Somatic Therapy (Body Centered)

Somatic therapy, also sometimes known as body-centered therapy, refers to approaches that integrate a client’s physical body into the therapeutic process. Somatic therapy focuses on the mind-body connection and is founded on the belief that viewing the mind and body as one entity is essential to the therapeutic process. Somatic therapy practitioners will typically integrate elements of talk therapy with therapeutic body techniques to provide holistic healing. Somatic therapy is particularly helpful for those trying to cope with abuse or trauma, but it is also used to treat issues including anxiety, depression, stress, relationship problems, grief, or addiction, among others. Think this approach might be right for you? Reach out to one of TherapyDen’s somatic therapy experts today.

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I believe in the wisdom of the body, and support my clients to pay close attention to their present moment bodily experience during therapy sessions. We utilize the body as a resource for bearing feelings, understanding dilemmas and finding creative choices to live more fully. I have trained in embodied approaches to trauma both at the California Institute of Integral Studies Somatics Psychology department and through Sensory Motor Psychotherapy where I completed one year of intensive training.

— Nathan Michael, Licensed Marriage & Family Therapist in Berkeley, CA

I invite you to take a moment now, to check in with your body. You don't need to change a thing physically, just allow your attention to shift inward as you continue to look at your phone or computer screen. What do you notice? By acknowledging and accessing our body's intelligence, therapy is much more effective and deeper than psychoanalysis alone. In our work, we will gently explore what it's like for you to be in your body, guiding you towards increased feelings of safety comfort and ease.

— TESSA SINCLAIR, Marriage & Family Therapist in San Francisco, CA
 

Somatic Experiencing is a way of dealing with really tough experiences, like trauma, that can leave a mark on our bodies and minds. Instead of just talking about it, this approach pays attention to what's happening in your body, like the physical sensations and reactions. By gently working with those sensations, it helps release the stuck energy from the past and helps you move forward and feel better.

— Angela Tam, Counselor in , WA

Somatic counseling invites the experience of the body into the therapeutic process including breath, internal sensations, postures, gestures, and expressive movements. ​Developing our ability to notice and listen to these embodied experiences is the most direct path to increasing self-awareness of our emotions, patterns, identities, values, needs, and desires.

— Lauren Pass Erickson, Psychotherapist in Boulder, CO
 

I am a BIG believer that trauma and emotions get stored in the body! I have a strong background in physiology, but what informs me the most is my prior career as a full-time Massage Therapist, my own extensive experience with body-focused forms of meditation and my enrollment in Peter Levine's 3+ year Somatic Experiencing® Professional Training Program. This particular sect of my work is such an incredIble passion of mine because it weaves together everything that I love and I see that it WORKS.

— Margo James, Licensed Professional Counselor Associate in Austin, TX

I have expertise in somatic therapy, an approach that recognizes the interconnectedness of the mind and body in the healing process. I understand that trauma, stress, and emotional difficulties can become stored in the body, leading to physical tension, discomfort, and imbalances. Through somatic therapy, I help clients develop awareness of bodily sensations, emotions, and patterns of tension. Together, we can regulate the nervous system, and promote overall well-being.

— Catherine Liang, Clinical Psychologist
 

My approach is informed by Somatic Experiencing.

— Shaye Mueller, Art Therapist in ,

The body is a source of information that, when we learn to listen, can often suggest a clearer path. Body psychotherapy enrolls the body directly in therapy, whether it’s through authentic movement or Somatic Experiencing, or more subtly through opening to the intuition of the nervous system, mind-body work, of becoming aware of the unique signals your body developed to communicate with you. Working with the body is the most direct means of healing trauma because it's where trauma is processed.

— Will Hector, Licensed Marriage & Family Therapist in Madison, WI
 

Everything in life is a physical, mental, social, and spiritual experience. Yet, many of us are disconnected from our bodies. I believe that our bodies are vessels of wisdom from which we hold our experiences of pain, joy, belonging, intuition, and information. Through the process of slowing down and noticing, we can uncover a well of resources you already have within you, as well as heal from a foundational level. I am a Certified Somatic Attachment Therapist.

— Eden Baron-Williams, Marriage and Family Therapist Associate in Portland, OR

I practice Hakomi style mindfulness-based somatic therapy (I completed Level 1 training). This work is incredibly useful in accessing the wisdom of the body, clarifying your wants and needs and maintaining emotional safety while working through trauma. Your experience in the present moment is the vehicle and involves way less talking. Often with the eyes closed, focusing on sensations, images, memories, beliefs and thoughts in the present, we work to provide past missing experiences.

— Chauney Peck, Licensed Marriage & Family Therapist in Los Angeles, CA
 

Somatic therapy recognizes the mind-body connection and the impact of physical sensations and experiences on our emotional well-being. It aims to allow a person who is trying to heal from deep wounds to experience those moments of truth in safety and privacy. By incorporating somatic practices, we can tap into your body's wisdom and explore how sensations and movement can contribute to your healing process.

— Aline Zelenskiy, Licensed Clinical Mental Health Counselor Associate in Seattle, WA

I could have spent my whole life talking about trauma instead of moving it through. As a student who stumbled into the field, I was its biggest critic. I wanted evidence that the body mattered. In my most profound relationships now as client or healer, we don't talk a lot & the evidence is right there in the ability to process & release pain without analysis paralysis. I lead folx to learn from their own body how stress shapes the way they walk the world & they let it lead them toward freedom

— Sarah Kendrick, Mental Health Counselor in Portland, OR
 

I completed the course Trauma and Overwhelm Lives in the Body, and learned a great deal about the effects of trauma on our bodies. I learned what happens with our brain chemistry, and how areas of the brain and body react in a trauma state. I learned techniques to teach my clients to bring an awareness to them about what is happening to them in that state. I have been treated using Somatic Experiencing and learned a lot in the process.

— Tracy Sondern, Associate Marriage & Family Therapist in Los Angeles, CA

as a client in therapy myself, i have experienced profoundly transformative shifts through somatic therapies. our bodies are inherently designed to process through trauma; unfortunately, many minds have been taught to override this organic process. slow, somatic practice creates opportunities to reconnect with our felt-sense, strengthen body-mind communication, and allow our bodies to tap into their natural healing capacities.

— summer koo, Licensed Professional Counselor Candidate in Denver, CO
 

I use body-work to guide clients in releasing their trauma histories. When trauma occurs early in life before language skills are fully developed, the trauma automatically becomes stored in the body. Symptoms of pain, repeated injuries, and even susceptibility to illness can all be signs of unprocessed childhood trauma. When we work somatically, we release the emotions stored in the body to relieve the physical symptoms and postural habits.

— Rebecca Spear, Licensed Marriage & Family Therapist in Pasadena, CA

My core approach to therapy is mindfulness focused, relational, and integrative. I am trauma sensitive, while integrating techniques from cognitive behavioral therapy, dialectical behavioral therapy, motivational interviewing, and somatics. Sessions consist of a combination of talk therapy and experiential & somatic activities that incorporate mindfulness and creativity. The approach is excellent for short-term problem solving and long-term in-depth work.

— David S. Wu, Clinical Social Worker in Pleasant Hill, CA
 

Somatic therapy is the healing part of therapy. It uses the body's natural drive to process through traumatic and painful experiences.

— Lindsay Perry, Licensed Professional Counselor in Bellaire, TX

I am a Somatic Experiencing Practitioner-in-Training. Somatic Experiencing is a body-oriented therapeutic model for healing trauma and other stress disorders. It focuses on bringing our nervous system back into regulation, instead of constantly being activated because of past (or ongoing) traumas.

— Mark Myran, Associate Marriage & Family Therapist in Irvine, CA
 

Somatic therapy (somatic experiencing) has helped my clients to see the psychobiological aspect of therapy and how it affects both the body and mind.

— Kelley Collins, Licensed Professional Counselor in ,