Somatic therapy is a holistic approach to healing because it is based on the body-mind connection. It uses the cues of what’s happening in the here and now in the body as it’s guide, going beyond concepts, which allows for deep healing to happen.
Somatic therapy practitioners recognize that the body is the unconscious; it holds on to experiences and speaks for us in various ways, even if we wish we could forget those painful memories. You don’t have to necessarily remember the story in order to heal from it and complete whatever may be unfinished from your past.
There are various ways therapist work within this field to support healing to happen, for example though breath, movement, body awareness, mindfulness techniques and non verbal communication, which all access the bodies innate intelligence for growth and transformation.
Somatic Therapy has proven to be effective with traumas such as post traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) along with others, depression, anxiety, grief, relationship issues and other life challenges.
Somatic psychology is cutting edge work in the field and is gaining mainstream popularity with recent developments in neuroscience, which has supported the work with scientific research. Some specific forms of somatic therapy are Somatic Experiencing, Sensorimotor Psychotherapy, Hakomi, Bioenergetics, Focusing, Dance Movement Therapy and much more. Practitioners of this work find themselves working in healthcare clinics, hospitals, agencies and private practice.
