What Is Somatic Psychotherapy?

Image by Rebecca Marx

You might be familiar with the idea that your mind and body are connected, but you couldn’t say much more than that. That’s a great place to start! Let’s take a look at what happens to our bodies under stress…

When faced with an overwhelming event, the human body, like all mammals, must complete a primitive process: preparing for the event, reacting or responding to it, and then discharging the accumulated energy once the threat has passed. Trauma results when this process is interrupted in some way–such as not being able to react or discharge the accumulated energy and shock after the threat has passed.

If you are not able to fully release the sensations and emotions that accompany a traumatic event, the undigested experience is stored on a cellular level. Instead of discharging, you might tense your body, inhibit or repress.

Over time, you may feel under threat even when you’re not in danger. This is because the past incident gets triggered by bodily sensations that are experienced in the present. In this sense, trauma is not actually about the past, rather, it’s about a body that continues to behave and organize itself as if the experience is happening in the present moment. 

As a result, you might experience some of the following symptoms:

  • Muscular Holding & Tension

  • Sluggishness & Fatigue

  • Anxiety & Depression

  • Difficulty Concentrating

  • Heightened Startle Response or Flashbacks

  • Chronic Pain, Digestive Issues, Headaches/Migraines, Shortness of Breath, Racing Heart, Numbness or lack of sensation

  • Fibromyalgia

  • Difficulty Sleeping and/or Nightmares

  • Avoidance of certain activities or self-isolation

  • Hormonal Issues

  • Sexual Dysfunction

  • Risky or Impulsive Behaviors

  • Becoming Irritable, Quick to Anger, or Aggressive

  • Difficulty experiencing positive feelings

  • Using drugs, alcohol, food, gambling, or sex to suppress or numb uncomfortable thoughts or emotions

Somatic Psychotherapy In Practice

In your therapy, we will explore the language of your body to gain insight into parts of yourself previously kept in your subconscious or experienced through tension or pain. The goal of our work is for you to become an expert of your own nervous system, and build a foundation of ease within your body.

The pace at which I integrate somatic techniques into your therapy is based on your level of comfort and familiarity with being in your body, and as trust and safety is established between us. I use trauma-informed somatic techniques, which primarily draw from Polyvagal Theory, Somatic Experiencing, Sensorimotor Psychotherapy, Yoga Therapy, EMDR, and Experiential Movement.

Some of the techniques we might use in your therapy include the following:

  • Breathing Exercises

  • Sensory Awareness & Tracking

  • Grounding Exercises

  • Titration: the process of moving back and forth between distressed and calm sensations and memories/thoughts

  • Yoga Nidra & Restorative Yoga

  • Identifying & Setting Boundaries

  • Physical movement around the room

  • Exploring Tension & Release

  • Dramatizing different parts of yourself through movement

  • Therapeutic Touch

  • Authentic Movement

  • EMDR

To schedule a phone consultation, click here!