Somatic Therapy
Somatic Therapy is a body-centered approach to therapy, inviting you back towards your inherent wisdom within. Many of us can become stuck in stress response patterns, such as flight, fight, freeze, or fawn, due to past experiences of trauma and shock, leading to on-going nervous system dysregulation.
Somatic Experiencing® is a therapeutic modality that supports with nervous system regulation through processing and working to move through incomplete defense responses while also supporting with learning about the unique signals and language of your body and mind. Overall, the work is centered on helping you shift patterns in your mind and body in order to access greater vitality and connection to your life.
Somatic Attachment Therapy supports with tracking the impact of relational and developmental trauma, both in early life and throughout your lifespan, looking towards healing and repair that can be possible in the present. Overall, this work is centered on better understanding your experiences in relationships and with your caregivers, understanding and being with responses that may exist within you due to past relational wounding, and helping you move towards greater self-worth and secure attachment with yourself and others.
Benefits of Somatic Therapy
Somatic therapy allows us to explore sensations, emotions, body language, imagery, and thoughts in order to explore an experience or a difficulty in your life in its entirety. In somatic methods, it is believed that thoughts, emotions, and sensations all influence one another and it is healing to bring all into the work together.
Somatic Therapy can support with:
Resolving symptoms of trauma, such as intrusive memories, feeling on edge, feeling emotionally numb, sleep disturbances, physical pain, or intense experiences of emotions
Increasing resiliency and capacity to navigate stressors socially, emotionally, and physically
Increasing ability to be with self in the moment, to experience the present, to feel more connected to daily life
Feeling ability to develop resources for support within self
Improving sense of connection in relationships with others and to the world around you
What does this look like in a session?
Somatic therapy can look different in each session and there are many ways we may engage together throughout our work. Here are a few components we may explore, though this is not exhaustive:
Taking time to orient to the present moment through your senses
Getting curious about the signals in your body and mind and tuning into how emotions, sensations, and reactions show up in your daily life and in our work together
Practicing pendulation: learning to gently move between moments of activation and calm, processing intense emotions just a little bit at a time
Receiving support to safely complete incomplete defense responses, allowing your body to release trapped stress
Being with your experiences in the here and now
Exploring and reconnecting to your boundaries, in relationship with yourself and others
Learning about attachment patterns/styles in your life and noticing how these show up in your body and mind, noting the impact on your relationships and how you move through the world