Somatic therapy is a body-centered approach that helps you notice what your body is holding and begin to release it. Life brings a mix of experiences. Some are joyful, others difficult. You keep going. You make it through. Yet sometimes your body doesn’t catch up. Your heart races without a clear reason. Your shoulders stay tight. Sleep becomes restless. Even when your thoughts have moved forward, your body still feels unsettled.
Crowded spaces, certain voices, or unexpected quiet moments can stir intense reactions. They may seem out of place, especially when life on the surface appears stable. You may start to ask different questions. Not about the past, but about the present. Why does your body still feel reactive when things look fine?
Talking through your experiences can help. Understanding what happened, putting your story into words, and making meaning of it all can bring relief. For many people, that’s enough. But for others, the body still holds on. Tension stays. Rest remains disrupted. Even when the mind feels ready to move on, the body continues to react.
In those moments, another approach may be needed. One like Somatic Therapy, that invites the body into the process not just the mind.
What Is Somatic Therapy?
Somatic therapy is less widely known than practices like mindfulness or general stress-reduction techniques. But it brings a distinct focus. Rather than using the body as a support tool for calming the mind, somatic therapy begins with the body itself.
This form of therapy is based on the idea that the body stores experiences, especially overwhelming or traumatic ones. Physical tension, posture, or ingrained habits can all reflect unresolved emotions. Somatic therapy helps you build awareness of these physical patterns. Over time, it supports your ability to soften and release what’s been held inside.
How It Differs from Traditional Talk Therapy
Talk therapy focuses on emotions, insight, and cognitive understanding. For many people, it works well. But trauma often shows up differently. It can bypass language altogether and live in the body through reflexes, muscle memory, or sensations that arise before conscious thought.
You might understand logically that you’re safe. Yet your body tells a different story. Your breath shortens. Your heart races. Your body braces for something that isn’t happening now. In those moments, reason doesn’t always reach the nervous system.
This can be discouraging. You may wonder why insight alone isn’t enough to change how you feel. The answer lies in how deeply the body holds on to stress and trauma.
Somatic therapy works with this reality. Instead of trying to override the body’s response, it teaches you how to be present with it. It invites awareness of physical sensations while exploring thoughts and emotions, helping your body gradually feel safer.
How Somatic Therapy Works
Somatic therapy sessions tend to move at a slower pace. Therapists guide you in noticing and releasing physical tension through various mind-body techniques. These may include gentle movement, breathing exercises, or guided body awareness.
Some common practices include:
Body Awareness: Developing the ability to notice areas of tension or numbness and pairing that awareness with grounding techniques.
Pendulation: Shifting attention between a place of calm and a difficult memory or sensation. This back-and-forth rhythm helps regulate the nervous system.
Titration: Exploring difficult sensations or memories in small, manageable pieces. This reduces the risk of overwhelm and builds tolerance over time.
Resourcing: Identifying and connecting with experiences, people, or images that bring a sense of safety. These become anchors during sessions.
Together, these techniques help create space in the body. They support nervous system regulation and encourage a felt sense of safety that can grow over time.
Who May Benefit from Somatic Therapy
Somatic therapy can help with:
- Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD)
- Complicated grief
- Depression
- Anxiety
- Challenges with trust or intimacy
- Low self-esteem
It may also help people who feel disconnected from their bodies or who struggle to identify what they’re feeling emotionally.
Some individuals come to somatic therapy after trying traditional approaches that didn’t fully resolve their symptoms. This method can be especially helpful when distress shows up in the body through chronic tension, panic responses, or exhaustion.
That said, somatic therapy isn’t the right fit for everyone. Some people use it alongside other types of therapy. Others find it helpful during specific stages of their healing. The key is to find an approach that feels supportive and manageable, rather than overwhelming.
Healing Happens at the Body’s Pace
The body has its own timing for processing experiences. It may have held on to tension or fear in ways your mind didn’t fully recognize. As therapy progresses, you may start to notice small shifts. Your breathing may ease. Certain reactions might lose their intensity. These changes are often subtle, but they matter.
Healing through the body doesn’t follow a straight line. Some days may feel light, others may stir up old sensations. This is part of the nervous system learning and adjusting. It’s not a setback. It’s part of building safety over time.
Somatic therapy encourages you to stay present with these shifts and to move at the pace your body allows. The process isn’t about fixing or forcing change. It’s about noticing, allowing, and supporting yourself through what unfolds.
Taking the Next Step
If you’re looking for a new way to work through stress or trauma, somatic therapy may offer a path forward. At Nurturing Therapy Services, we provide a safe, steady environment for exploring this kind of work.
We offer therapy for teens and adults in Ankeny, Iowa, and online throughout the state.
Contact us to get started.
