WHAT IS SOMATIC PSYCHOTHERAPY?

Especially now, when so much of our lives are on screens, it’s easy to get lost in thoughts and daydreams, fears and anxieties. As marginalized and/or people living with the symptoms of trauma, those fears and anxieties have real cause and often demand daily attention. We can and we deserve to find relief and the inherent resilience that is our nature.

 

The way I have found some peace – and the way I practice therapy – is by returning to the direct, lived experience of the body and the present moment. Through decades of training in yoga and mindfulness, I've found that tuning into my body and learning to refocus my awareness brings ease, insight, and transformation in ways that talking does not.  For example, if you’re feeling stressed, you could call a friend or mentor to talk it out, but you could also run around the block, shout profanities, take a deep breath, or relax under a shade tree. Somatic psychotherapy makes use of all these avenues to wellbeing.  It is purposefully experiential in order to build embodiment and capacity through lived experience.

 

In addition to the talking, processing, and mental inquiry you might expect in therapy, sessions with me might also include guided mindfulness; studying postures, gestures, and movements; learning to feel natural impulses and express wants/needs; using breath and movement to ease anxiety and/or build energy; gentle, therapeutic touch; boundaries and relating explorations to develop relationship skills; or even using the therapeutic relationship as a source of information.

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Learn more about relational touch here.