Something was too much, and the feeling had nowhere to go.
When you were little and something was too much, your body held its breath and a part of you checked out, just to get through it. That feeling never got to finish.
Certified Practitioner · One-to-One · Franklin & TulumEmotional
Emotional
Release Therapy
Hands-on bodywork and inner child work, together. For the feelings your body has been holding since you were little, the ones that never got to finish.
“Stop crying, or I’ll give you something to cry about.”So you stopped.
But the crying didn’t go anywhere. The feeling didn’t go anywhere. It went into the body, and it is still there today. Maybe you have done the work since then: the therapy, the books, the meditation. You understand your story better than anyone. And your body is still holding it.
There is nothing wrong with you.Your body did what it had to do to protect you.
Emotional Release Therapy is where that feeling finally gets to finish, and where the little one who has been holding it gets what she needed.
You don’t have to tell me the whole story.
You don’t even have to remember it.
Your body and your voice will do it for you.
Why understanding it
has not been enough
It is still living in your body.
In your throat, your jaw, your chest, your belly, your hips. You survived it. Your body just never released it.
You cannot think your way out of it.
You cannot think your way out of something your body is holding. The story is in your mind; the feeling is in your body. You have to feel it to heal it.
Emotional Release Therapy works where the feeling is still held: in the body, and with the younger part of you who has been holding it.
What happens in a session
How a session unfolds
Every session is different, because your body leads. This is the shape it usually takes. Nothing happens without your consent, and you can pause or stop at any moment.
My hands, where it got stuck
I place my hands on the points where the feeling got stuck. Often the jaw, the throat, the chest or the belly: wherever your body has been holding it. You stay clothed throughout.
You breathe into that place
You breathe into that point with conscious connected breathwork. The breath softens what has been held tight for years, at a pace your body can take.
The feeling finally finishes
What never got to finish starts to come up. Tears, shaking, sound, words you never got to say. Whatever comes is welcome. Often “it hurts” becomes “I hurt”. That is her, finally speaking.
“How old is she?”
I ask how old she is: the younger you who has been holding this. In a trigger, she takes over and you disappear. Here, you both stay, and this time someone stays with her.
The open hand
I hold out an open hand. What is in it is usually what she needed and never got: safety, softness, someone who stays. With your breath, you let her take it.
“What do you love about her?”
Then I ask you what you love about her. That is the medicine. Not something you become for everyone else, but something you give her first.
Two hours, one-to-one. We close slowly, so what moved has time to settle before you go back into your day.
I did not invent this. I was taught it.
I am a certified Emotional Release Therapy practitioner, trained by Pat Jackman, who developed the Pat Jackman Method of Emotional Release Therapy and has been guiding this work for more than thirty years. Her directory of practitioners lists about twenty certified practitioners in the United States, and I am one of them.
I also studied Core Energetics with Stuart Black, the body-based lineage this work sits inside. Alongside it I trained in breathwork with Dan Brulé and hold certification under Chris Keener.
And I came to this work through my own body. I know what it is like to understand everything and still carry it. I had to meet my own little girl first. None of that makes me a clinician, and I will not pretend otherwise. It means the hands-on work has a tradition behind it, and I am accountable to how I was taught to hold it.
Where the tradition itself comes from
The idea that emotion lives in the body is older than any of us. Its modern line runs through Wilhelm Reich, the psychoanalyst who first mapped how suppressed feeling becomes muscular “armor”, and through his student Alexander Lowen and John Pierrakos, whose Core Energetics turned that insight into a hands-on practice of pressure, breath, movement, and voice.
That is the river this work drinks from. What I practise is the non-clinical, one-to-one expression of that lineage, trained under practitioners formed in it, and honest about what it is and is not.
Practical details
- Format
- Private and one-to-one. You stay clothed throughout.
- Length
- Two hours.
- Where
- By arrangement in Franklin, Tennessee and Tulum, Mexico. Dates are coordinated directly with you.
- Online
- Possible, but the power of this work comes from moving it through the body with touch. I recommend in person.
- Language
- Sessions run in English or Spanish.
- Investment
- $250 USD per session.
- How many sessions
- As many as you need to feel complete. We decide together, one session at a time.
- Before you come
- Comfortable clothing, no makeup, and nothing to eat for two hours beforehand.
- First step
- A free 30-minute video call on Zoom, so we can meet before you decide anything.
- Reply time
- I answer every message myself, usually the same day.
Safety, Agency, DiscretionYou stay in control.
Send me a message
You stay in control.
I stay fully with you.
For women who have spent years holding everything together, safety is the foundation. This is high-touch private work, held with respect for your pace, privacy, and nervous system capacity.
You stay clothed, in control, and fully respected at all times.
You can pause, slow down, or stop at any moment.
I track your breath, body cues, and emotional pace in real time.
This is private, one-to-one, and held in full confidentiality.
Before you choose
“Emotional Release Therapy” means four different things.
The same phrase is used by practitioners doing genuinely unrelated work, which makes comparing options harder than it should be. Here is the honest map, and where I sit on it.
The Pat Jackman Method of Emotional Release TherapyWhat I practise
Hands-on bodywork and inner child work, together. Developed by Pat Jackman, who has been guiding this work for more than thirty years. The practitioner works with the body directly, so emotions that were interrupted can finish, and then with the younger part of you that held them. This is the method I am certified in.
Muscle-testing and tapping methods
Approaches such as the Emotion Code and the Emotion Release Technique (which is also shortened to “ERT”) use muscle testing to identify a held emotion, then acupressure or tapping points to discharge it. Non-invasive, and a very different mechanism from the work I do.
NLP and timeline-based methods
A trademarked family of techniques that work through hypnotherapy and guided timeline processes to release emotion attached to past events. Cognitive and conversational rather than physical.
Licensed clinical therapy
Many licensed therapists use the phrase descriptively for emotion-focused or somatic work inside psychotherapy. If you need diagnosis, treatment, or insurance-billable care, this is the category you want, and I will say so.
How it compares
| talk therapy | Talk therapy helps you understand your story. Emotional Release Therapy lets your body finish it. |
|---|---|
| EMDR | EMDR works through the memory. Emotional Release Therapy works through the body, where the feeling is still held. |
| other somatic work | Somatic work helps you notice it. Emotional Release Therapy lets it come all the way through. |
Compared with talk therapy
Understanding matters, and for many people it is enough. This work starts from the other end: it assumes you already understand, and that the feeling is still living in your body anyway. The two are not rivals. Plenty of the women I work with see a therapist and come to me for the part that words have not reached.
Compared with EMDR
EMDR is a clinical protocol delivered by licensed professionals, with strong evidence behind it for post-traumatic stress. My work is not clinical and makes no such claim. It is slower, hands-on, and led by what your body does rather than by a protocol.
Compared with other somatic work
Noticing where you hold something is a real step. Here we stay with it until the feeling has finished moving, and then turn to the younger part of you who has been holding it.
This work is for you if...
Especially if you became the strong one, the one who holds everything, and nobody asked what you needed.
You have done the therapy, read the books and understand your story, and your body is still holding it.
In a conflict you suddenly feel small: you hide, you fight, or you go quiet.
You learned early to be fine, to take it, to hold your breath.
Your throat, jaw, chest or belly stay braced, as if something is about to happen.
You are done surviving, and you are ready to let go.
What you may experience
Every response is different. Whatever arises is met with care, consent, and professional containment.
Pressure or tenderness where emotion has been held
Tears, shaking, sound, or words you never got to say
Memories or images surfacing, or nothing you can name at all
Softness, tiredness, or a sense of space afterwards
Common shifts over time
Less reactivity and more choice in intense moments
Clearer boundaries with less guilt
More safety in intimacy and emotional expression
A calmer nervous system and more access to joy
Please read this part
Talk to me first, or wait, if any of these apply.
This work uses conscious-connected breathing, which changes how your body handles oxygen and carbon dioxide. For most people that is safe and self-regulating. For some it is not, and I would rather say so plainly here than find out on the day.
- You are pregnant, or think you may be
- You live with a cardiovascular condition, uncontrolled high blood pressure, or have had a recent cardiac event
- You have epilepsy or any seizure disorder
- You have glaucoma, retinal detachment, or another condition affecting eye pressure
- You have had surgery in the last three months, or have a recent injury still healing
- You have a history of psychosis, bipolar disorder, or another condition where expanded states carry risk
- You are currently in acute crisis, or your safety feels uncertain right now
None of these is automatically a no. Several are a “tell me more and we will decide together”. Mention it in your enquiry and I will give you a straight answer, including when the honest answer is that this is not the right work for you right now.
This is not the right fit if
- You are looking for a diagnosis, a treatment plan, or insurance-billable care
- You want relief without participating in the process
- You need someone to be available between sessions as ongoing crisis support
- You are being sent by someone else and are not choosing this yourself
What this work is not
This is educational and wellness-oriented work. It is not psychotherapy, psychiatry, medical treatment, or crisis care, and I am not a licensed clinician. If you are in danger or in a mental health emergency, call 911 or your local emergency number.
Questions people actually ask
Before you write to me.
What is Emotional Release Therapy?
It is hands-on bodywork and inner child work, together. When something was too much as a child, the feeling had nowhere to go, so the body held it. In a session I place my hands where it got stuck, you breathe into that place, and the feeling that never got to finish finally does. Then we turn to the younger part of you who has been holding it, and give her what she needed and never got. Sessions are private and one-to-one, and you stay clothed and in control throughout.
Is Marissa a certified Emotional Release Therapy practitioner?
Yes. I am certified in the Pat Jackman Method of Emotional Release Therapy, trained by Pat Jackman herself, who developed the method and has been guiding this work for more than thirty years. I completed my certification in July 2026, and I am listed in her directory of practitioners at patjackman.com/ertpractitioners, which names about twenty certified practitioners in the United States.
Do I have to talk about what happened?
No. You don't have to tell me the whole story. You don't even have to remember it. Your body and your voice will do that for you. Share as much or as little as you want.
What happens in a session?
A session lasts two hours. I place my hands on the points where the feeling got stuck, often the jaw, throat, chest or belly, and you breathe into that place with conscious connected breathwork. What never got to finish starts to come up: tears, shaking, sound, words you never got to say. I ask how old she is, the younger you who has been holding it. I hold out an open hand with what she needed and never got, and with your breath you let her take it. Then I ask what you love about her. We close slowly, so what moved has time to settle.
What does it cost?
$250 USD for a two-hour session. How many sessions make sense depends on what you are carrying, and we talk about that in our first call. The first call itself is free.
How many sessions will I need?
As many as you need to feel complete. It depends on the pattern or the pain you are carrying, so there is no set number. We decide together, one session at a time.
How do I start?
Send me a message through the form on this page or on WhatsApp. I answer every message myself, usually the same day. We begin with a free 30-minute video call on Zoom, so we can meet and you can ask anything before you decide.
How should I prepare for a session?
Wear comfortable clothing, come without makeup, and do not eat for two hours beforehand. The only other thing to bring is a willingness to let go.
Where do sessions take place? Are they ever online?
In person, during my time in Franklin, Tennessee and the greater Nashville area, and in Tulum, Mexico. I travel between them in seasons and can share my dates in advance. A session can be held online, but the power of this work comes from moving the feeling through the body with touch, so in person is what I recommend.
Do you work with men?
I work with everyone. Most of the people I work with are women, and that is where my focus is.
Is this therapy? Can it replace seeing a therapist?
No. This is educational and wellness-oriented work, not psychotherapy, psychiatry, or medical treatment. I am not a licensed clinician and I do not diagnose or treat conditions. It works well alongside therapy, and there are situations where I will tell you that licensed care is what you actually need.
Is it safe? Are there reasons I should wait?
Yes, there are. This work uses conscious connected breathwork, which is not appropriate during pregnancy, or with cardiovascular conditions, epilepsy or seizure disorders, glaucoma or retinal conditions, recent surgery, or a history of psychosis or bipolar disorder. If you are in acute crisis, this is not the right starting point. Tell me what is going on and I will be honest with you about whether to proceed, wait, or start somewhere else.
How is it different from Healing Air Breathwork and Metanoia?
Emotional Release Therapy is hands-on and works with specific held patterns in the body. Healing Air is a breath-led session for emotional buildup and nervous system reset, with no somatic pressure work. Metanoia is a multi-day private immersion, and Emotional Release Therapy is part of it. If you are not sure which fits, tell me what is happening and I will point you to the right one, including if that is none of them.
Is this the same as an emotional release massage?
No. A massage works on tissue for relaxation and relief, and emotion sometimes surfaces as a side effect. This work runs the other way: the feeling is the point, and touch is how we reach it. You stay clothed, nothing is done without your consent, and the session follows what your body offers rather than a bodywork routine.
Still researching rather than ready to write? Start with the guide: how to release stored emotions from the body (what “stored” actually means, and what you can do on your own before working with anyone).
“If something in you felt seen just now, that’s her. The little one who’s been waiting. You don’t have to hold this alone anymore.”
Send me a message
We’ll begin with a simple conversation.
Tell me a little about what is happening. I answer every message myself, usually the same day, and we will set up a free 30-minute video call on Zoom to meet before you decide anything.
Private. One-to-one. Held with discretion.