Somatic Therapy: What is it, How Does it Work, and Who Can it Help?
Posted: May 18, 2023
By Jessica Johns-Green, LPC
Somatic therapy refers to a range of techniques that use awareness of body sensations to unlock problems. Somatic approaches focus on how the nervous system responds to various experiences, triggers, and stimuli. Most people have heard of a ‘flight or fight’ response. This is a good example of one way the body can respond to a trigger. Somatic therapy aims to support people to better understand their body’s patterns of response as a way to heal from trauma, manage mood, recover from overwhelm or improve abilities in demanding situations.
Many issues can benefit from a somatic approach. Any problem that sends the nervous system into a state of overwhelm or deactivation (being numb or tuned out) will be well served by at least some degree of attention to the somatic side of the issue. Trauma and its after-effects are particularly well suited to this approach. One of the main benefits is that the traumatic incident often needs not to be discussed in painful detail in order to get better. Additionally, athletes and people in demanding career roles can find the somatic approach useful in overcoming the knee-jerk reactions of the nervous system in performance situations.
Want to try it at home? Simple exercises for home practice
The first exercise is a 'no-judgment check-in'. Find a quiet place and get comfortable, either seated or lying down. Scan your body from the toes up to the head, noticing feelings without judgment. Simply saying, “I see that I feel …” and then move to the next part.
Another exercise is 'using the breath to calm'. Take deep nostril breaths for a few minutes. If you are breathing through your mouth and find it difficult at first, try to breathe in through the nose and out through the mouth until you are calm enough to breathe through the nose. Aim to breathe in for a count of 4 or 5, hold for 4, and exhale for a count of 5 or 6. It’s not important to be exact. Simply aim to have a deep, slow inhale, a brief hold, and a slightly slower exhale. For extra soothing, visualize breathing into any discomfort you have. Send the breath in the form of a healing, comforting light to the areas in the body where you feel anxiety, tension, and sadness.
The last exercise is 'grounding using your sense of touch'. When you feel like your emotions or thoughts are taking you off into orbit, tune in with the moment. Feel the chair under your hips or the ground under your feet. If it feels better, take off your shoes and send awareness into each toe. Or become aware of the feeling in each fingertip, the smell of the air, a sound you can hear, or the temperature on your skin. Use a phrase like “I am here and now” to remind you that you can just ‘be’.
The Somatic Approach
Increasingly, practitioners are highlighting the importance of more unified theories of mental health that recognize the relationship between body and mind. Trauma therapists have long been exploring ways to counteract the dissociation common in post-traumatic reactions. This dissociation is a sense of separation people can feel from their bodies. This has led many researchers and practitioners to explore the benefits of holistic body approaches. These incorporate breath work, awareness of physical sensations, yoga, and mindfulness. Many therapies have a ‘somatic’ component, even if it is not the explicit focus. For example, Cognitive Behavioral Therapy will ask the client to pay attention to feelings and corresponding thoughts. The difference in somatic therapy is that feelings take the main stage. It's not just emotions we label but also physical sensations or impulses that arise. Physical sensations might be related to emotions but different. For example, a sinking feeling in the stomach or tension in the head. Impulses might be things that the body is saying it would like to do, such as run away or hide, even if they are not acted out. A somatic therapist would aid a client in understanding the role of symptoms, seeing them in new ways, and developing techniques with the client to experience and soothe the sensations and impulses that arise. A key element of somatic therapy is that each symptom, or the body’s characteristic way of responding, is seen as an attempt to adapt, survive, and tolerate a situation. This can be particularly useful in therapy where focusing on ‘good/bad’ or ‘right/wrong’ can often get in the way of understanding the problem. Somatic approaches can typically help clients to deal more effectively with the shame that comes with behaviors and choices. It is often beneficial to view behaviors through the lens of the body trying to alleviate some form of suffering.
Who can it benefit?
Many issues can benefit from a somatic approach. Any problem that sends the nervous system into a state of overwhelm or deactivation (being numb or tuned out) will be well served by at least some degree of attention to the somatic side of the issue. Trauma and its after-effects are particularly well suited to this approach. One of the main benefits is that the traumatic incident often needs not to be discussed in painful detail in order to get better. Additionally, athletes and people in demanding career roles can find the somatic approach useful in overcoming the knee-jerk reactions of the nervous system in performance situations.
How does it work?
While each somatic intervention may be different according to the needs of the client, most will help the client define ways their body responds. Most simply, the nervous system can get ‘Stuck On’ or ‘Stuck Off’. Neither of these are pleasant or optimal states to thrive in. Those that are ‘Stuck On’ can experience tension, hyper-vigilance, keeping relentlessly busy, and even body pains from tense muscles or quick heart rate. Those that are ‘Stuck Off’ might feel numb, distracted, unmotivated, sleepy, and lethargic. Many have some responses in each category. Somatic therapies look to bring the ‘Stuck On’ down a level and the ‘Stuck Off’ up a level so that we can experience where our bodies like to be. Typically, they like to be gently resting in the middle. The work will be geared towards developing practices that help our bodies feel grounded when we’re shooting into space. Safe when our nervous system feels under threat. And alive when our bodies feel like shutting down and tuning out. This might include trying new physical sensations that help the nervous back to balance, breathing techniques, and learning to lean into the body’s signals in new, creative ways.Want to try it at home? Simple exercises for home practice 
The first exercise is a 'no-judgment check-in'. Find a quiet place and get comfortable, either seated or lying down. Scan your body from the toes up to the head, noticing feelings without judgment. Simply saying, “I see that I feel …” and then move to the next part.
Another exercise is 'using the breath to calm'. Take deep nostril breaths for a few minutes. If you are breathing through your mouth and find it difficult at first, try to breathe in through the nose and out through the mouth until you are calm enough to breathe through the nose. Aim to breathe in for a count of 4 or 5, hold for 4, and exhale for a count of 5 or 6. It’s not important to be exact. Simply aim to have a deep, slow inhale, a brief hold, and a slightly slower exhale. For extra soothing, visualize breathing into any discomfort you have. Send the breath in the form of a healing, comforting light to the areas in the body where you feel anxiety, tension, and sadness.
The last exercise is 'grounding using your sense of touch'. When you feel like your emotions or thoughts are taking you off into orbit, tune in with the moment. Feel the chair under your hips or the ground under your feet. If it feels better, take off your shoes and send awareness into each toe. Or become aware of the feeling in each fingertip, the smell of the air, a sound you can hear, or the temperature on your skin. Use a phrase like “I am here and now” to remind you that you can just ‘be’.
Reach Out For Help
Becoming aware of your body can feel daunting, especially if anxiety, trauma, or mood issues have been part of your experience. So, if you identify with any of these, reach out for help. It can feel overwhelming to begin to focus on the problem, and finding solutions can feel impossible; however, you are not alone in the journey. If you need help, talk to a supportive friend or doctor, or find a therapist. Therapy offers a place to deal with the emotional issues that drive these problems. Working with a therapist can help you find confidence in your ability to cope and have a healthy relationship with food. At the Counseling Center at Cinco Ranch, we are here to help. You deserve to feel empowered, not helpless.Begin Somatic Therapy in Katy, TX!
If you are ready to try somatic therapy, one of the therapists at The Center at Cinco Ranch can help! We provide mental health counseling, as well as other mental health services. To begin counseling in Katy, TX follow these three steps:- Contact our office to set up an appointment or to learn more information
- Meet with one of our compassionate therapists
- Find ways to thrive using somatic therapy today!