Somatic Therapy (Body Centered)

Somatic experiencing therapy is a body-oriented therapeutic model that aims to settle issues of stress, shock, and trauma that build up in our bodies over time. Together we will assess where you’re feeling stuck in the fight, flight, or freeze state based on lived and felt experiences and then provide tools to resolve those fixated physiological states.

Through my Focusing & Indigenous Focusing Oriented Therapy methods, we can use the "felt sense" to get in touch w/ what our body is telling us - how it has a sense of "knowing" where we are stuck, or where we might like to go, that often doesn't even need words. Talk therapy can do a lot, but in many cases, we can feel like we hit a wall. Somatic approaches including cultivating the felt sense, engaging the right brain & limbic system, & working with body-based approaches can be transformative.

My entire graduate studies were focused on Somatic Psychology at the California Institute for Integral Studies. This orientation provides an added dimension by taking the therapy out of the arena of second-hand reports (from your verbal mind) and into first-hand, felt experience. Our bodies often reveal first what our verbal, self conscious mind attempts to disguise and hide. I utilize Somatic interventions to potentially open you up to information that can be overlooked in most analytic psychotherapy. Traditional therapy practices pay attention almost exclusively to thoughts, emotions, and behaviors. In Somatics, the added awareness of sensations and felt experiences within the body are used to deepen the work. This can provide a channel of cooperation between the unconscious and conscious. In turn, Somatics helps to facilitate communication among parts of yourself that may be lost, hidden, or isolated.

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.

Somatic psychotherapy is a type of therapy that focuses on this connection between our minds and bodies to help us understand and manage our feelings. One of the main ideas behind somatic therapy is that our bodies hold onto our past experiences and emotions. By paying attention to how our bodies react in different situations, we can start to recognize patterns and better understand our emotions.

Utilizing tools found within sensorimotor psychotherapy, somatic experiencing, pain reprocessing therapy, as well as mindfulness and guided visualization, much of my work is grounded in the mind-body relationship and providing tools to support a client in enhancing awareness of this connection as well as regulating the nervous system.

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.

With a certification in somatic trauma therapy from The Embody Lab, I understand how trauma and stress can manifest physically in the body. Through body-centered techniques, I will help you become more aware of your bodily sensations, emotions, and responses. This approach allows us to process experiences at a deeper level, fostering healing and resilience while empowering you to reclaim your body’s wisdom and integrate your emotional experiences.

Trauma and stress are stored in the body. Effective healing will include exercises and routines that address areas of tension and support our bodies' natural ability to release and reset to a state of calm and safety.

Somatic therapy offers a powerful, body-centered approach to help clients manage and reduce anxiety. By focusing on the mind-body connection, somatic therapy helps clients become more aware of physical sensations linked to their emotional experiences. This awareness allows clients to understand how their body holds onto stress and anxiety, empowering them to find ways to discharge it. Over time, clients develop the skills to self-regulate, fostering resilience and calmness.

Body-centered therapies use touch, movement, and posture to explore and release stored emotional pain. By addressing the physical imprint of stress and trauma, these approaches promote healing and emotional balance. They encourage clients to connect with their bodies as allies in therapy, using somatic awareness to support resilience and holistic growth.

Somatic Psychology (body-mind psychotherapy, body-oriented psychotherapy, etc.) is a holistic form of therapy that respects and utilizes the powerful connection between body, mind, and spirit. How we are in this world, how we relate to ourselves and others, is not just purely about the mind or our thoughts, but is also deeply rooted in our bodies and our spirits. Unlike traditional talk therapy or cognitive therapy, Somatic Psychology tends to be more experiential and powerful.

I have trained extensively in Trauma Center Trauma Sensitive Yoga (TCTSY) and am a certified facilitator. I am also trained as a Yoga teacher. In addition, I have completed training in Dance Movement Therapy as well as Laban Movement Analysis.

Somatic Therapy helps us focus on what is happening in your body and how that relates to what you're feeling. What happens when we give some space to the body that you are experiencing in your body for example - what happens if instead of shoving all these parts of you down we allow them to have a voice. We hold so much in our bodies, and using a somatic lense it helps to support you in releasing some of that.

Somatic Modalities work with bodily sensations and emotions and incorporating them in to our work through awareness and through movement. My approach to healing reflects my view of the body and mind as a dynamic integrated organic system in constant relationship with its environment. Working with the body in psychotherapy opens up a wealth of options for understanding, experiencing and healing. I have a masters in Somatic Counseling Psychology from the California Institute of Integral Studies.

You will learn to relate to your body in ways that activate emotional resilience and release. Maladaptive behavior, limiting beliefs, and emotional and physical pain arise in relation to experiences that are embedded in your nervous system.

Emotions are learned physiological reactions to memories from the past. Together, we’ll explore these reactions with curiosity, fully embody them, and integrate them to create new emotional experiences. This process reduces the body’s need to protect itself, which often causes tension and disconnect. As you trust your body more, you’ll develop emotional resilience and foster deeper connections with others. This allows for lasting change in how you relate to both yourself and those around you.

I am trained through the intermediate level in Somatic Experiencing (SE) trauma resolution, and I will complete my advanced level and the 3 year training program with Somatic Experiencing International, earning my Somatic Experiencing Practitioner (SEP) certification, in early 2025.