Somatic Therapy
Some things you can't think your way out of. You have to feel your way through.
Body-based therapy that works with your nervous system – not just your thoughts – to release what you've been holding and help you feel safe again.
In person in Encinitas and online across California.
What is somatic Therapy?
Somatic therapy is a body-based therapy modality based on one simple truth: anxiety and trauma don’t just live in your thoughts – they live in your body.
Bracing, the racing heart, the tight chest, the shutdown – you can understand exactly why you feel the way you do and still feel it running through you.
When something overwhelming happens, your nervous system responds to protect you – fight, flight, freeze, or fawn – and if that survival energy never gets to complete or discharge, it can stay stored in the body long after the moment has passed. Years later, it can show up as chronic anxiety, tension, exhaustion, numbness, or a sense of being constantly on guard. Talking about it helps, but the body often needs to be worked with directly to fully let it go.
That's what somatic work does. By gently turning toward physical sensation, breath, and movement, we help your nervous system finish what it couldn't before, release stored tension, and build a felt sense of safety – the kind you experience in your body, not just believe in your head. Over time, your system learns it's allowed to settle.
How Somatic Therapy Works
I help you move and release trapped trauma, anxiety, and emotions in the body.
What Somatic Therapy actually looks like…
It's slower and more attuned than talk therapy, and always paced to you. In a session, I might guide you to notice where you feel an emotion in your body, and what happens when we stay with it gently.
We might use breath to shift your state in real time, movement to discharge stuck energy, or simple tracking of sensation to help you build tolerance for feeling.
Nothing is forced – the whole point is to help your body feel safe enough to let go, a little at a time.
How I work with body-based therapy modalities…
I blend several body-based tools depending on what you need:
Breathwork
to build calm and inner resource
Gentle Movement
to release and re-regulate (I'm also a registered yoga teacher, RYT-200)
Somatic Tracking & Awareness
to help you notice and stay with sensation safely
More capacity, more flexibility – for your nervous system.Somatic Therapy and nervous system regulation
This is where much of the nervous-system regulation in my practice lives, grounded in Polyvagal Theory and the window of tolerance – the idea that healing happens best inside the range where you can feel your feelings without being flooded or shutting down.
Much of somatic work is about gently widening that range.
Anxiety and chronic nervous-system dysregulation
Trauma and post-traumatic stress
Feeling disconnected from your body
Shutdown, numbness, or being "stuck in your head"
Stress that lives in the body – tension, tightness, exhaustion
Section Styles lined-list
What Somatic Therapy can help with
Fees & treatment plan
We'll design the right blend of Somatic Therapies together.
Frequently Asked Questions
What happens in a somatic session?
We might start by simply noticing what's happening in your body, then use breath, movement, or gentle awareness to work with it. It's collaborative and paced to you – never pushing past what feels safe.
Is somatic therapy evidence-based?
Body-based approaches to trauma have a growing research base and are increasingly recognized as important, particularly for trauma that doesn't fully resolve through talk alone. Foundational work by clinicians like Dr. Pat Ogden (Sensorimotor Psychotherapy) helped establish the field.
How is it different from talk therapy?
Talk therapy works "top-down," through thought and insight. Somatic therapy works "bottom-up," through the body and nervous system. I weave both, because lasting change usually comes from working the mind and body together.
Does it include breathwork, meditation, or yoga?
Yes – those are all part of my somatic toolkit, drawn on as they fit you.
Who is somatic therapy best for?
Anyone who feels their anxiety or trauma physically, who's done a lot of talking and still feels stuck, or who wants to feel more at home and safe in their own body.
When you're ready, I'm here
Reaching out is often the hardest part. If you're feeling even a small pull toward this work, let's start with a free consultation – no pressure, no commitment, just a conversation.