Somatic Therapy Seattle

Have you been in talk therapy for years, but find progress too slow? Do you often feel stuck in your head, and unable to feel things as you think you should? Maybe you go round and round, thinking and overthinking, spinning your mental wheels in thick mud, only sinking deeper.

Somatic therapy is a modality that can stop endless rumination in its tracks. Built on concepts of mindfulness and neuroscience, somatic therapy shifts attention from overthinking and orients toward sensations in your body. We learn to read how your physical body responds and reacts to the environment, how you experience emotions, and how you relate to yourself.

What is Somatic Therapy?

“Somatic” comes from the Greek word soma, meaning body. Somatic therapy is a form of psychotherapy intended to address psychological issues by paying attention to what is happening in the body. We often separate our mind and body, considering them as separate entities. While this is helpful at times, it misses the integrated nature of our nervous system, which includes our brain, as well as all the nerves and neurons throughout our body. Somatic therapy aims at intervening at the level of the nervous system.

Our nervous systems are constantly scanning and reading the environment and responding without intentional effort. This works to keep us safe from threats that may be around us, helping us react without having to think and make a decision. However, this bodily alarm system is not very precise, and sometimes we react in ways that aren’t appropriate to the situation. If we have a lot of frightening, hurtful, or dangerous experiences, or one really huge one, our nervous systems can remain on alert, and may overreact in other situations. This can turn into conditions like PTSD, but it can also show up in depression, anxiety, OCD, relationship issues, and many other areas of life. When we consciously tune into this alarm system, and more subtle sensations within the body, we discover how vibrant and alive we really are. This lets us learn how we’re reading the world around us before we react or behave in ways we wish we didn’t, and this in turn empowers us to respond differently. 

Somatic Experiencing

Somatic Experiencing is a particular form of somatic therapy. Developed by Peter Levine, it was originally aimed at healing trauma. This remains its most powerful goal, but it is useful in uncovering and shifting many other mental and emotional difficulties, like anxiety, depression, grief, and shame. I integrate Somatic Experiencing and other forms of somatic therapy seamlessly with talk therapy.

Get Unstuck

One of the ways I see somatic therapy frequently able to succeed where traditional therapy has not is in circumventing long ingrained stories and beliefs about ourselves. In modalities like Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT), we try to “restructure” our thoughts through a rational process of examining negative thoughts and false beliefs and providing a counter argument. Sometimes this is extremely helpful and valuable - other times it’s just more recursive thinking without ever changing how you feel. Somatic therapy helps interrupt all the analysis and meaning making. It pauses the natural human need to create a narrative, a story, an explanation for what’s happening, and gets us closer to an in vivo experience of what’s happening. Often just this pause in interpreting and trying to make sense, and instead just observing, can have a powerful and transformative effect.

FAQs

Is somatic therapy the same as body work? No - body work typically refers to hands-on practitioners, like massage therapists. Some massage therapists are trained in Somatic Experiencing, but they are not psychotherapists. Our work together does not involve any touch.

Will paying attention to my body make my feelings worse? We pay careful attention to this. For some people, noticing sensations in the body can be overwhelming. We never force anything in therapy. Rather, we gently notice what is happening and look for a way to find a sense of calm and safety.

Can somatic therapy cure my chronic illness? No. While there are some practitioners who might argue that chronic illnesses, autoimmune issues, or other medical conditions can be healed through this type of therapy, there is no concrete scientific evidence for this. Somatic therapy can help ease pain conditions some of the time, and may help address adjacent issues that exacerbate these medical conditions, but that is not the same as cure. Somatic therapy can help increase resilience and ability to cope with chronic conditions.

Somatic Therapy May be the Difference You’re Looking For

Before I became a somatic therapist, I would often become stuck with clients, where we couldn’t find a way to keep making progress. I experienced this myself in my own therapy, often feeling like I understood what was wrong at a cognitive level, but that wasn’t changing how I felt. When I began exploring somatic therapy as a client, and then later in training, it opened up a totally new space of attention and experience that began to shift these stuck points. As I have integrated this in my clinical practice, I have seen many clients finally break through barriers to their progress. I have especially seen people who are often stuck in their heads develop a whole new understanding of themselves, that ultimately helps them feel much more present and alive.

My approach is very integrative. I am naturally cautious when trying out new therapies and approaches, especially when they become suddenly popular. But I am also intensely curious about anything that can possibly help us heal and grow. I run everything through my own experience. I ask, does it work for me? Can I see it truly working for my clients? I also do not force a particular method on anyone. I hear all the time from clients who meet with therapists who are very formulaic - this isn’t me. I collaborate with you and tailor a flexible plan to help you go where you need to go.

If you’re reading this, I imagine you’re deeply motivated to find something that can finally make a difference. Reach out now for a free consultation.