Penny Waller Ulmer, Registered Psychologist, Certified Sensorimotor Psychotherapist, SPI Approved Consultant

Penny Waller Ulmer, BA, MACP, R. Psych

Everyday life is lived through the body as well as the mind, through sensation, emotion, thought, movement, and relationship. Our nervous system continually organizes these experiences, shaping how we feel, respond, and make meaning in the world.

I offer an integrative, body-centered approach to therapy grounded in Sensorimotor Psychotherapy, a well-developed therapeutic approach rooted in established psychological theory. Many traditional therapies focus primarily on thoughts and insight. Sensorimotor Psychotherapy expands this work by including the body as an essential source of information and healing. It helps us notice patterns held in posture, tension, impulses, and physiological responses, especially those shaped by stress, trauma, and early relationships.

In our work together, we gently explore how past experiences may continue to influence present-day reactions, often outside of conscious awareness. By working with both bottom-up (somatic, nervous system-based) and top-down (cognitive, meaning-making) processes, therapy supports more integrated and lasting change. This approach draws from attachment theory, psychodynamic principles, learning theory, polyvagal theory, and somatic psychology, allowing the work to be responsive to your unique experience.

I work with adults navigating trauma, anxiety, stress, life transitions, perinatal mental health concerns, and caregiver stress. Together, we cultivate a compassionate and curious awareness of your internal experience, supporting greater regulation, integration, and a more connected sense of self.

Over time, this process can support:

Improved emotional regulation
Greater connection between mind and body
Increased sense of agency and choice
Integration of past experiences into present-day life
Improved intra- and interpersonal experiences
A more grounded, embodied sense of self

My hope is that each client develops an enduring curiosity about their own healing process, supporting presence, resilience, and a deeply felt sense of self.

Lived Experience

While my professional training forms the foundation of my work, my personal experiences have also shaped how I show up as a therapist.

Before training in Sensorimotor Psychotherapy, I experienced this approach as a client while working through my own trauma. That process deepened my respect for the body’s wisdom and showed me how meaningful healing can be when both mind and body are included in therapy.

My experiences as a caregiver and parent have added another layer of understanding. Parenting as a single mother, supporting a neurodivergent child, and navigating postpartum anxiety and perinatal loss have all shaped my appreciation for patience, flexibility, and self-compassion. These experiences inform my work with clients facing caregiver stress, reproductive mental health concerns, and the complexity of balancing multiple roles.

Growing up with a parent living with severe mental illness, and later experiencing profound grief, including suicide loss within family and community, has further shaped my capacity to sit with pain in a steady and compassionate way. These experiences guide my work with grief, trauma, and loss, and have strengthened my belief in the resilience people carry, even in the most difficult moments.

At the heart of therapy, however, is your experience. My role is to support your process with care, respect, and attunement. Sharing parts of my story is simply one way of showing how my personal and professional paths have come together in a practice grounded in empathy, relational attunement, curiosity, and hope.

Professional Experience & Training

My professional background includes working in Reproductive Mental Health at the Lois Hole Hospital for Women in Edmonton, first as a practicum student and later as a Provisional Psychologist. I then joined the Edmonton North Primary Care Network, where I supported clients with a wide range of concerns, including trauma, anxiety, depression, and life transitions, while continuing to build my private practice - Waller Psychology.

I bring both clinical training and lived understanding to my work, always in service of your healing.