The Full Embodiment Story

Ariel Giarretto, LMFT, SEP, CSSE

Ariel Giarretto, MS, (she, they) is a body-oriented therapist, trainer, and Somatic Sex Educator. After completing her post-graduate education in counseling psychology, and licensed as a marriage and family therapist in California, USA, she studied a wide variety of somatic and touch therapies, and is primarily informed by Peter Levine’s Somatic Experiencing (SE), She was introduced to SE in 1999 and became full-time teaching faculty in 2005. (www.traumahealing.org)

Throughout the 90’s she was on staff at the Esalen Institute in Big Sur, CA as a workshop and group leader, a private therapist and part of the bodywork and massage crew. There she studied with sexuality
/tantra experts Carolyn and
 Charles Muir, Margo 
Anand, Jack Rosenberg,
 Paul Carter and dozens 
of other somatic 
teachers and touch practitioners.

As early as age 16 she identified as non-binary and pan sexual (long before those terms existed) and has long-term involvement in a number of sex positive, LGBTQ+ communities, engaging in conscious sexuality, consensual non-monogamy, exploring kink, hosting “play parties”, teaching safer sex, and helping others navigate the land mines of open relationships.

In 2015, she certified as a Somatic Sex Educator at The Institute For Advanced Study of Human Sexuality, in San Francisco (now closed). She now specializes in sexual and gender-based violence, as well as all sexuality and relationship challenges. She has been called to train therapists dealing with Ukraine war refugees and war rape. She is the co-developer of “The Full Embodiment Model” which offers gentle, transformative workshops for people wanting to heal from the effects of sexuality trauma, sexual abuse and disembodiment. Although she has recently closed her private practice, for decades she specialised in working with couples challenged by childhood sexual abuse, incompatible libido, sexual dysfunction and infertility. Her larger mission is to support all people regardless of their trauma history, their identity or sexual orientation to find pleasure, ease and even ecstasy in their bodies and in connection with others.

She has extensive training in prenatal and birth therapy with Ray Castellino, as well as attachment and early developmental trauma. She has been a home birth “doula”, a dancer, a drummer, an athlete, a professional cook and baker, a firefighter and first responder, a world traveler and adventurer, a juggler and street performer, and is particularly fond of her doodle Freya, her Green Cheek Conures, Tulip and Oscar, and of course her partner Jeffrey. Originally from the US, they are all currently based in Delft, Netherlands.

Many of you may know Tom Callanan, the co-creator of Full Embodiment, and Ariel’s awesome co-facilitator for many years. He has stopped teaching workshops and is now focusing entirely on medicine journeys with a small select number of people. Feel free to contact him via text if you are interested. ‭+1 (269) 760-0362‬