Testimonial: Annabelle Evangeline

Hi, I'm Annabelle Evangeline (@annasbanana123)! I help artists and impact-driven people launch new projects and businesses! I also have a brand called @letterstomylittlesisters that is the home to a blog, online shop and The Virtual Big Sister Network (our online membership platform). Our mission at LETTERS is to support and inspire womxn on their self-discovery and healing journeys to make the world a more compassionate place. 

LETTERS was born after I was raped in college. I shared my story of healing - how I rebuilt my identity and came to better understand myself, my values and beliefs through psychotherapy (aka talk therapy). I loved therapy, even though it was hard sometimes. I loved learning new techniques to cope with big feelings and I discovered so much about myself through the process. However, it didn't really help with the debilitating back pain that would come and go at random. Eventually (and I mean after 2 years), it went away. 

Fast forward 3 years to the summer of 2019. My dad committed suicide and left me in charge of all of his sh*t (the house, the car, the business, etc.) My entire life was turned upside down and I intimately experienced the many faces of grief. I went back to therapy and I also found myself back in bed experiencing debilitating lower back pain. 

I stumbled into Jessie in a zoom group and took up her offer for a free session... I couldn't tell you why really, I liked what she had to say during the group and I also liked that it was free. I also knew that I experienced severe back pain when I was really stressed and I wanted it to stop. 

Before I began working with Jessie, I had been to a lot of therapy. 

I can articulate my emotions clearly and even poetically at times, but I was terrified to actually experience them.

I am pretty self-aware but I didn't realize I was avoiding my emotional reality.

I can explain to you the biological process that happens in your brain during a trauma trigger, but I didn't know that my body was stuck in a trauma response. 

I am healing from a life-time of "SHOVE IT DOWN ANNABELLE". I am healing a lifetime of internalized shame around having BIG emotions (aka being too “dramatic”) and a life-time of suffocating in my own self-criticism. 

I am healing my nervous system that was still, in many ways stuck in the trauma of rape, being scared of being pushed to far too fast. Jessie worked with all of it. 

Jessie creates an incredibly warm, loving, safe, encouraging space to explore feelings and sensations in my body. During our sessions she gently guides me through the ups and downs of emotion. And somehow after each session, no matter HOW challenging it may be Jessie brings it to a comfortable end. Each session her guidance allows me to trust how strong I am and helps me widen my capacity to experience it. Each session I build resilience.

Working with Jessie has helped me to be a better leader and supporter for the people I care about and love, but most importantly, our work together has helped me heal, release and understand my human experience in beautiful new ways. I have even developed deeper compassion for myself that has started to trickle out to the people around me too. I frequently remark how this somatic experience feels like Jedi warrior training.

I love somatic therapy because it is both a science and a spiritual experience.

I love somatic therapy with Jessie because I am safe, I am heard, and I am encouraged to honor my humanity. 

If you have the means or the opportunity to work with Jessie, do it. I’ve actually taken a break from psychotherapy because after years and years I’ve found that my experience with Jessie has opened an entirely new chapter for me healing journey. One that has already expanded me in ways I never thought possible.