A Guide to the Different Types of Somatic Therapy

When most people first hear the term “somatic therapy,” they picture something specific, like a breathing exercise, a particular movement practice, or a single structured protocol. But somatic therapy is actually a broad, rich umbrella that holds many distinct approaches beneath it. Much like “talk therapy” encompasses everything from psychoanalysis to cognitive behavioral work, the somatic world contains dozens of modalities that look quite different from one another, even as they share the same foundational truth: the body holds what the mind cannot always reach.

Understanding the differences between these approaches matters. Healing isn’t one-size-fits-all, and finding the right fit for your nervous system can make all the difference.

Somatic Experiencing and Sensorimotor Psychotherapy

Two of the most widely practiced somatic approaches are somatic experiencing (SE), developed by Dr. Peter Levine, and sensorimotor psychotherapy, developed by Dr. Pat Ogden.

SE is rooted in the idea that trauma is an incomplete biological response. It’s a stress cycle the body never got to finish. Rather than asking you to recount the details of a difficult experience, an SE practitioner gently guides your awareness between sensations of safety and tension. This slowly allows the nervous system to discharge what’s been held. It’s a process of titration, of going slowly enough that your system can actually integrate rather than flood.

Sensorimotor Psychotherapy builds on that physical tracking and layers in attachment theory. It explores how early relational wounds organize themselves in the body, including your posture, your breath, and the way you hold your boundaries, and supports you in rebuilding a felt sense of security from the inside out. This is an approach we draw on at True Essence Therapy. We find it particularly powerful for clients navigating both trauma and relational healing.

EMDR and Brainspotting

These modalities are sometimes categorized separately from body-based work, but they are deeply somatic. Both operate below the level of language, interfacing directly with the parts of the brain where trauma lives as a frozen physiological loop.

Developed by Dr. Francine Shapiro, eye movement desensitization and reprocessing (EMDR) uses bilateral stimulation like eye movements or alternating tapping to engage the brain’s working memory, creating enough neurological movement for the body to finally metabolize the panic stored in a traumatic memory. Brainspotting, which emerged from EMDR, works through your visual field. Where you look affects how you feel, and by locating the precise eye position connected to an emotional charge, your body is invited to process what words often can’t touch.

Hakomi and Polyvagal-Informed Work

For nervous systems that need a gentler entry point, approaches like Hakomi and polyvagal-informed therapy offer something profoundly attuned. Hakomi treats the body as a living map of your core beliefs. It focuses on things like the way your chest tightens when you feel criticized, or the way your jaw braces in anticipation of conflict. By studying these automatic physical habits with curiosity rather than judgment, deeper patterns can gently surface and shift.

Polyvagal-informed therapy, grounded in Dr. Stephen Porges’ research on the vagus nerve, focuses on creating genuine biological safety within the therapeutic relationship itself. The therapist’s presence, voice, and attunement actively support your nervous system in moving from survival states toward connection and ease. There has been some critique in the field around biological structure updates from the original theory- though the framework remains helpful for working with the nervous system more broadly.

What all of these approaches share is a deep respect for your body’s wisdom and its capacity to heal. They do not force change, but they create the right conditions for it.

If you’re curious about somatic therapy and what it might look like for you, we’d love to connect. At True Essence Therapy, we work collaboratively with you to find the approach that fits you best. Reach out anytime. We’d be honored to walk alongside you.