Somatic Therapy

I weave several somatic modalities into my work, including Somatic Experiencing®, a gentle but powerful way of resolving stress and trauma. I also use movement, dance, and breathwork in my somatic psychotherapy practice.

Some examples of somatic therapy techniques are:

• Noticing what happens in the body when speaking about a particular topic

• Letting a particular part of the body speak in first person

• Paying attention to and following the flow of particular sensations in the body

As mentioned above, Somatic Experiencing® trauma therapy is ideal for people navigating the effects of chronic stress, trauma, depression, and anxiety. Further, other somatic therapy modalities beside or in addition to Somatic Experiencing® are helpful for:

• Burnout

• Creative blocks

• Life transitions

• Grief and loss

• Relationship struggles

• Becoming more present in your body

• Learning how to tune into your body’s wisdom to better understand yourself

According to social worker J. Kellie Evans, LCSW, CSOTP, trauma “…can involve interpersonal events such as physical, emotional, or sexual abuse; war; community violence; neglect; maltreatment; loss of a caregiver/loved one; natural disasters; terrorism; witnessing violence or experiencing trauma vicariously; it can also result from chronic adversity; chronic, severe, or life-threatening injuries; illness; and accidents. Trauma interferes with one’s ability to cope.”¹

When stressful or traumatic things happen, they often happen quickly and with very little to no time to process or integrate what happened. They also can happen in the absence of an empathetic person or community to provide support. Somatic Experiencing® trauma therapy provides a supportive and slow pace to fully process and integrate on a deeper level than traditional talk therapy. 

Pacing is central to all therapy modalities, particularly somatic therapy/Somatic Experiencing®. Ample time and space are given to establish a sense of safety and support, as well as cultivate inner and outer resources to help you on your somatic journey. In somatic counseling, we continually move back and forth between dipping our toe into challenging material and then dipping back into your resources to help increase your resilience and capacity. 

No special background is required to reap the benefits of body-based therapy. The most important thing is to be curious. 

Yes, somatic therapy and Somatic Experiencing® can both be done very effectively online.

Maybe you’ve tried traditional forms of therapy that emphasize the thinking mind and changing feelings and behaviors through changing thoughts. While this can definitely be helpful to a certain extent, this “top-down” approach has its limitations. (It’s called “top-down” because it primarily engages the top part of the brain, which attends to thinking, talking, and present-moment focus.)

Because they focus on thinking, top-down therapeutic approaches tend to circumvent what is often at the root of the “stuckness” that can happen with chronic stress and unresolved trauma. That is, these approaches tend to neglect addressing the bottom section of the brain, which is concerned with memories, impulses, and survival responses (such as fight or flight). 

Somatic trauma therapy takes a “bottom-up” approach, weaving in aspects like: 

• Understanding your body’s sensations

• Receiving education on your nervous system and its various states

• Learning how to ground yourself physically and emotionally

• Using mindfulness

• Cultivating body awareness

Interestingly, in cases of chronic stress and unresolved trauma, once an adequate foundation of “bottom-up” therapy has been established, “top-down” approaches can then be used with greater success. Read this article I wrote to learn more about the theory behind how somatic therapy works and gets the results it does.