In short: Somatic therapy is a body-centred form of psychotherapy. Rather than working only with thoughts and words, it works with what you feel in your body (sensations, impulses, tension, breath) to help your nervous system settle and release patterns that insight alone hasn’t been able to shift. It’s often used for anxiety, overwhelm, relational trauma and long-standing emotional patterns.
More and more people are hearing about somatic therapy, often after years of talk therapy and personal growth work that helped them understand themselves but didn’t quite change how they feel. If that’s you, you’re not alone. Many of the people I work with arrive saying, “I know exactly why I do this. I just can’t stop doing it.”
This guide explains what somatic therapy is, how it works, what actually happens in a session, and how to know if it might be right for you.
What does “somatic” mean?
“Somatic” comes from the Greek word soma, meaning the living body. Somatic therapy is built on a simple idea: our experiences don’t only live in our minds. They also live in our bodies, in the way we breathe, hold ourselves, brace, collapse, reach out or pull away.
When something was too much for us at the time, especially early in life or in close relationships, the body adapts to protect us. Those adaptations can stay long after we need them, showing up as anxiety, numbness, people pleasing, or a sense of never quite being able to relax.
How does somatic therapy work?
Most talk therapy works “top down”, starting with thoughts and hoping feelings follow. Somatic therapy works “bottom up”. It starts with what’s happening in your body right now and lets meaning emerge from there.
In practice, this means a few things:
- Slowing down. Old patterns run fast and automatically. When we slow down, there’s room to notice them, and noticing is the beginning of choice.
- Working with the nervous system. Somatic therapy helps your system move out of chronic fight, flight or shutdown and gradually widens your capacity to feel without being overwhelmed.
- Presence. We bring gentle, curious attention to sensations, emotions and impulses as they arise, without judging them or rushing to fix them.
- Completing what was interrupted. Sometimes the body has been holding a response it never got to finish, like pushing away, reaching out or crying. Allowing that, safely and slowly, can bring a deep sense of relief.
- Relationship. Healing happens in connection. A safe, attuned relationship with your therapist is part of what helps your nervous system learn that it’s okay to settle.
What happens in a somatic therapy session?
A somatic session usually looks a lot like any other therapy session at first. We sit together and talk about what’s bringing you in. The difference is in what we pay attention to.
As you speak, I might gently invite you to pause and notice what’s happening inside. Perhaps a tightness in your throat when you mention your mother. A sinking feeling in your belly. Your hands curling as you talk about work. Rather than talking about these things, we get curious about them together: what they feel like, what they might want, and what they’re protecting.
Sessions are often quiet and slow. There’s no pressure to relive painful memories or to “get it all out”. You stay in charge of the pace, and nothing happens without your consent. Many people are surprised by how gentle it is, and by how much can shift when we simply give the body time and attention.
If you’d like to know what it can feel like when the body lets go of old stress, I’ve written more about that in How Your Body Releases Trauma (and What It Feels Like).
What can somatic therapy help with?
Somatic therapy can support people with a wide range of experiences, including:
- Anxiety and panic
- Feeling overwhelmed, flooded or chronically on edge (see You’re Not Too Much, You’re Under-Resourced)
- Relationship and attachment patterns, including anxious attachment
- Relational and developmental trauma, and the effects of early life experiences
- Numbness, disconnection or feeling cut off from your body
- Grief and emotional pain that feels stuck
- Low self-worth, people pleasing and difficulty trusting yourself
It can be especially helpful if you’ve already done a lot of talk therapy and feel you understand your patterns, yet they keep showing up anyway.
Types of somatic therapy
“Somatic therapy” is an umbrella term. Some of the best-known approaches are:
- Hakomi: a gentle, mindfulness-centred approach developed by Ron Kurtz that uses loving presence and present-moment experience to explore the core beliefs held in the body. This is the approach that informs my work. You can read more in What Is Hakomi Therapy and How Does It Work?
- Somatic Experiencing: developed by Peter Levine, focusing on how trauma affects the nervous system and helping the body gradually discharge stored survival energy.
- Sensorimotor Psychotherapy: developed by Pat Ogden, who was one of the founding trainers of Hakomi. It blends body-based work with attachment and trauma theory.
Approaches like EMDR and some forms of trauma-informed counselling also include body awareness, though they’re usually considered their own modalities.
Somatic therapy vs talk therapy
Talk therapy can be incredibly valuable for understanding your history and making sense of your patterns. Somatic therapy doesn’t replace that. It adds another layer, working with the part of you that reacts before you’ve had a chance to think.
Put simply, talk therapy helps you understand why you feel the way you do. Somatic therapy helps you feel differently. I go into this in more depth in Talk Therapy vs Somatic Therapy: What’s the Difference?
Is somatic therapy evidence-based?
Research into somatic therapy is still growing, but it’s promising. Studies of body-oriented approaches such as Somatic Experiencing have found positive effects on trauma symptoms, anxiety and wellbeing, and reviews of the research generally conclude that more large studies are needed.
Somatic approaches also fit well with what neuroscience now tells us about trauma and the nervous system: that stress and survival responses are held physiologically, not just in our thoughts. In my experience, the body often knows the way forward long before the mind catches up.
Can you do somatic therapy on your own?
You can bring a somatic approach into everyday life. Pausing to feel your feet on the ground, noticing your breath, or checking in with what your body needs are all simple ways to begin. These practices can help you feel more settled and more connected to yourself.
Deeper patterns, especially those that formed in relationship, usually need relationship to heal. Having a steady, attuned person beside you helps your nervous system feel safe enough to explore what it couldn’t face alone. That’s a big part of what somatic therapy offers.
Is somatic therapy right for you?
Somatic therapy might be a good fit if:
- You understand your patterns but still feel stuck in them
- You often feel anxious, overwhelmed or disconnected, and talking about it hasn’t changed much
- You’re sensitive and self-aware, and you want a gentle, unhurried approach
- You want to trust yourself and your body again
Common questions about somatic therapy
Do I have to talk about my trauma?
No. One of the strengths of somatic therapy is that you don’t need to go into the details of painful experiences for healing to happen. We work with what’s present in your body now, at a pace that feels manageable.
How long does somatic therapy take?
It depends on what you’re bringing and what you’re hoping for. Some people notice shifts within a few sessions. Long-standing relational patterns usually take longer, and many people find regular sessions over several months most helpful.
Does somatic therapy work online?
Yes. We can still slow down, notice sensations and work with the body together over video, and many people find it easier to settle in their own space.
Is somatic therapy safe?
Done well, it’s a very gentle way of working. Feelings can sometimes come up strongly, which is why a good somatic therapist goes slowly, keeps checking in, and helps you stay within what feels manageable. If you’re in crisis, it’s important to have immediate support in place as well.
You’ll find more answers on my FAQ page.
Somatic therapy in Byron Bay and online across Australia
I’m Tori Reid, a Hakomi-informed somatic psychotherapist. I see clients in person between Byron Bay and Mullumbimby, and online across Australia. My only agenda is to support the wisdom of your body and where it wants to go.
If something here speaks to you, you can see sessions and pricing, or book a free discovery call to talk about whether we’re a good fit.
If you’re in crisis or need support right now, please call Lifeline on 13 11 14, or 000 in an emergency.