This work grew from years of working with people living with persistent pain and illness.
It has been informed by research, clinical medicine, pain science, Somatic Experiencing®, contemplative practice, and, above all, by listening carefully to the people who have trusted me with their experiences.
Over time, we found ourselves asking different questions, not only about pain or illness, but about the people living with them.
Our interest in these questions began long before our clinical training. It grew from a lifelong curiosity about suffering, healing, and the remarkable ways people continue to adapt and grow through life's most difficult experiences. That curiosity has been shaped by our own personal lives and deepened by the countless people who have trusted us with their stories.
Much of modern healthcare asks important questions about diagnosis, treatment, and disease. Those questions matter deeply.
What has shaped this person's experience?
What allows healing to unfold?
What helps people reconnect with their capacity, even when symptoms remain?
Much of modern healthcare asks important questions about diagnosis, treatment, and disease.
Those questions matter deeply.
Over time, we found ourselves asking different questions, not only about pain or illness, but about the people living with them.
What has shaped this person's experience?
What allows healing to unfold?
What helps people reconnect with their capacity, even when symptoms remain?
Our interest in these questions began long before our clinical training. It grew from a lifelong curiosity about suffering, healing, and the remarkable ways people continue to adapt and grow through life's most difficult experiences. That curiosity has been shaped by our own personal lives and deepened by the countless people who have trusted us with their stories.
Today, our work is informed by research, clinical medicine, Somatic Experiencing, research, contemplative practice.
Again and again, we have seen that healing rarely comes from finding one missing answer.
One of the greatest privileges of this work has been witnessing the remarkable capacity people have to learn, adapt, and reconnect with themselves, even after years of pain or suffering.
Healing grows as we begin to recognize the relationships that shape our lives and develop a different relationship with our own experience.
somatic work
This work is informed by Somatic Experiencing®.
Somatic Experiencing is a body-based approach that focuses on how the nervous system responds to stress and overwhelm. Rather than working primarily through thoughts or narrative, it begins with sensation and physiology—supporting the body’s natural ability to regulate, reorganize, and recover.
what this work supports
This work is relevant for:
chronic pain and persistent physical symptoms
emotional suffering and nervous system dysregulation
experiences that have not responded to conventional care
The aim is not necessarily to eliminate pain.
It is to reduce suffering, increase agency, and support meaningful change over time.
Sometimes it begins when we no longer have to spend all of our energy simply trying to get through the day.
clinical and research foundation
This work is grounded in clinical medicine and continually informed by research, Somatic Experiencing, and contemplative practice.
• Mindfulness and chronic low back pain
• Chronic pain, shame, and illness
• Adverse Childhood Experiences (ACEs) and pain outcomes
Research informs this work, but it is always held alongside the lived experience of the person sitting in front of us
working together
Whether through individual sessions, group learning, or professional consultation, this work is ultimately about helping you better understand what you are living through, reconnect with your own capacity, and engage more fully with life—even when life remains imperfect.
team
Together, their clinical perspective contributes to a broader understanding of how structural, neurological, and experiential factors intersect in chronic pain and illness.
Elisa Venezia, FNP, SEP
Elisa Venezia is a Family Nurse Practitioner, Somatic Experiencing® Practitioner, and educator with a long-standing interest in understanding suffering, healing, and the human experience of illness. She currently practices in neurosurgery and co-facilitates chronic pain groups, where she works with individuals navigating complex and often difficult-to-explain experiences.
Her work integrates clinical medicine, nervous system awareness, somatic approaches, and contemplative practice. She believes that people are more than their diagnoses and that healing often begins with careful listening, curiosity, and a deeper understanding of the larger systems that shape our lives.
Originally from Mexico, Elisa's relationship with horses, nature, and diverse healing traditions continues to influence her work today. She remains an ongoing student of Somatic Experiencing®, chronic pain, trauma, contemplative traditions, and Tibetan Buddhist psychology.
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• Family Nurse Practitioner (FNP)
• Registered Nurse First Assistant (RNFA)
• Somatic Experiencing® Practitioner (SEP)
• Internal Family Systems (IFS informed training)
• Diploma in Tibetan Buddhist Psychology, Nalanda Institute / Tibet House
• Ongoing study in contemplative traditions, chronic pain, trauma, nervous system regulation, and Tibetan medicine
• Co-author of peer reviewed research in chronic pain and mindfulness
• Co-facilitator of chronic pain groups at Yavapai Regional Medical Center
Sam Safavi-Abbasi, MD
Sam’s work is grounded in neurosurgery and a long history of academic research, mindfulness practices with a focus on complex neurological and spinal conditions. In parallel, his interests have expanded toward understanding chronic illness through systems-based and transdisciplinary approaches.