It is within this space that you can discover and utilize your inherent strengths and resources for the inner peace you’ve always dreamed of.
I believe full-heartedly that a body-based approach to healing is our future, and that true, long-lasting healing is empowered by the presence of others, regardless of where you are in your journey. That’s why I embody the practices I share with people like you every day, for my own ongoing healing.
Three principles are at the core of my work as a Nature-Inspired Somatic Experience Therapist:
The body holds the key to lasting transformation. In other words, we can’t always override the pain with cognitive approaches.
Nature is our most divine teacher in the art of nervous system regulation. (Not a lot of coaches/therapists integrate this, I see it as a foundational piece of the healing puzzle)
There is no such thing as a hopeless case. Just as everything in nature has the capacity to regenerate, so too can the mind, body, and spirit.
As someone who has a tendency to make all things complicated, including my healing. There is something about somatic work that feels simple, honest and true. It feels primal and instinctual, like a forgotten language I’ve had within me all along. The more I engage with my body using somatic tools and principles, and the more I am witnessed by others in my healing, the more I gently make my way back.
This work is sacred, organic, and profoundly effective. Discovering somatic healing was my big “Aha” moment. For the first time, I felt a somatic sense of safety, I began to hear my inner voice, giving me both choice and agency in my life. It illuminated areas where I could say "no" and helped me gradually unravel the conditioning that had shaped my understanding of what it means to be a woman. And this is what continues to heal and transform my experiences with disordered eating, anxiety, relational wounds around men and the relationship with my body.
As a guide in this work, I’m honored to walk with you through your deepest and most intricate challenges. My role as a Somatic Experience Therapist is to intuitively lead you toward a transformative way of being, one that will continue to light up your healing path long after our sessions end.
"As a Somatic Experience Therapist, my guidance is rooted in the landscape of the nervous system. I believe that every client's body holds an intrinsic map for well-being, and it's my role to help you access this map."
Our philosophy
If you are here, you belong.
At The Self-Worth Lounge, as a Somatic Experience Therapist, this is a space for all, including those who don’t identify as having a clinically diagnosed condition but still feel their emotional and mental health are affecting their lives in some way. We are named the Self-Worth Lounge because self-worth is often one of the root causes of many problematic behaviours, and a lounge is a place where you can feel comfortable and open.
We believe in the importance of holding space that feels compassionate and secure in therapeutic relationships with our clients and have seen how that alone can be just as powerful as the tools and practice itself. The Self-Worth Lounge is a judgement-free zone where. Together, we cultivate awareness, self expression, and dive deeper into meeting your your unmet needs while empowering you to move forward.
Prescriptive words like “should” and “should not” are not part of our dictionary. And we believe that “healing trends” that will “fix us” and make us “better” don’t just fall short—they don’t see you as the unique, one-of-a-kind person you are.
Healing is possible for everyone, and I believe Somatic Experience Therapists are called to this work to help guide you in unlocking your path to an honest and sustainable way of well-being.
The Lineage of my experience and teachings
I’m a relatively new practitioner in this field (since 2022), though my own personal journey with this work began in 2005. Over the years, I’ve been fortunate to learn from mentors, teachers, and professors who are pioneers in their industries. Their guidance has shaped my forward-thinking approach to somatic work and this profession.
I don’t follow fleeting healing trends, nor do I subscribe to practices that may sway the public's understanding of their own body intelligence. Instead, I am committed to staying true to the core principles of somatic work, always challenging the status quo to ensure that the healing process remains grounded, authentic, and empowering.
Regenerative Alchemy Somatic Training Level 1: In progress
Dr Sarah Coxon: Nature-led Somatic Mentor and founder of Regenerative Alchemy
Pause Somatic Coaching: Certified by Sam Skelly, Mentorship by Laurie Ann and Marci Nikirk
Dr John: Mentor at Cedars Cobble Hill Addiction Treatment Center, My role as a Clinical Counsellor.
Canadian School of Natural Nutrition and Functional Medicine: Certified, RHN
The Academy of Breath: Ava Johanna Certified, IFB
Dr Ellen Domm: Mentor, Internal Family Systems
Richard C. Schwartz: Founder of Internal Family Systems, teachings and learnings
Peter A Levine: Founder of Somatic Experiencing, teachings and learnings
Institute for the Psychology of Eating: Marc David, Certified, Mind Body Nutrition and Eating Psychology.
Octopus Gardens: Certified, Yoga Alliance 200hours.
Stephany A Brown: Reiki Level 1,2,3, Certified
Diederik Wolsak, Gad Sprukt, Saskia Wolsak, Fed Wilberts, Dawn Green, Sean Smith: Mentors and learnings, Choose Again Facility and Intensive Retreat Center, Spiritual based practices for early childhood trauma.
Experience
Over 2000 hours of somatic coaching, clinical therapy, case management, breathwork and facilitating.
Other Education and Experience
BCIT and Capilano University: Business Management
Various Soul-Led Business Communities: Mentorships Susan Francis and Makenzie, Founder of Love your Mondays
Pro Merita Academy: Yoga and mental health for young athletes, Director
What I’m just good at! (no certification or education needed)
The ability to recognize default patterns immediately.
I’m pretty witchy! I sense, see and understand others' pain, emotional needs, gifts/talents, and potential. I do this through my own felt sense, often with little to no dialogue needed from the person.
Recognizing what needs to happen first—spiritually, emotionally, or physically—in order to help clients achieve their goals, whether it's landing a job, starting a business, or cultivating a desired relationship.
Creating a space where others feel safest to be their most vulnerable, messy, and authentic selves—even those who are typically more stoic or guarded. I’ve found that this is how many of my clients are able to move through some of their most shameful and painful challenges.
Offering a fresh perspective—one that challenges the societal norms and conventional ideas of healing that many aren’t able to see. I see the truth and magic in things, and when this information is shared by someone you deeply trust, it can feel like a year of therapy and sense of freedom at a soul level.
Instant recognition of patterns inside relationships between individuals. I can create effective ways to communicate that creates harmony so my client is seen, heard and validated by their partner.
I’m deeply comfortable working with issues related to food, body image, binge eating, and bulimia. I understand these struggles intimately, having lived through them myself. I bring an empowering, normalizing, and even magical perspective to what is often approached in a clinical or dogmatic way
My embodiment of intentional living and femininity can often be what attracts clients, and I have noticed, time and time again, it provides permission for them to do the same and explore their own unique blueprint of this.
My Lineage
Daughter, Sister, Granddaughter to Carla, Mendel, Lauren, Sophie, Dorothy, and Milan.
I was born in Vancouver, British Columbia, and am deeply rooted in a rich heritage that blends Cheque Republican, Russian, and Chinese ancestry. Each branch of my family has shaped who I am today, and I carry their stories, traditions, and wisdom with me as I continue to grow and learn.
I am mom to fur baby Archie and horses Vito and Spirit.
How I run my business
This is a full-time, soul-driven practice that places people before profit. Its growth has been intentional and sustainable, with a deep focus on maintaining integrity and alignment. Everything you read here is written by me—no ChatGPT or third-party writers. My words, my message.
For the most part, I’m a one-woman show, though I’m blessed with incredible support from a few like-minded, female-led entrepreneurs and practitioners who help me create structure for client experiences and co-facilitate workshops and collaborative offerings.
My own embodiment is at the heart of this work, I navigate my businesses and work with clients from an aligned, regulated, and creative space. As a nature-inspired practitioner, I bring the same principles into how I run my business. I move with the rhythm of the seasons, creating and launching new services when the time feels right, just as nature calls it forward. I honor the need to slow down and pause when Mother Earth invites me to do so. I dance with the cycles of the moon and my own feminine cycle, allowing these natural flows to guide my work.
I know that to be a truly effective at what I do, I must remain a student. That’s why I’m consistently enrolled in trainings and mentorships, continually expanding and stacking my skill set.