by Shelly Froehlich, MA, LPC, ACS
Somatic therapy has gained more attention and popularity in recent years. People often ask me if this is a trend, hype, or some new-age hippy practice. Rest assured, it’s not! Somatic therapy is like finding out your body has been keeping a ‘to-do list’ of unresolved stress and emotions, written in the language of tension and discomfort. Somatic therapy focuses on the connection between mind and body. It isn’t some fleeting trend on social media but a well-established practice that’s been gaining more exposure as people recognize its profound ability to help address and release the physical and emotional stress that’s been quietly accumulating over time.
Let's break this down, somatic therapy begins with the word 'soma', which means body. At its heart, somatic therapy acknowledges that our physical and emotional experiences are deeply intertwined. It emphasizes the importance of understanding the mind-body connection as a key to therapeutic healing. By paying attention to how emotions manifest in the body, from tension in the shoulders to that fluttery feeling in the gut, we can unlock pathways to profound relief and self-awareness. If you saw the Pixar movie, Inside Out,then you have an idea of a mind-body relationship through witnessing Riley's sensations and thoughts throughout the movie. If not, consider adding this to your watch list. In this blog, we’ll explore the basics of somatic therapy, its ability to address trauma, and the transformative techniques it uses to support healing.
Embodied Healing: Unpacking the Basics of Somatic Therapy
Somatic therapy is a type of psychotherapy that believes your body has its own language, and one that we need to listen to. Traditional talk therapy often focuses on your thoughts and feelings, but somatic therapy asks, "What’s your body trying to say?"
In essence, somatic therapy recognizes that our bodies hold onto past experiences, including traumas, and those memories can show up as aches, pains, or chronic tension. Think of it like your body keeping a secret diary, one that you might not even know exists. Our body also keeps track of positive experiences. For instance, imagine an oven with a sheet of peanut butter cookies baking inside. The smell of these delicious cookies is making its way across the room. What are you noticing happening in your body right now? Most likely is telling you something!
Here’s what somatic therapy can do for you:
Reconnect you with your body: If you’ve ever felt like your head and body were living in different zip codes, this therapy helps bridge the gap.
Release pent-up tension: Trauma often gets "stuck" in the body. Somatic therapy works like a good massage, but for your emotional baggage.
Boost self-awareness: By tuning into what your body feels, you can uncover patterns and habits you didn’t even know were there.
How Somatic Therapy Addresses Trauma
Trauma isn’t just an emotional experience, it’s physical, too. When something scary or overwhelming happens, your body jumps into action with its trusty fight, flight, or freeze response. But if those reactions don’t get fully processed, they can hang around like an unwanted gnat or mosquito.
Dr. Peter Levine, the brain behind Waking the Tiger: Healing Trauma, describes trauma as "frozen energy" stuck in the body. Imagine you’re a shaken soda can. If you don’t carefully release the pressure, things can get messy, and not just in your mind.
Somatic therapy helps you:
Gently release that soda-can pressure: By noticing and working through physical sensations, you can process trauma in a safe, supported way.
Reclaim your calm: Whether it’s chronic shoulder tension from years of stress or feeling jumpy all the time, somatic therapy helps your body reset.
For example, you or someone you might know might live with chronic jaw tension and clenching. You might consider exploring what’s behind it. Is this unspoken anger? A habit of holding back words you wish you could say? What might be happening that you don’t want or not happening that you do want? With a little patience and gentle guidance, you can release that tension and feel lighter. It’s a similar feeling to finally dropping a heavy bag you didn’t realize you were carrying.
Tools of Transformation: Techniques Used in Somatic Therapy
Somatic therapy uses a variety of tools to help you feel more grounded and in-tune with your body. Think of these techniques as your body’s toolbox for transformation:
Body Awareness: Pay attention to what’s happening in your body - tight shoulders, a fluttery stomach, or even a random itch. Awareness is the first step to change.
Breathwork: Feeling stressed? Take a deep breath… and another. Techniques like belly breathing can calm your nervous system faster than you can say "inhale."
Movement and Gesture: Think of stress as static electricity building up in your body - shaking it off, stretching, or even a little dance can help you release that charged energy and feel lighter.
Touch Therapy: Somatic therapy often encourages gentle, intentional awareness of physical sensations. Techniques might involve guided focus on specific areas of the body to help connect with and release tension, acting as a gentle reminder to "notice what's here."
Grounding Exercises: When you’re feeling all over the place, grounding exercises like pressing your feet into the floor can help you feel stable. It’s like saying to your body, "Hey, we’re right here, right now."
Visualization: Guided imagery, like picturing tension as steam leaving your body, can work wonders. Who doesn’t want to imagine stress evaporating into thin air?
Why Consider Somatic Therapy?
If you’ve ever felt like your mind and body are out of sync, somatic therapy can be a game changer. It’s not just about talking through problems; it’s about tuning into the wisdom of your body and giving it a voice.
Imagine leaving a session feeling lighter, calmer, and more in touch with yourself - like hitting a reset button for your whole system. Somatic therapy helps clear out old, stagnant tension that’s been taking up emotional and physical space, making room for feelings of relief, joy, and ease. Plus, the tools you learn in therapy can help you manage stress and tension long after your sessions end. Somatic therapy bridges the mind and body, offering a path to healing trauma and improving emotional well-being.
If you are interested in adding somatic therapy to your practice, or exploring how somatic therapy can help you, please reach out and we will connect you with a somatic practitioner to guide you on this journey of healing.
Resources
Curious to learn more? Here are some excellent resources:
Bodyfulness: Somatic Practices for Presence, Empowerment, and Waking Up in This Life by Christine Caldwell
The Body Keeps the Score: Brain, Mind, and Body in the Healing of Trauma by Dr. Bessel van der Kolk
Trauma and the Body: A Sensorimotor Approach to Psychotherapy by Pat Ogden
Waking the Tiger: Healing Trauma by Dr. Peter Levine