Somatic Therapy: Is it for me?
Maybe you’ve tried talk therapy and traditional psychotherapy and you’ve still been struggling.
Somatic Therapy, also called Somatic Experiencing is often sought after other approaches didn’t work.
Perhaps talking about the issue has been difficult or maybe even too painful. Or, you are someone who processes stress through your body (or want to get in touch with the mind/body connection). So it makes sense to take another approach to your healing.
Somatic Experiencing was created by Dr. Peter Levine, and is a leading method of healing trauma, dissociation and emotional dysregulation in the mental health industry today.
Departing from traditional talk therapy, Somatic Therapy offers you a cutting edge approach to gently, yet effectively overcome your difficulties.
Somatic therapy helps with:
Anxiety | Trauma | Chronic Stress | Emotional regulation | Addiction Issues | Anger | Depression | Grief & Loss | And more
If traditional talk therapy methods were triggering, Somatic Experiencing was designed for you! In particular, Somatic therapy is often used with clients who have a history of trauma. Because trauma is stored in the body, this approach helps uncover deeply rooted belief patterns, physical pain, and suppressed emotions. Over time, these experiences can remain stored in the body after a traumatic event.
However, Somatic Experiencing can also be used even if you don’t have a history of trauma, but you are looking to deepen your connection with yourself. Additionally, it is useful if you are looking to become more aware of dysregulation cues that your body may be trying to communicate.
“This was my first experience with a counsellor and I had a bit of a wrong notion about it… it felt like talking to a friend, a very reasonable and smart friend” ATHENA
“What was most helpful was learning different approaches to engage with my unwanted thoughts, rather than avoid or fear them” – ELLIE
What does a somatic therapy session look like?
Instead of focusing only on understanding issues cognitively, as in traditional talk therapy, your somatic therapist guides you to notice physical sensations arising in your body.
As your therapist assists you in noticing and following these sensations, Somatic Experiencing will allow you to address and heal what’s showing up in a safe and supported way. Your mind/body connection will strengthen, allowing you to identify and process problems more efficiently on your own after therapy is over.
In addition, your somatic therapist may use a variety of physical techniques to help you process and work through these sensations as they arise. Through increased awareness, you become more aware of what physical sensations are arising in your body, you will learn tools and strategies for helping yourself process them.
Breathing exercises
Guided visualizations
Gentle movement
Grounding exercises
Other specialized exercizes and tools
The goal of somatic therapy is for you to cultivate a feeling of safety and trust in your body, thereby processing trauma or stuckness with more ease. This will allow you to listen to your body in order to better care for yourself emotionally, mentally and physically.
What is somatic Experiencing / Somatic Therapy?
Somatic therapy is a form of psychotherapy that uses the body as a resource to access deeper emotions, sensations, and belief systems. These internal experiences are often difficult to reach through traditional cognitive approaches alone. Instead of focusing only on thoughts, somatic therapy emphasizes the mind–body connection. As a result, it helps reveal how suppressed emotions and traumatic experiences can show up as physical sensations in the body.
During sessions, your somatic therapist helps you develop awareness, curiosity, and acceptance toward these sensations. Over time, this approach creates a sense of safety and regulation. Additionally, Somatic Experiencing uses specific body-based practices to support the processing and release of stored emotional and traumatic stress. Ultimately, this work can reduce patterns that keep you feeling stuck and help you move forward in life.
“She is a very good listener, very well educated and understanding. She is kind and patient which makes the process very enjoyable” – KARY
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