Somatic Therapy

Somatic therapy works directly (experientially) with one's "felt sense", including sensations, emotion, imagery, thoughts, and attention itself. Somatic work, sometimes referred to as embodiment or nervous system work, supports our present connection to the world around us and the metabolization and resolution of chronic activation (stress), as it presents in depression, fight, flight, fawn, and freeze responses. We do this through joining with and championing the natural impulses of the body, using the practice and skills of:

 

Orientation - Neutral, present moment attention to the information we receive from our world.

Tracking (or body awareness)- Noticing, following, and staying with our sensations, emotions, imagery, thoughts, and movement impulses.

Self-relating - Exploring the relationships we have to our body and its inner experiences, developing self-compassion and "body trust", and applying a critical lens toward systems that use shame and misinformation for the purpose of control.

Reparative movement - Using the above skills to allow the body's conditioned and stuck patterns to move and guide us, for the purpose of completing the stress response and coming back to a full range of expression, emotion, and movement. 

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Some examples of conditioned and stuck responses that may be addressed in somatic therapy (that do not have an otherwise treatable medical cause), are:

• Chronically tight muscle groups or chronic pain associated with injuries or traumatic events 

• Feeling chronically "on edge", jumpy, or anxious 

• Repetitive, intrusive thoughts, imagery, sensations, emotions, or dreams 

• Chronic shame, self-doubt, or performance anxiety 

• Symptoms of dissociation (disconnection from oneself or the world)

• Chronic fatigue associated with depression

 

This approach may be the primary focus of individual therapy, incorporated into individual therapy, or selectively accompany partners in couples or relationship therapy.