What Is Somatic Therapy?

Somatic therapy is a body-based approach to healing trauma, chronic stress, and emotional overwhelm. The word somatic means “relating to the body.” Unlike traditional talk therapy, somatic therapy focuses on the physical sensations, nervous system responses, and movement patterns that often live below conscious awareness.

In sessions, these unconscious patterns are gently brought into awareness so they can be worked with directly—allowing the body to release stored tension, resolve trauma, and return to a state of internal safety.

Somatic Therapy vs. Talk Therapy: What's the Difference?

Traditional talk therapies like CBT, DBT, ACT, or psychodynamic therapy use a top-down approach—working through thoughts and verbal insight in the hope of influencing emotional and physical states.

Somatic therapy uses a bottom-up approach, starting with the body: noticing breath, posture, heart rate, muscle tone, and other internal signals that are shaped by underlying emotions and belief systems. These subtle body cues give us direct access to the nervous system, where trauma is often stored and unconsciously repeated.

These patterns are often difficult to identify in traditional talk therapy alone, and many talk therapists don’t have the specialized training to work with the nervous system in this way.

Modalities I Use in My Palo Alto Somatic Therapy Practice

I integrate several body-based and trauma-informed methods, including:

Somatic Experiencing® (SE)
Internal Family Systems® (IFS)
Hakomi Method
Feldenkrais Method®
Integral Somatic Psychology (ISP)
NeuroAffective Touch® and NARM
Psychodynamic and body-mind approaches

I also bring over 30 years of experience in therapeutic bodywork, including craniosacral therapy, soft tissue techniques, and myofascial release. This background allows me to see deeper patterns of tension, holding, and protective strategies—and gives me more tools for working with complex situations.

What Happens in a Somatic Therapy Session?

Whether you're working with me in-person in Palo Alto or online, sessions usually begin with conversation. But unlike traditional therapy, I’ll invite you to track what’s happening in your body as you speak.

For example, if you're experiencing chronic anxiety, we won’t just talk about it—we’ll explore how it shows up in your body: maybe as tightness in the chest, shallow breath, numbness, tingling, or frozen stillness.

These are signs that your nervous system may be stuck in a fight, flight, freeze, or dissociative response.

Somatic therapy gently helps the body complete these survival responses, freeing you from being stuck in the past and allowing your system to return to present-time safety and regulation. This is where real healing begins.

What Is “Tracking” in Somatic Therapy?

One of the core skills we build in somatic therapy is tracking—bringing focused, nonjudgmental attention to internal body sensations.

Tracking involves noticing physical signals—like warmth, tension, pressure, movement, stillness, or even the absence of sensation. These cues reflect both protective survival states and the body’s natural self-regulating capacities.

As you become more skilled at tracking, you begin to interrupt fear-based patterns, regulate your nervous system, and build a deeper sense of embodiment and resilience.

Why Do We Get Stuck in Fear or Anxiety?

Fear originates in the lower parts of the brain—specifically the brainstem and limbic system—which react faster than the thinking brain. When your nervous system detects a threat (even a subtle one), it sends signals to mobilize the body for survival.

This can manifest as:

Constant anxiety or dread
Hypervigilance
Chronic tension or pain
Emotional overwhelm
Shutdown or dissociation

These responses are automatic and protective. But when they become chronic or stuck, they can limit your ability to feel safe, grounded, and fully alive.

With somatic support, these patterns can be gently unwound. As we work together, your prefrontal cortex (thinking brain) re-engages, helping you feel calm, clear, and in control of your experience.

Why Experience Matters in Somatic Work

With over three decades of experience in somatic healing and trauma recovery, I’ve developed a nuanced ability to track and interpret complex nervous system patterns.

My training in the Feldenkrais Method®, somatic psychology, and hands-on bodywork allows me to support clients in resolving long-held patterns of fear, disconnection, or dysregulation—often more efficiently than talk therapy alone.

I specialize in working with:

Chronic anxiety and fear-based responses
Developmental and attachment trauma
Somatic symptoms and autoimmune stress
Dissociation, freeze states, and shutdown
People who have plateaued in talk therapy

What I Track in Sessions

Each client is different, but some of the key areas I track include:

How your nervous system is attempting to protect you (fight, flight, freeze, fawn, dissociation)
Patterns of attachment, connection, and relational safety
Emotional and shock trauma history
Surgeries, medical trauma, and early developmental wounds
Generational trauma and inherited survival strategies
Internal resources, strengths, and what’s been missing in prior healing efforts

The goal is not just symptom relief—it’s restoring a deep sense of internal safety, trust, and embodied connection.

Ready to Learn More?

If you're curious about how somatic therapy can help you resolve trauma, regulate your nervous system, and reconnect with yourself, I offer a free 20-minute consultation.

Let’s talk about what you're facing—and what might be possible through body-based healing.