Somatic Trauma Therapy

Your body begins to let go of patterns it’s been holding onto for years.

Instead of bracing or shutting down, you start to feel more grounded and secure.

You can move through emotions without getting stuck in them.

You’re no longer fighting against yourself—you’re working with your system.

Trauma isn’t stored in a single organ—it’s held within the nervous system and experienced throughout the body.

However, people often feel trauma in areas like the chest, stomach, shoulders, or jaw, where stress responses tend to accumulate. Somatic therapy helps bring awareness to these areas so they can begin to release.

Somatic therapy and EMDR are both trauma-focused approaches, but they work differently.

• Somatic therapy focuses on body sensations and nervous system regulation
• EMDR uses guided eye movements to help process traumatic memories

Both can be effective, and sometimes they’re even used together. Somatic therapy tends to be slower and more body-centered, focusing on building safety and regulation over time.

Some criticisms of somatic therapy include:

• It can feel unfamiliar or abstract compared to traditional talk therapy
• Progress may feel slower because it’s paced with the nervous system
• It requires a trained practitioner to guide the process safely
• There is still growing research compared to more established methods like CBT

That said, many people find somatic therapy effective—especially when other approaches haven’t fully addressed the physical impact of trauma.