Queer Expressions: Expressive Art and Somatic Therapy Practices for Healing Body Trauma

A creative, body-based guide to healing for queer, trans, and gender-expansive readers--somatic tools and expressive arts to feel safer in your body, rewrite your story, and sustain connection

Queer Expressions is a practical, consent-centered guide to healing body trauma through embodiment and creativity. Drawing on somatic therapy--grounding, breath, orientation, gentle movement--and expressive arts--collage, drawing, clay, movement, music, voice--within a harm-reduction frame of pacing, choice, and safety plans, Wednesdae Reim Ifrach (REAT, ATR-BC, LPC) shares grounded practices, case vignettes, and simple rituals to help you move from shut down or on high alert into steadier, more connected living.

The book follows a simple arc: first, feel and steady your nervous system; next, turn those sensations into art and story; and finally, build rituals and relationships that help the changes last--whether you're navigating dysphoria, ED recovery, chronic stress, or nervous system dysregulation.

Inside you'll find:

• Body check-ins (quick prompts to name sensations and needs), short breath & movement practices (1-10 minutes), and sensory prompts (sight/sound/touch/smell/taste)
  
• Art invitations (collage, drawing, movement, sound/voice) with step-by-step guidance and safety notes
  
• Consent & harm-reduction tools (opt-in/out menus, pacing, crisis planning) to keep the work manageable
  
• Community practices & rituals (altar-making, release-writing, witness circles) to anchor change in daily lif
  
• A queer-centered lens on healing, embodiment, and creativity
  

Warm, inclusive, and usable on your own or with a therapist, Queer Expressions helps you build a more livable relationship with your body--and a story big enough to hold who you are becoming.

Author: Wednesdae Reim Reat Clat Ifrach
Publisher: North Atlantic Books
Published: 06/23/2026
Pages: 272
Binding Type: Paperback
Weight: 0.75lbs
Size: 8.90h x 6.00w x 0.90d
ISBN: 9798889843191

About the Author
Wednesdae is a trans/non-binary art therapist and counselor dedicated to providing gender-affirming, trauma-informed care that emphasizes healing-centered engagement, body justice, intersectional social justice, and equitable access to eating disorder treatment. They co-own and operate Rainbow Recovery, offering clinical supervision, consultations, trainings, workshops, counseling, and art therapy services to clients in Connecticut and Pennsylvania. As a full-time professor at Moravian University, Wednesdae teaches mental health counseling, social work, and expressive art courses, inspiring future professionals. Over the past decade, they have led trainings and workshops for organizations such as the American Art Therapy Association, National Alliance for Eating Disorders, and Yale University, among others. Previously, Wednesdae founded the country's first 2sLGBTQIA+ Eating Disorder Program, served on Project HEAL's Board, and presided over the Connecticut Art Therapy Association. They currently co-chair the Health Professionals in Training Program on the GLMA Board. Their expertise addresses LGBTQ+ concerns and trauma, honoring each client's identity.