The term “somatic psychotherapy” is an umbrella term for a range of body-based therapeutic modalities used within the context of psychotherapeutic practice. In general, somatic psychotherapies explore the mind/body interface, or the interplay between our physiology and our experience.
The basic premise of somatic psychotherapy is that the quality of our experience is a function of the degree and quality of our embodiment. Somatic psychotherapies explicitly recognize the embodied nature of our experience and therapeutically engage our bodies in the service of healing and wellness. In particular, somatic psychotherapy intends to improve the quality of our experience by exploring, supporting and developing the ways we inhabit our body. My practice as a somatic psychotherapist expresses my conviction that an enhanced awareness of and positive relationship with our bodies naturally results in growth and healing.
In my work with clients, I often employ elements of mindfulness, focusing, movement, sound, and healing touch, informed by the understanding and method of somatic experiencing. I work somatically with a wide spectrum of life’s challenges, including anxiety and depression, relational and attachment problems, addictions, as well as “syndromes” such as chronic fatigue, fibromyalgia, IBS, and others. I find that somatic psychotherapy is especially effective at addressing symptoms of trauma and accumulated stress.
Well-known figures in the development of somatic psychotherapy (and great persons for students of somatic psychotherapy to learn more about!) include psychologist Pierre Janet, psychoanalyst Wilhelm Reich, physician and psychotherapist Alexander Lowen, philosopher and psychotherapist Eugene Gendlin, transpersonal psychologist Stanislav Grof, sensorimotor psychologist Pat Ogden, psychophysiologist Stephen Porges, and traumatologists Peter Levine and Bessel van der Kolk.