Somatic Therapy

Somatic therapy is a therapeutic approach that emphasizes the body's role in storing psychological trauma and how it can be released from the body through various awareness techniques.

“Soma” means the body of a living organism. Through gentle guidance by a practitioner you will develop an internal attentiveness as you become more connected with your body — instead of being caught up in your mind thinking about the issue or event. You become more aware of internal body sensations like tension, emotions, anxiety, etc. As you begin to notice, identify, and respond to these body sensations the practitioner will use various techniques of awareness to release trapped emotional energy. Gentle touch may also be used in order to interact more directly with your nervous system in order to release bound-up energy.

As blocked energy is released, you will experience subtle sensory changes. This allows you to shift into new emotional experiences which can result in immediate changes in the brain that result in healing. This is due to neuroplasticity, the brain's ability to reorganize and rewire itself by forming new neural connections. It is a powerful shift and fundamentally changes a person by releasing old emotional and behavioral patterns.

Somatic therapy works similar to the foundation of how you children learn. Mirror neuron research shows that learning first occurs in the body. Children model and absorb what they see and experience, incorporating it into their own behavior and reactions at the neural level—while not yet comprehending it because it is deep within their sensory system. As they grow this “learning,” which is energy held in their nervous system, evolves into thoughts and beliefs. Therefore, by releasing the trapped energy in the body first, the mind is free to very quickly learn new patterns of thought and behavior. The mind follows the body’s lead.