Somatic Therapy (Body Centered)

Another model I frequently incorporate in session is Somatic Experiencing, a body-oriented modality aimed at addressing the physical as well as cognitive aspects of trauma. I have completed the Level 2/Intermediate training through the Somatic Experiencing International Institute.

Prior to my career as a counselor, I practiced as a Licensed Massage Therapist in the state of Florida for 7 years. With that background

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.

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 it is also deeply rooted in our bodies and our spirits. Unlike traditional talk therapy or cognitive therapy, Somatic Psychology tends to be more experiential.

Body-centered therapy is of great use when issues are pre-verbal or non-verbal. It also gives a place to work when clients have a general feeling of being "stuck" but not knowing why. Sometimes the issue isn't non-verbal, it's just unconscious for a variety of reasons. Body-centered therapy is a great jumping off point and it leads easily into Mindfulness Integrated CBT.

Somatic techniques can help you to detach from unwanted energy, emotions and negative core beliefs that may have attached to you during a traumatic event, inner child wounding or period of chronic stress. Learn to use the body as a tool for self-regulation. Learn to use somatic techniques to enhance healing. Learn to rewire and re-stabilize your nervous system.

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

During a Somatic Experiencing session, we will slowly revisit the trauma while taking the time to notice what arises in the moment. I will support you to notice sensations, images, behaviors, affect or emotions, and thoughts or meaning that naturally arise during sessions. Through each response from your body, we will find areas that hold unprocessed energy and to release as needed, slowly and gently. Through the release of this energy, your body’s nervous system will return to its normal flow.

Every experience we have affects us on a bodily level. We feel emotions in a physical way, thoughts make us cringe or tense up, memories can make us feel like we are physically back in the past. Traditional talk therapy ignored the body and tried to change our patterns by only engaging our thinking mind. Somatic therapy is a powerful new tool we have for healing. When we engage the body, we engage and heal all parts of our experience. I use sensorimotor psychotherapy, yoga, and meditation.

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.

Body-Centered therapy operates from the belief that emotional issues (e.g. stress, trauma, anxiety, grief, depression) manifest as physical symptoms and that healing occurs when the mind-body connection is strengthened. Somatic therapy supports clients in connecting to “the messages of the body” in order to provide deep understanding, healing, and transformation.

I attended Naropa University and received a degree in Somatic Psychology. In my own journey of healing, I found myself unable to progress without accessing the body and all that was stored within. Communicating with the body, as well as attunement to trauma and the nervous system, is the foundation of my therapeutic approach. In my years of practice as a therapist, I have been brought back time and again to the innate wisdom every human body holds.

Emotions are a body-based process and I teach and guide clients through figuring out how to tap into the superpower of our bodies. I'm anti-diet and body positive and believe that strengthening the mind-body connection is available for all body sizes and abilities.

Most of the trauma-resolution modalities I work in are body based, and supporting my clients to return to their bodies as a safe place and secure base are integral in my work. I love supporting my clients to increase their capacity to track their bodily awareness and integrate this information into their more global self-awareness.

Somatic or Body-Centered psychology supports the direct experience of the body. Movement, sensation, perception, feeling, and intuition arise from the nervous system. By engaging awareness of our visceral natures, we gain greater capacity for emotional safety, relational integrity, and personal and collective wisdom. Many psychological theories, like attachment, object relations, and intersubjective theory, are significantly enhanced with a somatic orientation.

Western culture privileges the knowledge of our minds over the wisdom of our bodies. We know that the body holds memory and pain and is reponsible for a huge part of our emotional experience and reactions. We work with clients to become more acquainted with emotions as they are experienced in their bodies and build techniques to help lessen reactivity, soothe anxiety and worry, heal and release trauma responses, and feel more at ease.