What Is Somatic Therapy and How Does It Work?

 What comes to mind when you think of therapy? You may think of a person sitting on a chair or a couch, talking with a therapist. The therapist and client are working through various thoughts, emotions, and memories.

But have you ever considered that healing can happen beyond talking on a couch—that it can happen in your body?

Somatic therapy is a therapeutic approach based on the idea that the body actually holds on to stress and past trauma. Somatic therapy revolves around the concept that true healing begins once you’re able to reconnect with your physical self again. Let’s learn more about somatic therapy and how it works.

What Is Somatic Therapy?

Somatic therapy focuses on the connection between your mind and body. Unlike more traditional forms of talk therapy that focus on working through emotions and thoughts, somatic therapy also focuses on the physical sensations that occur within the body, posture, movement, and even breath. Somatic therapy is used to treat conditions like anxiety, depression, and stress.

The goal of this form of therapy is to help individuals pay attention to where they’re actually carrying any tension, tune into the signals that their body is alerting them of, and help them work through any emotions that are stored in the body and nervous system.

How Does Somatic Therapy Work?

Somatic therapy combines the traditional talk therapy approach with bodily awareness and movement. This is how somatic therapy usually works.

Bodily Awareness

A therapist will first begin to help you by helping you pay attention to what’s happening within your own body. This could mean an increased heart rate, clenched jaw, or tight shoulders. These are all physical cues that can reflect your emotional state.

Tracking Sensations

Trauma isn’t something that just affects your mind. It can also show up in your body, as well as other areas of your daily life, even your relationships.

Movement

People who have gone through a traumatic life event often experience memory issues, difficulty making decisions, and trouble focusing or concentrating. They may even try to avoid certain people, places, or situations that remind them of their trauma.

Integration

When the tension in the body is released, emotional memories could come to the surface. A therapist will help you process them in a safe and secure environment to integrate your experience. Over time, this can help to relieve and reduce the symptoms you’re experiencing.

When a traumatic event happens, the body responds by going into fight, flight, freeze, or fawn mode as a way to protect and defend itself. If we’re not able to fully process the traumatic experience, the body can stay stuck in this mode to be on guard for any future perceived threats. Somatic therapy allows the body to let go and return to its normal functioning.

Who Can Benefit From Somatic Therapy

Somatic therapy has a lot of benefits. These are some of the most common situations in which somatic therapy can be used:

• Anxiety, depression, or dissociation
• Disconnected from emotions and/or body
• Experiencing physical symptoms that are tied to emotional distress
• Feeling stuck with traditional talk therapy
• Unresolved trauma

You also don’t need to have gone through a traumatic experience to benefit from somatic therapy. Many people use somatic therapy as a way to feel more emotionally available, present, and grounded.

Next Steps

Somatic therapy believes that healing doesn’t just happen with your mind; it happens in your body, too. If you’re able to tune into those physical sensations within the body, you can release those stored emotions and learn how to be more in tune with your body. Reach out today to learn more about somatic therapy and whether it could be beneficial for you and your needs.