Whale Being Therapy, Ellie Wilde, Ph.D.
How I Work
This isn’t traditional therapy.
Weaving together elements of powerful relational and depth work, Ecosomatics, InterPlay, Psychodrama, IFS-adjacent parts work, Expressive Arts, and more, we tailor each session to your unique needs.
We start with nervous system support -- stress release, grounding, and resourcing through flow. Then, we follow what is alive in you from moment to moment through talk, movement, imagination, breath and self-expression.
We make room all your experiences—grief, rage, shame, curiosity, joy, wonder. Held well, you may feel your energy rushing back, grow more adept at meeting life's challenges, confidently supporting others, finding purpose, meaning, and joy.
You may discover a whole new way of living, moving, feeling, and relating. Your inner world may grow more integrated and expansive. Self-trust and alignment increase, the inner critic quiets, new possibilities emerge. Each session includes tangible somatic tools you can use anytime, anywhere. Regular check-ins ensure our work continues to support you and what matters to you most.
Even in such dark times, imagination, play, and aliveness are always available to those who know how to look.
Sessions take place virtually for clients located in Washington State.
Why I Do This Work
"Survival of the nutured."
My passion is embodied liberation, and healing through connection. I see mental health struggles not as personal failures, but as natural responses to the environment. We live inside systems that isolate us, ask too much, offer too little, and shame us for needing care. But we're not meant to carry anything alone. As Louis Cozalino says, "It's not the survival of the fittest, it's the survival of the nurtured."
Nature reminds us how to slow down, soften, and return to what is true in our essential selves. Like the Earth we come from, our bodies hold wisdom -- so we listen together, to learn what’s ready to be composted, reclaimed, or rooted.
Nature also shows us that change is constant, necessary, generative and interconnected. Progress isn't linear, but spiral, playful, and experimental. Nature collaborates.
Our sessions offer a place to reconnect with your inner nature and remember your belonging to life. From this place, transformation ripples outward—toward more just, alive, and interconnected ways of being.
When we tune into inner wisdom and build self trust, we gain the power to bring a more grounded, loving presence to ourselves and to others. We help them do the same, making the world a better place one ripple at a time.
A Note on the Expressive Art Part
Art inspires my therapy practice, which in turn inspires more art. Through this expanding spiral I grow more awe-struck daily by the abundant beauty of life.
If you want to learn more about the expressive art part of what I do, Karen Queller explains it really well in this video, below. You get to decide if we do this part or not. I recommend it, as I find it brings depth, movement, and power to the work. Not to mention fun.
I love being a permissionary: these practices can be a part of our work as much as you choose. Why choose to do it?
Expressive Arts Therapy can grow resilience, be a balm for perfectionism, empower us by increasing access to spontaneity, flexibility, and agency in all domains of life. It can deepen our comfort expressing our true selves, bodies, voices, choices, and a full, healthy spectrum of emotions. It can improve self-trust, pleasure, and love for self and others, human and beyond.
Below is an example of a song and video I made, born from my exposure to expressive arts, somatics, and a growing community of playmates. If you want to make things, but need help overcoming stuckness, you're in the right place.
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