2025: A Year of Growth, Connection, and Rooted Learning
As we wrap up 2025, our team at Rooted Compassion has been reflecting on a year filled with deep learning, meaningful connections, and ongoing dedication to cutting-edge, nervous system-informed care.
Moments That Matter
When I asked our team about the best work moments of 2025, the responses revealed what we value most: connection and transformation. One clinician shared the joy of seeing a client no longer meet PTSD diagnostic criteria after successful treatment. Another described the "life-giving" experience of family therapy—being front and center as healing unfolds through relationships and co-regulation. Alison shared she has been excited about “Seeing the blend of SE and EMDR be so powerful and redefining who I am as a clinician and how much I love this work.” Several team members highlighted how our weekly team meetings fuel our work, as they foster the connection and emotional safety needed.
Completing our program “Anger Management Through the Nervous System Lens” and witnessing the inspiring growth in parent-child therapy reminded us why we do this work: because healing occurs in relationships, and our nervous systems find safety together. We were excited to welcome Alison Savage as our new Clinical Director. She is a dancing queen, an outstanding director, and a great teammate.
We provided a wide range of training sessions to various organizations, including Butler County Family and Children First Council, Northern Kentucky University, Southwest Ohio Council on Governance, Ohio Children’s Alliance, Cancer Support Community, Happy Feet Cancer Support Group in Pittsburgh, PESI, and The Ridge.
We expanded our space by adding an extra office, providing room for each of us and a dedicated workspace for our Practice Manager, Milla Reed. Milla joined us last December and has made a remarkable impact on our team! One team member said it best, “I would take a pay cut to keep Milla!” Clients appreciate her, and so do we!
Learning Together, Growing Together
This year, our team engaged in advanced training across multiple modalities. Several team members completed EMDR foundational training, and we all participate in ongoing consultation to ensure we stay current to provide our clients with the best care. Our learning goes well beyond formal training sessions. We're grateful to learn from pioneers in the field: Robyn Gobbel, Linda Thai, Deb Dana, Steve Porges, Arielle Schwartz, and Andrew Huberman's neuroscience insights on vagus nerve regulation and autonomic function. Our team also gains wisdom from each other, with every interaction enhancing our collective understanding.
Books That Shaped Our Year
Our team's partial reading list reflects our wide-ranging nervous system-inspired approach: Raising Kids with Big Baffling Behaviors by Robyn Gobbel, Fawning by Ingrid Clayton, The Grieving Brain by Mary Frances O'Connor, You Are the One by Richard Schwartz, Safe and Sound: A Polyvagal Approach for Connection, Change, and Healing by Stephen W. Porges, PhD, and Karen Onderko, and Secure Relating by Sue Marriott and Ann Kelly. These works continue to shape our understanding of safety, connection, and healing through the nervous system and a bottom-up approach to therapy.
Looking Toward 2026
Our team is energized for the upcoming year. Several clinicians are pursuing advanced certifications—LPCC, EMDR certification, LCDC III—while others aim to deepen their knowledge in Internal Family Systems, Somatic Experiencing, and Emotionally Focused Therapy. We are excited about the 2026 release of a beautiful book that Keri and I wrote, Polyvagal Theory in Work with Children and Families: Strengthening the Roots of Connection. This book introduces my innovative Rooted Pathways© framework to a broader audience of helping professionals.
As we move into 2026, we remain dedicated to our mission and values: providing the highest-quality, nervous-system-informed therapy while fostering authentic connection, steadfast integrity, emotional safety, intentional stewardship, cultural humility, and creative collaboration. Here's to another year of growth, learning, and rooted compassion.
The members of this team, Alison, Brandon, Kara, Keri, Milla, Nicole, and Shauna, are outstanding humans and even better therapists. I am proud to lead a practice that prioritizes the therapists’ well-being, emotional safety, and connection. We care for ourselves and each other so we can care for you. It is our honor and privilege.
We wish you all a season filled with glimmers and connection! May 2026 be a year of growth, restoration, and emotional safety!
