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Solutions That Heal The Soul, Where Counseling & Healing Connect!
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Healing the Healers
The BYRD Model
A Framework for Black and POC Clinicians for Somatic Trauma Healing, Rest & Liberation
About the Author
Sharlisa Byrd, LMFT (CA & OR), SEP, TITC-CT, CCHt is a Licensed Marriage & Family Therapist, Somatic Experiencing Practitioner, Certified Clinical Traumatologist, Clinical Hypnotherapist, adjunct professor at the University of San Francisco, and creator of the BYRD Model™.
Her work sits at the intersection of trauma, nervous system regulation, cultural identity, and somatic healing.
Through her clinical work, teaching, and writing, Sharlisa is committed to supporting clinicians and communities in building pathways toward rest, resilience, and liberation.
For generations, many clinicians, especially Black clinicians and clinicians of color—have carried the emotional and systemic weight of caring for others while navigating environments that often overlook their own wellbeing.
Healing the Healers invites clinicians to return to their bodies, reconnect with rest, and reclaim healing as both a personal and collective act.
Grounded in somatic trauma science, cultural awareness, and lived experience, this book introduces the BYRD Model™, a framework designed to support clinicians in understanding how trauma, stress, and resilience live within the nervous system and within the systems we navigate.
Through reflection, clinical insight, and embodied practices, this work encourages healers to move beyond survival and toward restoration.
Who This Book Is For
This book is written for:
• Black clinicians and clinicians of color
• Therapists navigating burnout or systemic stress
• Trauma-informed practitioners
• Helping professionals seeking nervous system restoration
• Clinicians interested in somatic and culturally responsive healing
While centered on the experiences of Black and POC clinicians, the principles of the BYRD Model invite all healers to reconnect with their bodies and reclaim sustainable ways of caring for themselves and their communities.
Availability
Healing the Healers: The BYRD Model is available through Amazon and major online booksellers.
Workshops & Trainings
The BYRD Model™ is also offered through professional workshops and trainings designed for clinicians, organizations, and academic institutions.
To inquire about trainings, speaking engagements, or workshops, please visit the Contact page.
The BYRD Model™
The BYRD Model™ represents four interconnected pillars that support trauma healing and nervous system restoration:
Belonging
Healing begins when individuals feel seen, safe, and connected. Belonging restores the sense that we are not alone in our experiences.
Yielding
In a culture that glorifies constant productivity, yielding invites the nervous system to slow down, rest, and restore. Rest becomes an act of resistance and repair.
Resilience
Resilience is not something we must create from nothing—it is something we inherit, cultivate, and strengthen through community, culture, and embodied healing.
Disruption
Healing also requires the courage to challenge harmful systems, beliefs, and patterns that keep individuals and communities in cycles of stress and survival.
Together, these pillars create a framework that supports somatic healing, cultural awareness, and collective liberation.
