Therapeutic Approach

Somatic Therapy

Working with the body's wisdom — because trauma lives in the nervous system, not just in the story we tell about it.

Body-Based

The body holds what words cannot always reach

Somatic therapy is a body-centred approach to healing that recognises what research has made clear: trauma and chronic stress are not just psychological events — they are physiological ones. They are stored in the body's tissues, nervous system, and habitual patterns of tension and response.

In somatic work, we pay attention to the body as a source of information. Rather than bypassing physical sensations to get to the narrative, we slow down to notice what the body is doing — the tightening in the chest, the held breath, the collapse in the shoulders — and we work with those signals directly.

My background as a Registered Yoga Teacher (RYT200) informs this work. I draw from somatic experiencing principles, mindful body awareness, and breath-based practices to help you build a more regulated, embodied sense of self — one that can hold difficulty without being overwhelmed by it.

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Peaceful natural setting evoking grounded presence

The Science Behind It

Why working with the body matters

Talk therapy alone has real limits when it comes to trauma. The parts of the brain activated by trauma — particularly the brainstem and limbic system — are not easily accessed through language and reasoning alone. Somatic approaches work at the level where trauma actually lives.

Nervous system regulation

We work to build your window of tolerance — the range within which you can experience strong emotions without being flooded or shutting down. This becomes the foundation that makes deeper trauma processing safe and possible.

Tracking sensations

You will learn to notice and name physical sensations in real time — warmth, heaviness, constriction, ease. This builds interoceptive awareness, which is a key skill for emotional regulation and self-understanding.

Grounding and resourcing

Before any deep processing work begins, we build somatic resources — felt senses of safety, stability, and calm that you can return to when things feel hard. These become anchors you can access inside and outside of sessions.

Integration with other modalities

Somatic work does not happen in isolation. I weave it throughout our sessions — as a foundation for EMDR, as a complement to psychodynamic exploration, or as a standalone focus depending on what you need in any given moment.

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