Somatic Therapy
Somatic therapy is a newer form of psychological therapy that moves away from approaches based purely on talk-alone.
Somatic therapy invites you to tune into the physical sensations in your body, and listen to their wisdom. When done right, somatic therapy can help clients heal from years of ignored stress, trauma, or chronic pain.
As a clinical psychologist with over 15 years of experience, I’ve witnessed somatic work transform lives—people who once felt stuck in endless rumination or numbness finally find relief through gentle attention to their breath and their body.
With time and attention, they grow to understand the meaning of that ever-present lump in their throat, or the endless churning in their tummy and finally put to bed the unfinished business of their nervous system.
Research, including randomized trials on Somatic Experiencing (SE), shows it significantly reduces PTSD symptoms, depression, and physical health complaints by helping clients get in touch with their emotions, and heal much faster than traditional methods alone.
What Is Somatic Therapy?
Developed from the work of pioneers like Peter Levine and Bessel van der Kolk’s who began the conversation on body-oriented insights, it uses awareness of sensations (tingling, heat, tightness), breathwork and grounding, to restore the body’s natural capacity to regulate and calm instelf.
Unlike pure CBT, which excels at thoughts, somatic work meets you where emotions show up physically first—racing heart, shallow breath, pelvic tension—making it ideal for anxiety, sexual trauma, chronic pain, or developmental wounds. If necessary, work can be done with trauma survivors without forcing them to retell their sometimes horrific stories.
In my early years, a client named Sarah (pseudonym), a 35-year-old teacher who experienced horrific levels of childhood neglect, described her body as “a clenched fist I couldn’t unclench.” Traditional talk therapy helped her understand why she was tense, but somatic tracking unlocked the tension and released years of held terror, leaving her lighter and more present with herself and her students.
The work involved pausing in therapy to notice the tension in her jaw as she described a memory from her childhood, sitting with the sensation untill it naturally eased, and noticing images, memories and probelmatic belief associated with the tension. Sarah learned eventually that she could face the feelings from her past, and she no longer felt trapped by her traumas.
How Does Somatic Therapy Work in Practice
Therapy with Dr Amrit helps you access your innate capacity to regulate by providing gentle guidance. For example, if a client came in with profound depression, we start slow: mapping body sensations (“What do you notice in your chest right now?”). The client often would say something like “my chest is heavy”, or “I feel a deep weight”.
Using pendulation (shifting between activation and safety), and resourcing (breathing as co-regulation) I would urge them to sit with the feeling of the heaviness, in an effort to “get to know” the feeling. Building familiarity and comfort with the feeling often releases it, and then allows the client, with my help, to understand the origins of the feeling, and acknowledge previously unacknowledged thoughts and feelings that are significant to the overall experience.
Evidence supports this method: A review of somatic experiencing therapy across traumas (accidents, assaults) showed consistent symptom drops in PTSD, pain, dissociation and general emotional suffering.
One poignant case: Mark, a veteran with combat PTSD, froze when his wife touchd him, his body “betraying” him with shutdown. In somatic sessions, we tracked his throat constriction—a freeze signal—and used slow breathing to build his comfort and understanding of the feeling.
After several weeks of practicing to tolerate the throat constriction without panicing or shutting down, the feeling of terror he experienced on being touched reduced to more normal levels. Tears of relief flowed as he was able to hug his wife without shutting down. With more work, his nervous system slowly began to signal “safety” far more often than “danger” and they resumed a healthy intimate relationship..
Who Benefits Most From Somatic Therapy?
Anyone disconnected from their body or constantly plagued by physical symptoms can benefit from somatic therapy. Trauma survivors, high-achievers with burnout, those with IBS/ migraines tied to stress, or parents overwhelmed by anxiety can all benefit. Somatic therapy is especially good for people with complex PTSD, where talking alone without regulating the body can be re-traumatizing.
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