Somatic Therapy

What is the purpose of somatic therapy?

The goal of this type of therapy is to help people create an awareness of their bodily sensations and then teach them how to feel safe in their body so that they can explore their emotions, memories, and thoughts.

What to Expect

Somatic therapy sessions can vary widely among practitioners, but fundamentally, somatic therapy combines mindfulness, talk therapy, and what can be considered alternative forms of physical therapy. The therapist helps you focus on your body or revive memories of traumatic experiences and pays attention to any physical responses you have once the emotion is experienced or the memory is recovered.

Treatment techniques include deep breathing, relaxation exercises, and meditation, each used to help relieve symptoms. Some of the adjunctive physical techniques that may be used with somatic therapy include dance, exercise, yoga, vocal work, and “bodywork” akin to massage or physical therapy.

Somatic therapy practitioners use mind-body exercises and other physical techniques to help release the pent-up tension that negatively affects a patient’s physical and emotional wellbeing.