About me
I’m Alpha Ponce, a Brisbane-based somatic psychotherapist and PACFA-registered clinical psychotherapist. I support adults who want to understand how past experiences, emotional wounds and relationship patterns continue to influence their lives, and who are ready to create meaningful change. I’m a Brisbane-based, trauma-informed somatic psychotherapist and PACFA Registered Clinical Counsellor. My work draws on Compassionate Inquiry, Somatic Experiencing, Sensorimotor Psychotherapy, Emotionally Focused Therapy and Gestalt Psychotherapy.
“The world finally understands trauma: that it is profoundly human, that it is almost universal, that it has multiple consequences, as I’ve been outlining, and that it can be healed. Ultimately, and most importantly, it’s not your fault.”
What hurts us can leave more than a story behind. It can shape our nervous system, our beliefs about ourselves and others, and the ways we protect ourselves in relationships. You may understand what happened in your past and still experience tension, emotional numbness, self-doubt, anxiety or protective reactions that feel difficult to change.
My work brings together the body, emotions, thoughts, nervous system and relationships to help you understand these responses with greater awareness and compassion. Together, we explore why certain patterns developed and how you can develop new ways of relating to yourself, others and the world around you. I will support you in feeling more at home in yourself. It’s about reconnecting with who you are beneath the patterns you developed to protect yourself, feeling more comfortable with your emotions and needs, and meeting life with greater presence and self-acceptance.
I studied psychology in Mexico, where I developed an understanding of human behaviour and emotional experience. My path towards somatic psychotherapy deepened in Australia while completing my Master’s in Gestalt Psychotherapy.
This training changed the way I understand the therapeutic process. I learned to pay attention to what is happening in the present moment rather than rushing to explain or interpret someone's experience.
A change in breathing, a tear, a clenched fist or a shift in posture may offer an opportunity to explore what someone is experiencing. These responses do not have one fixed meaning; we approach them with curiosity, allowing each person to discover what feels true for them.
Working with trauma also taught me that connecting with the body is not always easy. For some people, disconnecting from their feelings or physical sensations may once have been an important way to cope. Reconnection therefore needs to happen with care, support and respect for each person's capacity.
This understanding continues to shape my practice. I aim to create a therapeutic relationship where you can explore your experiences without pressure, develop a deeper understanding of yourself, and reconnect with your emotions, needs, boundaries and inner wisdom.
My approach is somatic, trauma-informed and relational. I integrate body awareness with emotional and cognitive exploration because our physical responses, feelings, thoughts and beliefs are deeply interconnected.
Our early experiences can influence how we understand ourselves, how safe we feel with others and how we respond when relationships become difficult. You may have developed beliefs such as I'm not good enough, people will reject me, I must please others to be accepted or I cannot rely on anyone. You may also find it difficult to express your needs, set boundaries or tolerate the possibility of disappointing someone.
These beliefs and protective strategies often developed for understandable reasons. However, they may continue to influence your decisions, emotional well-being, and relationships long after the original circumstances have changed.
In therapy, we gently explore how these patterns developed, how they show up in your life today, and whether they are still serving you. Rather than treating your responses as flaws, we approach them with curiosity and self-compassion.
A central part of my work is helping you become more aware of what is happening within you. Your body may offer clues about your emotional experience through sensations, changes in breathing, muscle tension, impulses to move or withdraw, and other physical responses.
Our bodies can carry the effects of past experiences, including emotions, needs, and responses that we may have learned to suppress or disconnect from. By listening to our bodies with curiosity and compassion, we can begin to recognise these patterns, understand what they are communicating, and develop new ways of responding that support greater safety, self-trust, and emotional well-being.
By learning to notice these experiences, you can begin to recognise emotional triggers, understand protective reactions and identify needs that may have been difficult to acknowledge or express.
We explore your bodily sensations, emotions, thoughts and nervous-system responses in the present moment. This helps us understand how your current experiences may connect with patterns developed over time, without assuming that every physical sensation has a psychological meaning.
The aim is to develop a more integrated awareness that supports change in everyday life. Over time, this may help you respond more consciously rather than automatically, recognise your boundaries, make choices that reflect your values, and develop a stronger connection with your authentic self.
You do not need to revisit every painful memory or explain your trauma in detail for therapy to be meaningful. We work at a pace that respects your needs and your capacity to remain present.
If connecting with your body feels unfamiliar, uncomfortable or overwhelming, we begin where you are. We may first focus on establishing a sense of support, noticing what feels manageable, or becoming curious about your experience without needing to change anything immediately.
Slowing down gives us the opportunity to pause and ask: What am I feeling? Where do I notice it in my body? What needs my attention right now?
These moments of awareness can help you understand your responses and discover new possibilities for how you relate to yourself and others. The process is not about forcing change or getting everything right. It is about creating enough space to listen, understand and respond with greater choice.
Healing does not mean erasing your history. It means developing the capacity to live more fully in the present, with less need to organise your life around old fears and protective patterns.
Therapy is not about becoming a different person or eliminating every difficult emotion. It is about understanding yourself more deeply and developing new ways of responding to life's challenges.
Our work may support you to:
My practice integrates several complementary approaches. Each offers a different way of understanding emotional experiences, protective patterns and the relationship between our inner world and how we live.
You may have spent years adapting to others, suppressing your feelings, anticipating rejection or protecting yourself from being hurt. These responses may once have helped you cope, but they do not have to define how you live today.
Therapy can help you understand these patterns, reconnect with your needs and develop new ways of relating to yourself and others. The aim is to support you in becoming more emotionally aware, setting boundaries with greater confidence, navigating relationships with less reactivity, and making choices that reflect who you are and what matters to you.
You do not need to become someone else. The work is about creating the conditions in which you can feel more connected to yourself, recognise your own needs and possibilities, and live with greater authenticity, freedom and connection.
Explore the therapy options available at Wise Beginning or book a session to begin exploring what you need.
Book a session →Spanish is my first language, and I offer sessions entirely in Spanish. For some people, speaking in their first language makes it easier to describe early experiences and convey emotional nuances. If Spanish is your first language, we can use it from the first session.
I trained in Psychology in Mexico and hold a Bachelor's degree in it, I hold a Master of Gestalt Therapy, and I'm a Registered Clinical Counsellor and Psychotherapist with PACFA, the Psychotherapy and Counselling Federation of Australia, which means I work under its code of ethics and complete ongoing supervision and professional development. I'm not a registered psychologist in Australia, so Medicare rebates don't apply. Private health extras and WorkCover often do.
Each of these bodies keeps its own public register of the practitioners it trained, certified or registered. Nothing on this page needs to be taken on trust: these are the primary sources, and you can check any of it in a minute.
I'm registered with these two as well. Their registers aren't public, so the links go to the organisations themselves — there's no profile page of mine to send you to.
Write to me
If you'd rather send a message before booking anything, this is the place. It comes straight to my inbox, and I'm the one who answers it.
I think that's one of the deepest changes therapy can bring: to stop abandoning yourself, and to learn, finally, to be on your own side.
