Somatic Therapy: The Body as Our Doorway
“Our body holds our stories—the unspoken emotional experiences, past traumas, relational memories, cultural values, doorways to connection with ourselves and the world, and an innate wisdom that can guide us—if we can learn how to listen to it.”
Our emotions live within our bodies—our nervous system—often under the surface or just outside the realm of consciousness. Most of us have learned how to disconnect from our bodies (and emotions), possibly as a way to survive unbearable realities or relationships that couldn’t hold our full humanity. Or we learned to control our bodies—training them in the latest health or exercise routine, sizing them up, curating their appearance to fit in or feel desirable.
We may have heard “listen to your body” or “trust your gut,” but what does this mean when most people have spent decades trying to manage their bodies? It is a radical step to begin turning toward our bodies with care, compassion, and attention to the somatic language and wisdom within.
What if there were a way to feel alive, attuned to your inner workings, confident in the messages moving through your nervous system, and able to respond to the flow of life with increased freedom and possibility?
Somatic, or body-based, therapies center the experience of our nervous system, internal sensations, habitual movements, posture, external sense perceptions, and movement urges to bring awareness to our whole being. What is unconscious or semi-conscious can be gently named, explored, and brought into awareness relationally, supporting integration, self-understanding, and deeper insight than cognition alone can provide.
Any emotional experiences—including traumas—can be carefully witnessed and supported in sequencing or integration. The tight belly, aching neck, stomach upset, digestive issues, unbalanced posture, and tension patterns can all be explored to support healthy body connection, emotional processing, and growth.
Sometimes, the very thing we’ve been avoiding all our lives is the key to our freedom and wholeness. That tension spot may actually be a doorway to an expanded sense of self, greater connection, and increased vitality.
Somatic & Body-Based Therapies include a variety of modalities, such as:
Sensorimotor Psychotherapy: Trauma- and attachment-focused work by Pat Ogden
Somatic Experiencing: Trauma processing and sequencing work by Peter Levine
Hakomi: Attachment and relational patterning by Ron Kurtz
Focusing-Oriented Psychotherapy: Developed by Eugene Gendlin
People seek somatic therapeutic support for a variety of reasons, including self-understanding, expanding into their potential, and healing from trauma or psychological distress. Some reasons you might consider somatic work include chronic body tension and stress, anxiety, depression and difficulty accessing emotions, unprocessed trauma or “triggers,” difficulty feeling connected to yourself or others, people-pleasing, difficulty with boundaries, navigating physical transitions (such as surgery, recovery from accidents, gender transitions, post-pregnancy, etc.), a history of self-criticism (which may include criticism of your body), and difficulty relaxing.
Here at True Essence, we often incorporate a variety of body-based modalities into our sessions as an opportunity to begin building the deep listening skills and self-trust that many of our clients desire. We typically start with somatic resource building, which supports the development of your capacity to feel safety, calm, support, connection, pleasure, strength, and resilience.
Then, if desired, we can explore more uncomfortable feelings, sensations, or past trauma activations that may be seeking attention. Ultimately, the goal is to support healthy authenticity, self-awareness, increased satisfaction and connection in relationships (including with yourself), and access to the inner wisdom that can guide you through life.
We see our role as that of guide, witness, and collaborator as you learn to access the innate knowing within your body. We would be honored to support your discovery.
