Meet Dr Liz!

Liz Charles MD

Liz began her career as a family doctor in Southwest England. While exploring various therapeutic modalities in her own healing process, she became fascinated in the neuroscience relating to the impact of trauma. Her introduction to polyvagal theory, and subsequently Safe and Sound Protocol (SSP), had a profound effect on her. This continues to inspire and inform her therapeutic work.

Liz is an experienced SSP provider and Unyte Endorsed Mentor for SSP. She specialises in delivering SSP to adult clients experiencing the impact of complex trauma and chronic illness, particularly Parkinson’s disease.

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Liz Charles walking dogs in field
Liz and friends

Dr Liz with Ruth Lanius and Betsy Polatin – Belfast 2022

Collaborations

Liz is honoured to work in collaboration with leading researchers in the trauma world including:

Stephen W. Porges, Ph.D.

Distinguished University Scientist at Indiana University, USA
Author of Polyvagal Theory & Creator of SSP

Ruth Lanius MD, PhD

Psychiatry Professor and Director of the Clinical Research Program for PTSD, Western University of Canada

Betsy Polatin MFA, SEP

Alexander Technique Professor at Boston University College of Fine Arts, USA. Author of Humanual.

Liz was an inaugural member of the Clinical Advisory Board for Unyte-iLs & has contributed to their SSP training materials since 2019.

‘Liz Charles is a physician in the UK who is using the Safe and Sound Protocol with adults with a variety of clinical histories. She is a generous and compassionate person and is especially committed to using SSP with adults who have a trauma history. She has a deep understanding of trauma that provides her with the insights to support the courage of her clients and has been very successful in adapting the SSP to give good outcomes with trauma survivors.’

Stephen W. Porges, Ph.D.

Dr Liz's Background

Liz qualified as a medical doctor at St. Thomas’ Hospital, London and afterwards became a full-time partner in General Practice in South-West England. She gained an in-depth understanding of anatomy, physiology, and clinical skills and then enjoyed being able to provide medical care to people of all ages.

Liz has a significant history of sustained trauma in childhood and as an adult. Fortunately, she had the benefit of intensive and extensive support from three wonderfully kind and generous somatic, holistic and talk therapists. Their skilled relational approach was highly effective and essential to her deep healing and transformation.

Reading about the Polyvagal Theory by Dr Stephen Porges gave her the opportunity to have a better understanding of the human survival responses, particularly the immobilising shutdown response, She was excited and relieved to finally make sense of the wide-reaching effects of trauma that she had experienced personally and also witnessed in others. Under the watchful eye of her sensitively attuned therapist, she subsequently experienced SSP for herself and the effects were profound and life changing.

She continues to have a keen interest in neuroscience relating to the impact of trauma on the body-brain connection, and therapeutic modalities that use and apply this understanding for improved physical, emotional and mental health.

She feels privileged to now be able to integrate all she has learned from these many and varied experiences to support others using her Sensitive Approach: Client at the Core™.

Dr Liz lives by the coast in Southwest England and enjoys walking on the beaches and cliff tops with her dog, Tilly, an important part of her daily self-care. She experiences great comfort and joy from the love and support of her two precious daughters and her special close friends.

Qualifications & Publications

  • Medical degree MBBS (University of London)
  • Member of Royal College of General Practitioners (MRCGP)
  • Diploma of the Royal College of Obs & Gynae (DRCOG)
  • An early adopter of Safe and Sound Protocol
  • Author of handbook for delivering SSP to those with a trauma history for iLs
  • Inaugural member of Clinical Advisory Board for Unyte-iLs:
  • Video presentation of pioneering SSP work with Parkinson’s disease (PD) at 2021 PVI Summit
  • Advisor to the clinical team for a controlled trial led by Dr. Jacek Kolacz in Indiana, USA, researching the impact of SSP in trauma therapy, 2022
  • SSP work with a PD client featured in the article “It Takes a Village” in the July 2024 Alexander Technique AmSAT Journal.
  • SSP case study of PD client in Safe and Sound: A Polyvagal Approach for Connection, Change, and Healing by Stephen Porges and Karen Onderko, April 2025
  • SSP complex trauma case study in Sensory Pathways to Healing from Trauma: Harnessing the Brain’s Capacity for Change by Dr. Ruth Lanius and co-authors, July 2025.

Looking for Professional Guidance?

Liz offers professional guidance to new & experienced SSP Providers.
Fill out the form on the contact page for one-off or on-going support.

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Recent & Ongoing Work

2025

A chapter on her SSP work with a client with Parkinson’s Disease was published in Safe and Sound: A Polyvagal Approach for Connection, Change, and Healing, by Dr. Stephen Porges and Karen Onderko.

Liz joined Stephen Porges and Karen Onderko at Unyte’s book club to celebrate their powerful new book Safe and Sound!

This book about SSP is an accessible, rich resource rooted in Polyvagal Theory, blending theoretical understanding with clinical insight, brought to life through compelling case stories and deepened by the thoughtful reflections of Dr. Porges.

You can find out more and watch the webinar here.

She contributed a complex trauma case study to the ground-breaking book Sensory Pathways to Healing from Trauma: Harnessing the Brain’s Capacity for Change, by Dr. Ruth Lanius and co-authors Sherain Harricharan, Breanne Kearney, and Benjamin Pandev-Girard.

This compelling book translates years of complex research into clear, relatable language, making it accessible and empowering for a broad audience. It explores the vital role our senses play in how we perceive safety or danger, and how our sensory pathways influence every aspect of our lives. Offering a path to healing and recovery, it presents a powerful opportunity for transformation through both the brain and body.

2024

Liz’s clinical work with clients living with Parkinson’s Disease (PD) continues to grow and evolve. She has developed a specialized training and mentoring program focused on SSP for PD, aiming to expand access to care and lay the groundwork for future research. Actively collaborating with colleagues across the U.S. and Europe, Liz is also creating a range of resources to support this emerging and impactful area of practice.

July 2024: Her SSP work with a Parkinson’s Disease client, Roy, was featured in the article “It Takes a Village” in The Alexander Technique AmSAT Journal. Take a look here.

2023

Launched in January 2023, the Sensitive Approach Workshop Series has become a recurring event held several times each year. These live workshops provide SSP practitioners with practical skills and experiential learning, encouraging ongoing development, meaningful connection, and professional growth within a supportive community. Find out more about Liz’s workshops here.

Liz created Nurturing Your Nervous System, an on-demand self-care module designed to support practitioners in caring for their own nervous systems. By prioritising their well-being, practitioners are better equipped to enhance client outcomes and sustain their work more effectively. You can find out more here.

She also created a YouTube channel offering accessible, self-care-focused content for professionals, clients, and the wider public. Check out the channel here.

Dr Liz 's Self-Care Module on a laptop screen

Dr Liz with Dr Stephen Porges – Florida 2022

2022

Deeply interested in the ways trauma and illness impact the brain and body, Dr. Liz integrates complex concepts and shares them in accessible, practical ways across a range of audiences. This experience has informed the development of her clinical model, The Sensitive Approach: Client at the Core™, which she applies in her 1:1 online SSP work with clients facing complex trauma and chronic illness.

Dr. Liz launched her website for The Sensitive Approach: Client at the Core™ to expand access to her training and mentoring through live workshops and on-demand modules.

In her private practice, Dr. Liz delivers the Safe and Sound Protocol (SSP) individually to adult clients worldwide, including those with complex trauma and chronic conditions such as Parkinson’s Disease and Long COVID. She also offers 1:1 mentoring to SSP providers and continually creates new content and learning materials.

Dr Liz's Polyvagal-informed journey

Find out more about Dr Liz’s journey with Polyvagal Theory, delivering SSP and involvement with the community. 

Dr Liz was a founder member of the Clinical Advisory Board for Unyte-iLs, contributing to clinical guidelines and best practices for the SSP community.

Dr Porges introduced Liz to Betsy Polatin to seek her somatic expertise and explore how to integrate somatic elements into Liz’s developing SSP work with Parkinson’s disease.

Dr Liz was Consultant for Indiana University providing clinical guidance to therapists at Spencer Psychology in a study led by Dr Jacek Kolacz on the impact of SSP on clients with complex trauma.

At the first Polyvagal Institute Summit, a video presentation ‘Story of Change: Creative Connection in the Time of COVID’ featured Liz’s pioneering SSP work with a client with Parkinson’s disease.

Dr Liz was a guest on the Australian Safe and Sound Protocol (SSP) Podcast with Joanne McIntyre, discussing SSP and Trauma.

You can listen to the podcast here.

In 2020, during the COVID-19 pandemic, Dr Liz started delivering SSP online with the support of Dr Porges and Karen Onderko. She continued to contribute to training for Unyte-iLs, including remote delivery guidelines and regular Q&A sessions.
In April 2019 she attended the first SSP Gathering in Florida, USA. where she met Dr Stephen Porges. He then invited her to attend his next workshop in London. Following further conversation, Dr Porges invited Liz to write new training material (manual and video) for SSP providers, based on her experience of delivering SSP and understanding of the supporting neuroscience. She was honoured to do this in collaboration with Karen Onderko at iLs, now a close friend and colleague. Dr Porges invited Liz to join him at conferences in Ireland and London, offering an invaluable opportunity for learning as she shadowed him. Liz met Dr Ruth Lanius at the London conference, and she has since become a valued colleague and friend.
She completed the SSP training programme from Integrated Learning Systems (iLs) and was one of the first SSP providers in the UK.Liz attended a Masterclass by Dr Porges in London where he talked about the Safe and Sound Protocol (SSP) intervention he had created, and which would soon be released commercially.
As Medical and Scientific Advisor for Thrive Approach, she integrated Polyvagal Theory into their training programmes for educational professionals supporting children and young people’s social and emotional development. She wrote the Neuroscience Guides for Childhood and Adolescence and delivered seminars to trainers. Liz attended a Masterclass by Dr Porges in London where he talked about the Safe and Sound Protocol (SSP) intervention he had created, and which would soon be released commercially.
Liz first read about the work of Dr Stephen Porges and was excited to discover this logical explanation about the human autonomic responses to different levels of threat. She was relieved to finally have a scientific framework that made sense of the deep impact that trauma can have on the body-brain connection.