Somatic Therapy: Healing Trauma Through the Body
Somatic therapy (from the Greek soma, meaning “body”) is a body-centered form of psychotherapy that emphasizes awareness of physical sensations, movement, and nervous system responses.
Instead of analyzing past experiences only through conversation, clients are guided to notice and process how those experiences live in their bodies in muscle tension, posture, breath patterns, and emotional energy.
The Science Behind It:
1. The Nervous System and Trauma
When we face danger, the autonomic nervous system (ANS) activates to protect us through the fight, flight, or freeze responses.
If the body can’t safely discharge that energy, the survival response gets “stuck,” leading to chronic anxiety, hypervigilance, or numbness.
Somatic therapy helps release this trapped energy by guiding the body to complete unfinished stress cycles and re-establish a state of safety.
2. The Polyvagal Theory
Dr. Stephen Porges’ Polyvagal Theory describes how our vagus nerve controls emotional safety and social connection:
Ventral vagal state: Calm, connected, safe
Sympathetic state: Fight or flight
Dorsal vagal state: Freeze, collapse, or shutdown
Through grounding, movement, and awareness, somatic therapy helps clients shift back into the ventral vagal state, where healing becomes possible.
Core Techniques:
Somatic therapists integrate many body-oriented methods, such as:
Body scanning: Tracking sensations like heat, tingling, or tightness.
Grounding: Using breath, touch, or physical connection to the present moment.
Pendulation: Gently moving between tension and relaxation to process trauma safely.
Movement and posture work: Helping the body express and release suppressed emotions.
Touch or somatic resourcing: (with consent) Using supportive touch to evoke safety or connection.
These techniques retrain the nervous system to feel safe, present, and regulated.
Benefits of Somatic Therapy
Somatic therapy has been shown to help with a wide range of emotional and physical challenges:
Mental Health
PTSD and complex trauma
Anxiety and depression
Dissociation and emotional numbing
Physical Health
Chronic pain and muscle tension
Headaches, fatigue, and digestive issues linked to stress
Relational and Emotional Growth
Greater self-compassion and emotional regulation
Improved boundaries and attachment security
Enhanced sense of presence, embodiment, and vitality
Clinical studies suggest somatic therapies can lower cortisol, increase heart rate variability, and reduce PTSD symptoms by restoring nervous system balance.
What to Expect:
A typical session may begin with conversation, followed by guided attention to the body.
The therapist might ask:
“What do you notice in your body as you talk about that?”
“Can you stay with that sensation for a moment and describe it?”
The process is slow, gentle, and non-invasive, focusing on safety and regulation, not reliving trauma. Over time, clients build the capacity to tolerate sensations and emotions without overwhelm.
Somatic Practices You Can Try at Home
Even outside therapy, you can begin cultivating somatic awareness through simple daily practices:
Grounding breath: Feel your feet on the floor. Inhale for 4 counts, exhale for 6.
Body scan: Check in with each body part, notice areas of tension or ease.
Movement release: Shake out your arms, stretch, or take a mindful walk after stress.
Orienting: Look around the room, noticing colors, shapes, and sounds to remind your body it’s safe.
These small acts help regulate your nervous system and foster resilience over time.
Why Somatic Therapy Matters
We live in a culture that prizes thinking over feeling, productivity over presence. Somatic therapy is a radical return, a way to reclaim the body as an ally in healing.
When we include the body in therapy, healing becomes more than an intellectual exercise; it becomes an embodied transformation.
“The body remembers what the mind forgets — and it also holds the key to healing.”
— Dr. Peter Levine
Getting Started with Somatic Therapy
If you’re interested in exploring somatic therapy, we have multiple licensed therapists who are trained in Sensorimotor Psychotherapy.
Renee Malina (Level 2)
Christina McShane (Level 2)
Vanessa Van Dyke (Level 2)
Tanya Harris (Level 1)
Stephanie Otte (Level 1)
Jill Selman (Level 1)
Conclusion:
Somatic therapy invites us to listen to the quiet intelligence of our bodies, to the breath that shortens when we’re afraid, the tension that holds old stories, and the warmth that signals release.
Healing isn’t about erasing the past; it’s about allowing the body to complete its story. When we do, we rediscover what has always been there: a deep, embodied sense of peace.
