Veronica di Muro Merchak has a unique approach to trauma as Holistic Trauma Specialist. She combines her personal experience, her academic qualifications, her professional experience, and her in depth intuitive understanding of people to help them navigate their individual situations. An important focus of hers, is to empower her clients so they understand how trauma was received by their individual body and above all, how it is possible to move forward, in an unapologetic and gracefully powerful way.
Veronica di Muro Merchak, Holistic Trauma Specialist
Introduce yourself, Please tell us about you and your life, so we can get to know you better.
Thank you. I am presently based in Johannesburg, South Africa where I live with my husband and our two beautiful children. I run my private practice from here as well; however, as I consult online my client base is in fact worldwide. I was born in Rome, Italy and grew up in sunny Durban, a city along the South African coastline. After school I moved to the busy city, Johannesburg to study and subsequently started my career in finance and banking here as well. It was only well into my late 20s that I started following my passion and made it a career.
What inspired you to become a BodyTalk Practitioner and TRE Provider?
I have always been a lover of natural therapies, I was interested in homeopathy and it helped me tremendously growing up. I am constantly fascinated how the body works as a whole and why things “break down”. This has been my view on the body and life since I was a little girl but it was only in my later adolescent years that I started to connect the dots in my own life. Having my own life experiences in loosing a parent at a relatively young age, being a target of an armed robbery (more than once) and having experienced miscarriages I could see physically how my body absorbed and stored these experiences. I was in fact “studying” all of these modalities’ long before I made the official career turn.
How do you determine which therapy approach to use with a new client?
Generally clients start with a BodyTalk session, we discuss their history, where they are in life and how they are physically. The BodyTalk session gives an overview of what the body wants to address and reconnect on that specific day; but also gives us a good overall feeling of that person’s physical, emotional and mental space. The client and myself then discuss how to move forward and what approach is best. Also note, it is never my call. Part of trauma recovery is getting to know and trust yourself; so from the get go the client is in charge of what he or she wants to do. I will inform them of various options based on my experience and knowledge but the client is always the one to make the call and in charge of their process.
Can you explain how Quantum Field Talk Therapy works in a session?
QFTT (as I have termed it) developed naturally as a result of seeing numerous clients in my private practice who required a way to “talk” to someone they needed to. Someone who was/is pivotal in their trauma but they cannot or do not want to discuss issues physically with them. An example is a narcissistic mother whom they have no further contact with or cannot approach, a sexual perpetrator or an individual who has passed. In summary, this is a therapeutic approach which allows an individual to address issues they have with a third party in a safe, non judgmental space. The client is guided through the session as they address certain issues with the third party (they in fact mimic speaking to that individual). Very often feelings and memories will arise that the individual was not aware of prior to the session, this is because the unconscious mind has been accessed. Really a wonderful tool that allows for safe, and deep-rooted, unconscious conditioning release to take place. In addition, the client would have moved some energy of trauma via speaking, and as all things are connected in the quantum field the individual they are addressing will on some level be a recipient of that energy too. A quantum energy field is a vast and infinite pool of energy, that we are all part of. One movement in energy (such as a thought form or spoken word) will affect the field as a whole, thus supporting the view that there is a fundamental interconnectedness.
Combining the BodyTalk sessions, which give us an ability to understand what the body is dealing with, the TRE sessions which allows for the body to release old trauma patterns somatically (physically); and the QFTT which allows the client to access suppressed or unconscious thoughts and feelings while addressing issues with a third party we are able to move forward. Combining the release of trauma energy, understanding ourselves in a more intimate and conscious way leads to empowerment over ourselves and our bodies. The client, as a whole, has in effect changed the frequency of their cells and systems thus their entire being will operate differently. The result is an individual who makes decisions from a more regulated and empowered place as opposed to decisions based off old trauma patterns or triggers.
How do you balance your work as a trauma practitioner with your photography and other interests?
I feel it is all down to planning, routine and flexibility where possible. The photography brings a balance to my life in itself, and allows me to express my creativity by capturing the essence and energy of the people that I photograph. I have a good support structure that enables me to dedicate the appropriate time and attention to, and focus on my work. I also prioritize family time as an absolute must. My family is very important to me, and it is imperative to keep it strong as it provides me with the best possible foundation for what I do.
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