SOMATIC TRAUMA HEALING
Build resilience through returning to the wisdom of your body
(RE)CONNECT WITH YOUR BODY
Somatic therapy can help you release stress, tension, and trauma. Through sensations, movement, mindfulness, and breath, you can learn to be more present, access more capacity, and trust your inner resilience. The mind and body are interconnected, meaning that you’ll experience an integrative approach to healing that goes beyond traditional talk therapy.
Is this you?
you’ve experienced trauma and you feel disconnected from yourself and others. you might FEEL:
Confused about your emotions
Out of control, panicked, or stuck in tunnel vision
Dissociated
Unsure of what’s going on in your body
A constant sense of urgency, or desire to fight or flee in everyday situations
Easily agitated or irritable, even with loved ones
Hypervigilant, or on high alert for perceived threats
Overwhelmed with nightmares or emotional flashbacks
Scared of what might happen if you revisit the trauma
Worried that there’s just “too much” to tolerate
Unsafe with your feelings
Frozen in the traumatic event
trauma & the body
Try as we might, we cannot think our way out of trauma. Trauma came in through the body and, with guidance, it can find its way through the body. When we experience trauma, our usual ways of connecting with our bodies get disrupted. It’s like having a map that suddenly has missing or obscured parts. Somatic therapy can help calm your body and prepare your brain for trauma healing. We can be guided into our inner wisdom by returning to the first ways we experience ourselves and the world—through sensation, breath, movement, and touch.
“IT’S THROUGH OUR BODIES THAT WE EXPERIENCE AND ENGAGE LIFE, AND IT’S IN OUR BODIES THAT WE HEAL.”
Prentis Hemphill
with somatic work, we’ll…
01
Calm your body through a combination of mindfulness, breathwork, and grounding skills. In practice, this could look like noticing sensations in your body and seeing how you feel as you notice them. I might invite you to pay attention to the quality of your breath or offer self-soothing techniques to deepen the connection with your body. We will spend as much time needed to create trust in the body. It’s your process—you get to set the pace and choose how we approach the tough emotions.
02
Strengthen your ability to be with your emotions and their accompanying sensations by noticing them without trying to change them. I’ll use body-based language to facilitate getting out of your head and into your body. Some examples are: is the feeling cold, warm, or hot? Is it heavy or light? Is it small like a pebble or big like a boulder? Does the sensation remain the same as you notice it or does it change? Some people might find that staying with their body in this way is uncomfortable. We’ll listen to what feels available, pausing or shifting gears if need be.
03
Process traumatic events or other negative experiences in both somatic and cognitive ways while checking in about your capacity so as to not become overwhelmed. I reiterate over and over again that safety and consent are integral for trauma-focused processing. For interested clients who are appropriate candidates, I’ll offer EMDR therapy as a way to process the trauma, while continuing to use somatic techniques and interventions from Internal Family Systems (IFS) therapy.
SOMATIC THERAPY CAN HELP YOU:
Understand the impact of the trauma and chronic stress
Release tension and overwhelm
Identify your feelings and unresolved conflicts
Identify triggers and moments of dissociation
Calm your nervous system
Make more intentional decisions
Identify and set boundaries
Slow down racing thoughts
Increase connection with yourself and others
Strengthen your internal resources
Engage with chronic pain or illness with more compassion
Integrate the trauma into a more cohesive experience with new meaning
“Healing is a reminder of what we already are and what we have always been part of.”
Resmaa Menakem
uncover the resilience of your body
Book your 25-minute consultation video call. I will get back to you within 2-3 days.