What is Somatic Therapy?
Somatic therapy is an approach that supports healing through the body and nervous system, not only through thoughts and insight. Rather than focusing solely on what you think or understand, somatic therapy pays attention to physical sensations, impulses, emotions, and protective responses that arise in response to stress and trauma.
Many people come to somatic therapy after realizing that talking about a problem has not changed how they feel in their body. Somatic work offers a different entry point by supporting change from the body up.
Why the Body Matters in Therapy
The body often carries what the mind cannot fully explain. Stress and trauma can shape nervous system patterns that continue long after the original experience has passed.
These patterns may show up as:
- shutdown or freeze
- chronic tension or bracing
- dissociation or emotional numbness
- anxiety, panic, or sudden activation
- difficulty accessing feelings
- hypervigilance or constant scanning
- difficulty resting, relaxing, or feeling safe
These responses are not flaws or weaknesses. They are protective strategies the nervous system developed to help you survive and adapt.
Somatic therapy helps you understand these patterns with compassion and begin shifting them at a pace that feels manageable.
How Somatic Therapy Creates Change
Many clients describe feeling stuck in traditional talk therapy. They may be able to explain what happened, but still feel overwhelmed, shut down, or disconnected when emotions arise.
Somatic therapy can be especially supportive when you notice experiences such as:
- “My body reacts before I can think.”
- “I shut down when I try to talk about it.”
- “I can talk about it, but I still feel stuck.”
- “I don’t have clear memories, just sensations.”
- “I feel everything too intensely, or I feel nothing at all.”
Somatic therapy helps bridge this gap by working directly with nervous system responses, supporting the body in releasing stuck survival patterns and restoring a sense of regulation, safety, and connection.
What to Expect in Somatic Therapy
Somatic therapy is gentle and paced. Sessions often involve slowing down and noticing what is happening in the body in real time. Depending on your needs, sessions may include:
Regulation
Completion
Integration
Approaches We May Integrate
At Foothills Integrative, we draw from a range of somatic and trauma-informed approaches, depending on what fits best for you. This may include:
- somatic and body awareness work
- sensorimotor-based approaches
- mindful interoception and grounding practices
- attachment-focused somatic therapy
- DBR (Deep Brain Reorienting)
- trauma-informed movement and embodiment practices
These are not rigid techniques. They are tools we use flexibly and collaboratively to support your healing process.
What Somatic Therapy Can Help With
Somatic and nervous system-based therapy can support a wide range of concerns, especially when stress and trauma have shaped emotional or physiological responses.
Somatic therapy may be helpful for:
- developmental, relational, or shock trauma
- dissociation, shutdown, or freeze responses
- anxiety, panic, or overwhelm
- chronic stress and burnout
- emotional numbness or disconnection
- grief and loss
- chronic tension, bracing, or fatigue
- perinatal or medical trauma
- attachment wounds and relationship-based triggers
- neurodivergent sensory and regulation challenges
- performance stress and nervous system overactivation
Somatic work can be adapted for different nervous systems, developmental stages, and levels of emotional capacity.
Somatic Therapy and Trauma
Trauma is often stored not only as memories, but as patterns in the nervous system. For many individuals, the body holds fear, tension, and protective responses even when the mind cannot access a clear narrative.
Somatic therapy can be especially supportive for individuals who:
- experience trauma without clear memories
- shut down or dissociate under stress
- become activated quickly and feel overwhelmed
- feel stuck despite years of insight-based therapy
- have developmental trauma or attachment trauma
Somatic work often creates the foundation that makes deeper trauma processing possible. It can support stability and regulation before, during, or alongside approaches such as EMDR, DBR, or relational trauma therapy.
Is Somatic Therapy Right For Me?
Somatic therapy may be a good fit if you:
- think a lot but feel disconnected from your body
- shut down or go blank under stress
- struggle to access emotions
- feel emotions too intensely and become overwhelmed
- feel stuck in survival mode
- have trauma symptoms without clear memories
- want deeper regulation, embodiment, and nervous system support
- are curious about body-based healing
If you are unsure, that is okay. Part of therapy is exploring what fits and what feels safe.
Why We Use Somatic Therapy at Foothills Integrative
At Foothills Integrative, we believe healing requires more than insight. Many clients need support at the level of the nervous system in order to feel safe enough to process emotions, change patterns, and experience lasting relief.
We use somatic therapy because it supports:
- regulation and increased emotional capacity
- deeper trauma integration without overwhelm
- healing that includes the body, not just the mind
- greater connection, presence, and resilience
- sustainable change that carries into everyday life
Somatic therapy aligns with our integrative approach by supporting both emotional healing and physiological regulation.
Meet Our Somatic Therapists
Take the Next Step
If somatic therapy feels like it might be the right fit, the best first step is a conversation. We offer a free 20-minute consultation to help you explore fit, ask questions, and determine what approach feels right for you.
No pressure, just presence.
In person sessions in Okotoks, and virtual therapy across Alberta.
Common Questions About Somatic Therapy
It can be deep work, but it is not forceful. Sessions move at the pace of the nervous system.
No. Somatic work does not require graphic retelling or reliving. Much of the work is internal and sensation-based.
No. Somatic work supports a variety of concerns - including anxiety, shutdown, emotional regulation, and stress among others.
Yes. Many somatic tools translate well to online sessions, especially regulation and interoception work.
