Maggie Kline, M.S. LMFT, SEP has been a marriage, family and child therapist in private practice for over 30 years. Her first two careers were as teacher and counselor in Long Beach Unified, a large, ethnically diverse public school district in California. Later, when Maggie became a school psychologist, she served youngsters, parents and student support teams from pre-school through high school. She received her marriage, child and family psychotherapy license in 1986 and opened a private practice. Not being satisfied with her University Counseling Psychology degree due to a dearth of trauma treatment education in that decade, Maggie sought knowledge "outside of the box" to help school-aged children, their teachers and their parents. She, fortunately, discovered and studied with Dr. Peter A. Levine, the originator of Somatic Experiencing, a physiologically-based trauma prevention and treatment method based on the most up-to-date neuroscience. Maggie was soon recognized as a trauma expert, integrating S.E. with art, movement, play, dream work and social engagement games.

Currently, Maggie is an international instructor for the Somatic Experiencing Trauma Institute (www.traumahealing.org). Additionally, she created “Trauma through a Child’s Eyes PlayShops" taught in 35 cities on 5 continents for professionals who help children, parents and schools. Maggie led the first team of volunteers to use SE in Thailand after the Southeast Asian Tsunami and conducted an emotional first aid workshop for teachers and parents after the Norwegian massacre in 2011. She presents at Play Therapy and Trauma Conferences in the U.S. and in Europe. Maggie was awarded a grant to train social workers in Austin, Texas through Communities In Schools (CIS) sponsorship, a national organization supporting traumatized students to succeed. She is the co-author of It Won't Hurt Forever--Guiding Your Child through Trauma (Mothering Magazine, Jan-Feb 2002), Trauma through a Child's Eyes--Awakening the Ordinary Miracle of Healing (North Atlantic, Berkeley, 2007 and Trauma Proofing Your Kids—A Parents’ Guide to Instilling Confidence, Joy and Resilience, March, 2008— all with Dr. Peter Levine. Maggie also completed a series of 15 video interviews produced and offered free to parents by www.kidsinthehouse.com to help children cope with trauma and grief. Her passion is to inspire hope by giving tools to teachers and parents to prevent and heal the symptoms of trauma, overwhelm and chronic stress. Her current project for North Atlantic Books is "HeARTwork, Bringing Kids to their Senses”, an essential handbook for educators eager to teach traumatized children to become aware, embodied, focused, empathetic and successful.

Youth Development