Nicole Gordon, HHP, CMT
Somatic Bodywork

Los Feliz , California

  • 20+ years of trauma-informed bodywork

  • Craniosacral, acupressure, compassionate touch, Taoist abdominal massage, Swedish massage

  • Nervous system regulation and balance

  • Specializing in emotional overwhelm, pain, chronic illness, auto-immune diseases, highly sensitive populations

Schedule Free Consultation

My specialties

I support clients navigating mind-body experiences that may leave them feeling stuck, disconnected, overwhelmed, chronically activated, uncomfortable in their body, unable to relax, or unsure how to receive touch—while creating space to reconnect with themselves.

I work with clients on a range of concerns, including:

  • Stress, fatigue and burnout

  • Chronic pain, injury recover, and disability

  • Autoimmune conditions

  • Trauma and PTSD

  • Eating disorders

  • Pregnancy and postpartum

  • Eating disorders

  • Addiction recovery

  • Emotional overwhelm

  • Veterans

  • First responders

  • Aging

  • Hospice/end-of-life

Somatic Touch

Somatic touch is a body-based modality that uses gentle, responsive contact to support nervous system regulation and whole-being balance. It offers a non-verbal way of working with physical and emotional experiences that may be difficult to access through words alone.

I often draw from more than one therapeutic touch technique in a single session. These might include: Tui Na, Chi Nei Tsang, craniosacral holds, compassionate touch, and other techniques. 

Where we find resistance, we will create flow and movement. Where there is overwhelm, we will soothe and calm. Therapeutic touch supports you holistically and responsively as we gently ease the body and its systems into balance. 

Bodywork with Me

Before beginning bodywork, we start with a phone or Zoom consultation to discuss what brings you in, your goals, and your comfort with touch. Sessions take place in a therapeutic office setting, usually on a massage table. Depending on your needs and priorities, we may work on one or more regions of the body, through clothing or with skin-to-skin contact, using a sheet or blanket, with oil or lotion or without. Consent and communication are ongoing throughout. I listen to what you tell me and pay attention to nonverbal cues, adjusting the work in response to what you experience. You may be invited to notice sensations, emotions, images, memories, or words that arise, with no expectation to interpret or share them. My role is to listen, respond, and support you in developing a more comfortable and connected relationship with your body.

My Background

I have practiced massage therapy and bodywork for more than 20 years. My work has always been grounded in an interest in therapeutic touch and its role in supporting people through stress, pain, recovery, and significant life experiences. Over the years, I have provided bodywork to veterans experiencing PTSD and chronic pain, clients in residential addiction treatment, frontline healthcare workers during the pandemic, and firefighters and evacuees affected by California wildfires.

Alongside my bodywork practice, I spent more than 13 years leading departments at major nonprofit organizations in Southern California and earned degrees in the arts and humanities from UC Berkeley and UCLA. I also maintain my own practices of therapy, regular bodywork, time in nature, and connection with friends and family.

Schedule a Free Consultation

Treatment approach

  • Tui Na is a traditional Chinese bodywork practice that uses a variety of hands-on techniques, including compression, kneading, rolling, rocking, and acupressure point work which involves applying manual pressure with fingers, thumbs, or palms to specific points on the body. The work can range from gentle and soothing to more stimulating and dynamic.

    We bring movement to where there is stagnation, and soothing and dispersing to areas where there is excess.

  • Chi Nei Tsang is a Chinese term for an abdominal massage that helps promote healing and processing by releasing stress, tension and negative emotions that accumulate and congest in the internal organs. In Western terms, this is direct work with the enteric nervous system and can support circulation of blood, lymph and digestion. 

    The Taoists believe the abdomen is the control center and intersection of many of the body’s systems and where we store many emotions. Tensions, worries, and stresses can accumulate there and are seldom dispersed. This modality can be a powerful way to access and release stuck emotions, promote improved physical and emotional processing, and support clients in letting go and releasing what they no longer need to hold onto.

  • Somatic bodywork supports the autonomic nervous system through gentle therapeutic contact, deeply attuned presence, and co-regulation between the practitioner and client. Somatic bodywork applies neuroscience and trauma-informed frameworks to sense and unwind any residual patterns left by trauma and attachment injuries. Traumatic patterns may be in the form of bracing, muscular tension or flaccidity, physiological dissociation, disrupted digestion, tics, tremors and many different posture, movement and speech patterns.

  • Compassionate Touch is a specialized approach for working with highly sensitive and vulnerable nervous systems, for example in palliative care. There is little to no manipulation of tissue. The touch is soothing, caring, and emotionally-attuned. The goal is to help your body feel held and heard, so that it can let go of tension, circulate energy and resume it’s restorative functions.

  • Craniosacral Therapy is an exceptionally gentle hands-on approach that works with the body's central nervous system and natural rhythms. Using light therapeutic touch, this work helps reduce tension throughout the body while encouraging the nervous system to shift from a state of stress and protection toward rest and repair.

    Many people seek craniosacral therapy for headaches, jaw tension, chronic stress, fatigue, nervous system dysregulation, concussion recovery, or simply to experience a deeper sense of calm and relaxation. Sessions are quiet, restorative, and deeply supportive of the body's innate healing processes.

Training

  • Holistic Health Practitioner, Mueller College of Holistic Studies

  • Acupressurist, Mueller College of Holistic Studies

  • Advanced Massage Therapy, Mueller College of Holistic Studies

  • Touch for Diverse Populations (Courses in Lymphatics, Trauma, Hospice, Senior Care, Pregnancy and Infant, Disability and Chronic Illness), McKinnon Institute

  • Essentials of Pain and Palliative Care, The Heart Touch Project

  • Compassionate Touch for Medically Fragile Adults and End-of-Life Care, The Heart Touch Project

Certified Massage Therapist (CMT), California Massage Therapy Council

Services and fees

I offer in-person sessions for:

  • 50-minute session $250

  • 110-minute session: $500

Schedule Free Consultation