What is Somatic Therapy?
Somatic therapy is an approach that incorporates sensations, feelings, and the body in healing.
But, instead of giving you a very scientific explanation of what it is. I would like to use my own words to share how I experience, embody, and guide this work.
The language of sensation and the body was how we got to know the world. It was our way of communicating before thinking and language became part of our development. I believe that we can re-learn this way of being with ourselves. After all, it was how we first navigated this world.
In this space we get to know how your nervous system learned to protect you, the tightness, the constriction, protection, pain, and what was passed down generationally. We make space for the knowing inside of you. That which is known from a felt sense.
I believe that our bodies hold wisdom of what it has been through and what has been passed down generationally.
Joy, aliveness, wisdom, and many more things are also part of our experience as human beings and bodies. We get to honor the pace and capacity of your soma (body) and system. We don't override or push through, but we get to know with curiosity and respect your unique experience.
My approach to working with you is holistic and deeply human. I incorporate Hakomi (somatic), Parts Work (IFS informed), Relational, and Cultural humility.
What does a session look like?
I may invite you or guide you into mindfulness as an arriving practice. I will ask you what you want to focus on during the session. Throughout the session I may notice what happens as you share and invite you to also notice.
I invite clients to bring curiosity and mindfulness to this space. We get curious about the sensations, feelings, thoughts, memories, images, and somatic patterns that arise in the present moment.
It is important for me to mention the importance of honoring and respecting the pace of your system. In this space we don't have to rush.
Who do I work with?
I work with folks that have had experiences of being misattuned in their early development and how that is impacting in their adult life. Some of those experiences might include, the experiences of not being met emotionally, being parentified, mother wounds, and inner child work.
I work with folks that want to work slowly and deeply. Folks that want to be in relationship with themselves differently. This is a space for those who are interested in getting to know themselves more deeply.
How is this different from Talk therapy?
We still talk in session but we bring in more mindfulness, slow down, and with curiosity notice patterns. Somatic approaches and the mind can work together. Not separate. Meaning making is also part of this process.
What if I dont feel anything in my body?
Even that is information. That in itself is an experience. We can get curious about the qualities of "not feeling" and how that got developed.
It also takes practice to learn the language of noticing what is happening somatically.
The approaches I draw from?
Hakomi. A mindfulness-centered and attachment somatic approach. I am currently training in Hakomi and bring what I am learning into this work.
Parts Work/IFS informed. Meeting the different parts of you. The defenses, the protection, and the wounds.
Lifespan Integration. Working with the timeline of your own life. It can create a more stable self and a sense of certain events are "over". More integration.
Somatic developmental trauma. Attending to what took shape early on developmentally. What the body has known before language and cognitive processing was present.
Relational and cultural humility. Your context, your culture, and what has been passed down intergenerationally are also a part of our work.
Do you take insurance?
I am considered an out of network provider. Meaning I don't panel with any insurance companies. I can provide a superbill if you have out of network benefits. When you provide this to your insurance it is possible they will reimburse you.
Please reference the fees page to see how my fees are structured.