🌿 What is it?
Somatic Therapy is a body-focused approach to healing that recognises the deep connection between the mind and body — especially when it comes to trauma, stress, and emotional experiences.
The word “somatic” comes from the Greek sōma, meaning “body.” Unlike traditional talk therapies that focus mainly on thoughts and emotions, Somatic Therapy works directly with physical sensations, posture, breath, movement, and the nervous system to release stored tension and restore balance.
This approach gently helps people reconnect with their bodies, process past experiences, and find safety and presence in the here and now.

🔍 How does it work?
Somatic Therapy works by helping individuals track and tune into physical sensations (called “somatic markers”) that may be linked to unresolved emotional pain or trauma.
Through guided awareness, breathwork, grounding, and gentle movement, the therapist supports the client in noticing body responses — like tightness, shaking, numbness, or heat — and releasing held tension or stress.
Rather than reliving a painful memory, Somatic Therapy focuses on how the body remembers the experience — and how it can safely let it go. Over time, this helps to restore a sense of safety, regulation, and aliveness in the body.

🧪 Why it works (The Science Behind It)
When we experience trauma, especially if it’s overwhelming or ongoing, the body can go into fight, flight, freeze, or fawn responses — and may store these stress responses long after the danger is gone.
Research shows that the autonomic nervous system plays a huge role in mental health. Somatic Therapy helps regulate this system by bringing the body out of survival mode and into a state of safety, calm, and connection (the parasympathetic state).
By working with the body’s sensations instead of only the story, Somatic Therapy helps process trauma without needing to retell or re-experience it cognitively, making it especially helpful for those who feel overwhelmed by traditional talk therapy.

🌱 What it’s good for
Somatic Therapy is deeply supportive for people who:
Feel disconnected from their bodies or emotions
Experience chronic tension, fatigue, or pain without medical cause
Have trauma histories that are hard to verbalise or revisit
Struggle with flashbacks, panic, or emotional overwhelm
Want to feel grounded, regulated, and more present in life
Seek a gentle, body-based path to healing
Experience numbness, shutdown, or “floating” sensations
It’s particularly helpful when words aren’t enough — offering a safe, embodied pathway back to trust, regulation, and peace.

👥 Who uses this approach
Somatic Therapy is used by:
Somatic psychotherapists and body-oriented counsellors
Trauma-informed therapists trained in body-based modalities
Yoga therapists or embodiment coaches (with therapeutic training)
Practitioners trained in Somatic Experiencing®, Sensorimotor Psychotherapy, or similar systems
Holistic healers or integrative psychologists
Some therapists integrate somatic techniques into talk therapy. Others offer Somatic Therapy as a standalone, deeply embodied experience.

✅ Most Commonly Used For
Somatic Therapy is widely used to support:
Trauma and PTSD / Complex Trauma (C-PTSD)
Anxiety and panic attacks
Chronic stress or burnout
Depression (especially where it’s linked to dissociation or fatigue)
Dissociation or disconnection from the body
Grief, shame, or unresolved emotional pain
Chronic pain, illness, or tension with emotional roots
Sexual trauma or boundary violations
Emotional numbness or hypersensitivity
Recovery from medical trauma or surgery
It’s a go-to approach when people feel stuck in survival mode and need more than talk alone.

🧰 Tools & Techniques
Somatic Therapy offers a wide toolkit rooted in nervous system awareness and body connection, including:
Body scanning – noticing where tension, energy, or sensations live
Grounding techniques – using posture, breath, and the senses to anchor in the present
Pendulation – gently moving between safety and discomfort to build capacity
Titration – working with trauma in small, manageable doses
Breathwork and vocalisation – releasing stored energy and calming the system
Movement and gesture – using intuitive or guided movement to express or release emotions
Touch work (when appropriate and consensual)
Orienting and tracking – tuning into subtle body cues and the environment
Many practices are gentle, slow, and intuitive — helping people re-learn what safety feels like.

🌻 How to apply it in everyday life
You can bring somatic principles into your daily life even without formal therapy:
Check in with your body: Pause and ask, “What do I feel in my body right now?”
Use grounding tools: Press your feet into the floor. Hold something cool or textured. Stretch slowly.
Breathe intentionally: Try a long exhale to soothe the nervous system (inhale 4, exhale 6).
Move intuitively: Shake, stretch, dance — let your body express itself without judgment.
Touch with care: Gently place your hand over your heart or belly and breathe.
The body often knows before the mind does — this work invites you to listen.

🤝 Combine it with
Somatic Therapy blends well with:
Talk therapy or psychodynamic therapy
Internal Family Systems (IFS)
Trauma-focused CBT or EMDR
Breathwork and yoga therapy
Mindfulness and meditation
Creative arts therapy
Reiki or energy-based modalities
Nervous system education (e.g. Polyvagal Theory)
Massage or craniosacral therapy (as part of a regulated support system)
It can also deepen body-based coaching and trauma-informed wellness programs.

💬 Try this (Mini Practice Prompt)
5-Minute Grounding Scan
Sit or stand comfortably.
– Feel your feet on the ground.
– Notice your breath (no need to change it).
– Gently scan your body from head to toe.
– Where do you feel tension, heat, cold, tightness, buzzing, or stillness?
– Just notice. Breathe. No fixing.
🌿 Place one hand on your chest or belly and say: “It’s safe to come back into my body.”
Use this anytime you feel overwhelmed, floaty, or scattered.

🧡 Final Thought
Your body is not the enemy — it’s the messenger, the memory-keeper, the container for your resilience. Somatic Therapy reminds us that healing doesn’t have to be loud or logical — it can be gentle, quiet, and deeply felt.
When you reconnect with your body, you begin to come home to yourself — one breath, one sensation, one safe step at a time.