Somatic Therapy
Somatic therapy is a proven, body-centered approach to healing trauma when talking is not enough to produce the desired results.
Trauma is stored in the body, almost like a muscle memory, which is why it needs to be released through the body. When we perceive an event as life-threatening or high stress, the body kicks into a fight, flight or freeze response. In an attempt to protect you from something dangerous, the brain releases chemicals into the body, enabling it to fight or run. If neither of those defense mechanisms is possible, the body goes into a freeze state. The unresolved energy left in the body creates trauma symptoms, which, when left unaddressed, can worsen over time and may lead to post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), which can interfere with day-to-day life until the trauma is properly resolved.
In order for you to feel safe again, it is essential that the body’s defense response is completed and the trauma is released. Somatic therapies facilitate the slow release of trauma energy from the nervous system, allowing the brain and body to integrate the experience of the trauma into smaller, more tolerable pieces.
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As you complete the trauma cycle safely, mind-body-heart injuries are repaired, and you experience balance, calm and long-term healing.
By holding safety, attunement, and compassion in the forefront, somatic therapy can help your body release the trauma and gain resilience. Once you feel supported and safe in the therapeutic setting, I can introduce techniques that will help your nervous system regulate as you slowly release trauma, let go of tension, and regain a natural rhythm, while tapping into your capacity for tolerance and strength.
The effectiveness of somatic therapy is validated by over 15 years of neuroscience research on the neuroplasticity of the brain—the brain’s ability to create and alter its pathways. Ongoing research into somatic psychology is opening us up to the brain/body connection and our natural capacity to heal using body-based trauma treatment techniques.
Somatic therapies draw from many theoretical perspectives including Object Relations Theory, Family Systems Therapy, Gestalt Therapy, Transpersonal Psychotherapy, Pre, Perinatal and Developmental Psychologies, and Family Constellations Work. Some somatic therapy strands originate from Peter Levine’s Somatic Experiencing (SE), an approach developed to promote body awareness and release the physical tensions that remain after trauma.
As everyone experiences and processes trauma differently, together we will tailor a trauma treatment plan that addresses your unique needs, history and therapy goals. Whether you have experienced a single incident trauma or ongoing developmental trauma, you can experience relief and become responsive rather than reactive and live with increased joy, ease and peace.