What is somatic therapy and how does it work?
Many of us are familiar with the experience of feeling lost and disconnected – from ourselves, from others, from a sense of vitality. We might feel overwhelmed by emotions, or at the whim of impulses that we wish we weren’t so compelled by. We might be stuck in repetitive patterns of thought or behaviour, or burdened by physical tension that seems to have no clear origin.
While talking about our experiences is invaluable, sometimes words alone don't seem to reach the heart of the matter. What if there was a way to listen more deeply, to access a different kind of knowing held within our very being?
For centuries, Western thought has often emphasized a separation between mind and body, prioritizing rational thought over the felt experience of being alive. Yet, contemporary understanding, informed by insights from neuroscience, increasingly reveals this split to be artificial. Thinkers such as Antonio Damasio, particularly in his influential work Descartes' Error, have compellingly argued that emotion, bodily experience, and effective reasoning are inextricably linked. Our bodies are not mere vehicles for our brains; they are integral participants in how we perceive, feel, understand, and navigate the world.
This is where somatic therapy enters the picture. It represents a diverse family of approaches to healing and growth that mindfully include the body's experience – its sensations, gestures, postures, breath, and subtle shifts. It invites us into a richer dialogue with ourselves, acknowledging that our bodies hold profound wisdom and memory. This article aims to explore the core principles and potential of somatic therapy, offering insight for those seeking deeper self-understanding or considering different paths for support, perhaps through therapy or counselling in Nelson or online.
What does ‘somatic’ mean? Understanding the living body
The term ‘somatic’ originates from the Greek word soma, meaning ‘the living body.’ Philosopher and movement educator Thomas Hanna was influential in popularizing the term somatics to emphasize the body as perceived from within – our first-person, subjective experience of being embodied.
This contrasts sharply with how we often encounter the ‘body’ in Western culture – as an object to be measured, trained, fixed, or judged based on external appearances. I often think about how many of our problems – in relationship to our bodies and to our lives as a whole – are based on a way of observing our lives as a critical bystander, rather than fully embodying the experiences of inhabiting our experience from the inside. Eating disorders are a good example of this, in which we ignore the signals from the body and the fundamental gift of our own health in service of an empty, often impossible, ideal.
The somatic perspective, however, centres on the internal landscape: the felt sense of aliveness, the subtle currents of sensation, the awareness of posture and movement as expressions of our inner state. It’s about experiencing ourselves as a body, not just having a body.
The core principle: The body remembers and communicates
A central tenet of somatic therapy is the understanding that our life experiences, especially those involving significant stress, overwhelm, or trauma, leave imprints not just in our narrative memory but deep within our physiology. As physician and researcher Bessel van der Kolk famously articulated in his work, the body indeed “keeps the score.”
Experiences that overwhelmed our capacity to cope can result in unresolved survival responses – the fight, flight, or freeze impulses initiated by our nervous system – becoming “stuck” or incomplete. This undischarged energy can manifest long after the event as chronic muscle tension, bracing patterns, shallow breathing, digestive issues, anxiety, heightened reactivity, persistent fatigue, or a sense of profound disconnection. These are not simply “in our heads”; they are physiological realities held in the tissues and nervous system.
We hold these experiences in our implicit memory – the memory of procedures, emotional responses, and bodily sensations – which operates largely outside conscious awareness, distinct from the explicit memory that allows us to recall events verbally. Furthermore, our nervous system is constantly engaged in a process sometimes called neuroception, an idea informed by Polyvagal Theory. This is a subconscious scanning of our internal and external environment for cues of safety or danger, profoundly shaping our physiological state, emotions, and capacity for connection before our thinking mind even gets involved.
From a philosophical and therapeutic standpoint, these bodily symptoms and patterns are not viewed as flaws or failures. Instead, they can be understood as intelligent, adaptive responses that, at one time, helped us survive. They are communications from our inner world, signalling areas where attention, care, and a different kind of processing are needed. Somatic therapy offers ways to listen to these communications with compassion and curiosity.
How somatic therapy differs from (and complements) talk therapy
Traditional talk therapies offer opportunities for gaining insight, understanding our personal histories, developing coping mechanisms, and changing limiting beliefs. These opportunities may be all too scarce in our daily lives, and talk therapy can provide a uniquely productive kind of conversation. It helps us make sense of our experiences through narrative and cognitive reflection.
Somatic approaches do not replace this important work but rather add another vital dimension. They directly engage with the physiological underpinnings of psychological distress. Instead of focusing solely on the content of our stories (what happened), somatic therapy pays close attention to the process (how the experience lives in the body right now). It explores the sensations, postures, gestures, and breath patterns associated with particular thoughts, feelings, or memories.
One bridge between talking and bodily awareness is the concept of the “felt sense,” developed by philosopher and psychologist Eugene Gendlin. The felt sense refers to that subtle, often vague, yet holistic bodily knowing we can access about a particular situation, issue, or feeling. It’s more than just an emotion or a thought; it’s a full-bodied sense that holds intricate meaning. Somatic therapies often facilitate access to this felt sense as a guide for inner exploration and resolution.
Ultimately, many practitioners find that integrating somatic awareness with traditional talk therapy creates a more holistic and potent approach to healing and growth. It honours both our need to make sense of things intellectually and our need to process and integrate experiences at the physiological level where they are often held most deeply.
Key elements: How does somatic therapy work?
While specific techniques vary across different somatic modalities, several core elements are common:
Awareness (Mindfulness/Interoception): Cultivating the ability to notice present-moment internal experiences – sensations (warmth, tingling, tension, pulsing), feelings, impulses, breath patterns – without judgment. This capacity for interoception, or sensing the internal state of the body, is increasingly recognized as fundamental for emotional regulation.
Tracking Sensations: Learning to follow the flow of physical sensations as they arise, shift, and change. This isn't about analyzing sensations but rather witnessing them as a form of bodily communication and processing.
Resourcing: Intentionally identifying and amplifying internal or external experiences that evoke feelings of safety, calm, groundedness, strength, ease, or pleasure. Resources act as anchors, building nervous system capacity and providing counterpoints to difficult experiences.
Titration and Pendulation: These principles, particularly central in trauma-informed somatic work, ensure safety and prevent overwhelm. Titration involves touching into difficult sensations or memories in small, manageable doses. Pendulation is a natural process, which can be cultivated in somatic therapy, in which the attention can move back and forth between challenging material and established resources, allowing the nervous system to process and integrate gradually without becoming overloaded.
Movement and Gesture: Exploring how subtle (or sometimes larger) movements, postures, or gestures can help complete thwarted self-protective responses, release stored tension, express unmet needs, or embody new possibilities.
Regulation: The overarching aim is to support the nervous system in moving out of chronic states of high arousal (fight/flight) or shutdown (freeze/collapse) and regaining flexibility. This involves increasing the capacity to navigate challenges while returning more easily to a state of relative balance, safety, and social engagement, often understood through the lens of Stephen Porges' Polyvagal Theory.
Influential approaches within the somatic field
The field of somatic therapy is rich and diverse. Some key influential approaches and frameworks include:
Somatic Experiencing (SE): Developed by Dr. Peter Levine, SE focuses on resolving the physiological effects of trauma by gently guiding clients to track sensations, access resources, and allow the completion of thwarted survival responses, thereby releasing trapped energy.
Sensorimotor Psychotherapy (SP): Founded by Dr. Pat Ogden, SPI integrates cognitive and emotional approaches with body-centred interventions, exploring how past experiences shape present-moment posture, movement, and sensation, and using somatic experiments to facilitate change.
Polyvagal Theory: While not a therapy itself, Dr. Stephen Porges' theory provides a foundational map of the autonomic nervous system's different states (safety/connection, fight/flight, shutdown) that profoundly informs how many somatic therapists understand regulation and support clients in accessing safety.
Hakomi Method: Developed by Ron Kurtz, Hakomi is a mindfulness-based, body-centred approach that uses gentle experiments in mindfulness to explore how core beliefs manifest somatically and to access deeper self-understanding.
Biodynamic Craniosacral Therapy (BCST): With roots in Osteopathy traced back to Dr. W.G. Sutherland and further developed by figures like Franklyn Sills, BCST is a gentle, non-invasive hands-on modality. As a Registered Craniosacral Therapist (RCST), I practise this approach, which involves listening to subtle physiological rhythms and patterns to support the body's inherent capacity for self-repair, nervous system regulation, and integration.
It's important to note that many therapists, including myself, integrate principles and techniques from various somatic traditions into their work, tailoring the approach to the individual client.
Who might find somatic approaches helpful?
Somatic therapy can be beneficial for a wide range of challenges and goals, including:
Processing trauma (both shock trauma from specific events and developmental or relational trauma)
Managing anxiety, panic attacks, and chronic stress
Working with depression, particularly when accompanied by feelings of numbness, disconnection, or physical heaviness
Coping with grief and loss
Addressing chronic pain, fatigue, or other physical symptoms that may have a stress or trauma component
Improving body image and cultivating greater self-acceptance
Healing from burnout and restoring vitality
Navigating relationship difficulties related to attachment patterns, boundaries, or emotional reactivity
Anyone seeking a deeper connection with themselves, increased embodiment, enhanced resilience, and a greater sense of aliveness.
What might a somatic session feel like?
If you engage in somatically oriented therapy or counselling, the experience will likely feel collaborative and client-centred. Safety, pacing, and your choices are paramount.
Sessions often involve talking, but your therapist will likely invite you, at times, to notice what's happening in your body as you speak. This might involve pausing to check in with sensations, exploring the ‘felt sense’ of an issue, or noticing posture and breath. There might be invitations for gentle movement explorations or attention to gestures.
In Biodynamic Craniosacral Therapy, respectful, non-invasive touch is used (always with clear communication and consent) to listen to and support the body's deeper processes. The overall atmosphere is typically one of curiosity, exploration, and acceptance, honouring your inner wisdom and the body's innate pace for healing.
Finding somatic support in Nelson, BC
Finding a good therapeutic relationship is fundamental. If you are seeking therapy or counselling in Nelson BC and are interested in incorporating somatic approaches, it's helpful to inquire about a practitioner's specific training and orientation. Don't hesitate to ask potential therapists how they integrate the body into their work.
As a Registered Clinical Counsellor (RCC) and a Registered Craniosacral Therapist (RCST) practising in Nelson, BC, my approach to counselling is deeply embodiment-informed and body-oriented. I draw upon principles from various somatic methods, alongside my BCST practice, to help clients connect with their inner resources and navigate challenges more effectively.
Conclusion: Embracing our embodied wholeness
Somatic therapy invites us back into relationship with a fundamental aspect of ourselves – our living, breathing, feeling body. It acknowledges that our bodies are not separate from our minds or emotions but are intricate parts of our whole being, holding wisdom, memory, and an innate drive towards healing and integration. Often, the simple appreciation of this fact can be an enormous relief to the system and can open the way to a cascade of transformation.
By learning to listen to the subtle (and sometimes not-so-subtle) language of sensation, movement, and breath, we can access deeper layers of experience, release patterns that no longer serve us, and cultivate greater resilience and vitality. It's a path towards reclaiming our embodied wholeness, trusting in what many somatic traditions call our “inherent health” – the profound, innate capacity within each of us for self-regulation, healing, and connection. Embracing this journey can lead to a more grounded, authentic, and fully lived life.
