Somatic Therapy (Body Centered)

Somatic or Body-Centered psychology supports the direct experience of the body. Movement, sensation, perception, feeling, and intuition arise from the nervous system. By engaging awareness of our visceral natures, we gain greater capacity for emotional safety, relational integrity, and personal and collective wisdom. Many psychological theories, like attachment, object relations, and intersubjective theory, are significantly enhanced with a somatic orientation.

Somatic therapy focuses on the connection between the body and mind to address emotional and psychological issues. It involves using body awareness, physical sensations, and movement to help individuals process and release stored trauma and stress. By tuning into bodily experiences, somatic therapy aims to promote healing and improve overall well-being, addressing both physical and emotional aspects of mental health.

When we slow down and pay attention to our bodies, old or previously unattended to memories and patterns can clarify, and then we can actually work with them; we can see how prior experiences influenced or created patterns within us, and then we might renegotiate them: we can uncouple unhelpful beliefs from one another, create new belief systems that more accurately reflect our values or adult autonomy, or make new meaning out of an old experience, now with more perspective and compassion.

Emotions, experiences, and trauma are stored in our body. Our body gives us many signals, but we are so often living listening to the constant guidance of our brain that we sometimes miss these signals. Somatic based therapy aims to help you connect with your body to better process stuck emotions and experiences, and release them for more healing, ease, and peace in your life. Somatic tools utilize mindfulness based strategies and movement to engage in the healing process.

Somatic therapy is about reconnecting ones body and mind so one can heal more fully. Often, our experiences are stored in the body. While typical therapy can release these experiences from the mind, they may not be as effective at releasing experiences from the body. By deepening the mind-body connection and turning attention inwards clients can better understand their emotional experience and free themselves from their past.

In our sessions we will not just talk about what is happening inside you, but where in your body it is happening. Maybe you feel tension in your chest or stomach pain, and we take our shoes and socks off to be grounded to our surroundings. Maybe we practice quieting our brains while meditating and focusing on simple breathing. Learning to give yourself a massage or take a field trip to a see a massage therapist. Sometimes we just have to shake things up and dance like no one is watching!

Prior to my career as a counselor, I practiced as a Licensed Massage Therapist in the state of Florida for 7 years. With that background

Somatic therapy is a form of body-centered therapy that integrates the mind and body in the healing process, particularly for trauma and stress-related conditions. Unlike traditional talk therapies that primarily focus on thoughts and emotions, somatic therapy emphasizes the physical experiences and sensations in the body as a pathway to healing.

Somatic therapy, sometimes known as body psychotherapy, is a therapeutic approach that places importance on what we experience in the mind and the body as well as the connection between the two. “Somatic” itself means “of or relating to the body.” I work with clients to hone their skills of listening to their body, their gut, and intuitive guidance to improve their self knowledge. The body is your teacher and your friend!

I am trained to stay in the body through Somatic IFS, polyvagal theories, regulation techniques that create safety in the body and help heal trauma, and mindfulness based body techniques.

Somatic counseling invites the experience of the body into the therapeutic process including breath, internal sensations, postures, gestures, and expressive movements. ​Developing our ability to notice and listen to these embodied experiences is the most direct path to increasing self-awareness of our emotions, patterns, identities, values, needs, and desires.

Somatic therapy, sometimes known as body psychotherapy, is a therapeutic approach that places importance on what we experience in the mind and the body as well as the connection between the two. “Somatic” itself means “of or relating to the body.” I work with clients to hone their skills of listening to their body, their gut, and intuitive guidance to improve their self knowledge. If we are talking about the body and sexuality or the body as guidance to making decisions, the body is your friend!

Body Psychotherapy is holistic; it takes the entire human being and his/her/their life experiences into account. It offers mindful consideration to the crucial role of the body in the structure and process of the psyche. During a session, I pay close attention to sensation and body states, which allow unconscious material to manifest and possibly be worked with using breath, spatial awareness, consented therapeutic touch, movement, sensation, and imagery.

Peter Levine's "Somatic Experiencing" work is the core from which most of my interventions extend. I continue to assist these trainings around the country and have taken various master classes with Peter. (www.traumahealing.org) Additionally, I'm trained in Somatic Resilience & Regulation work which is a touch based model for developmental trauma developed by Kathy Kain & Steve Terrell and their book is called "Nurturing Resilience". My graduate training was in "Somatic Psychotherapy" from JFK

A lot my grad school coursework was based on somatic practices. I also, have a Hakomi Level 1 certification. My masters thesis was on The Implications of Reiki Integrated Psychotherapy. I have taken many seminars in mindfulness and have a certification from John F. Kennedy University in Buddhist Psychology.

Working with thoughts and emotions through the body is transformative. Using a science-based approach, I help clients explore how various bodily sensations are linked to their emotional experience. This method can help us identify and heal old wounds, increase awareness of needs and desires, and provide greater insight around how we relate to ourselves, others, and our environment.

Somatic Experiencing helps clients process trauma by addressing how it’s stored in the body and nervous system. As an intermediate-level Somatic Experiencing Practitioner (SEP) qualifier in the second year of a rigorous three-year training program, I bring extensive expertise to this approach. This training includes multi-day intensives, case consultations, and personal sessions. I use SE to help clients release stress, regulate their nervous systems, and foster resilience and healing