Let’s get one thing straight: you don’t have to tell your trauma story a hundred times to heal. In fact, sometimes the most healing thing you can do is not talk about it at all.
That’s where somatic trauma therapy comes in.
If you’ve been living with PTSD, or even if you’ve just had moments that feel like they rewired your whole nervous system, you know the toll it takes. Not just mentally, but physically. The tight jaw. The racing heart. The constant feeling like your body’s trying to outrun something invisible.
So what if, instead of analyzing every detail of what happened, you could work with the place that’s still holding it?
First Things First: What Is Somatic Trauma Therapy?
Let me paint the picture.
You’re sitting in a calm space, maybe lying down, maybe sitting in a chair. You’re not rehashing the past. You’re tracking now. What your body is doing. What it’s feeling. That flutter in your belly. That heat rising up your neck. That tension you didn’t even realize was in your hands until someone gently asked you to notice.
Somatic trauma therapy is all about working with the body’s natural language: sensation. Not memory. Not logic. Sensation.
Developed from the work of folks like Peter Levine and Bessel van der Kolk, this approach is grounded in science. It understands trauma as a physiological experience that gets trapped in the nervous system, not just a mental scar. Which is why trying to “think your way out of it” often doesn’t work.
Why Traditional PTSD Therapy Doesn’t Always Fit
Now, don’t get me wrong. Talk therapy and cognitive work have helped so many people. But for others, talking can feel… well, kind of like poking a bruise over and over.
You get into the story, you feel the wave of emotion, and then, bam. Your body floods with adrenaline like it’s all happening again. Because, in some ways, it is.
Trauma isn’t about what happened, it’s about what your body had to do to survive it.
And that’s where somatic trauma therapy changes the game.
How Does It Actually Work?
Think less “tell me everything” and more “what’s your body saying right now?”
Somatic therapists might ask you to notice where you feel something – tightness, buzzing, pressure – and help you slow it down. They’ll track subtle shifts, like when your breathing changes or your shoulders drop. They might invite movement, or suggest grounding techniques. And yeah, sometimes the work is still. Really still.
The goal isn’t catharsis. It’s completion. Giving your body a way to move through the survival energy it never got to finish releasing.
It might be as small as a sigh. A shiver. A tear you didn’t know was waiting. But those moments? That’s the work.
You Don’t Have to Re-Traumatize Yourself to Heal
One of the most beautiful parts of somatic trauma therapy is that you can heal without re-exposing yourself to the pain over and over again. No pressure to explain, justify, or even name the trauma if you don’t want to.
Because your body already knows what it went through. And it also knows how to come back into balance, if you give it the chance.
This approach is especially helpful for:
• PTSD and complex PTSD
• Sexual assault or abuse survivors
• Veterans, first responders, and folks with combat trauma
• Medical trauma or chronic illness
• Anyone who feels disconnected from their body or constantly “on edge”
Okay But… Does It Really Work?
I get it. It sounds almost too gentle to work. We’ve been conditioned to think healing has to be dramatic or loud or tear-filled to count.
But here’s the thing: some of the most powerful healing is quiet. It happens in micro-moments. Your heart rate slowing. Your breath dropping into your belly. The first time you feel safe lying on your own living room floor.
Clients who’ve tried everything else often say somatic trauma therapy is the first time they felt like their body wasn’t working against them. Like they weren’t broken, just overwhelmed. And now? They have tools. And choice.
If You’re in Lake Arrowhead (or Nearby), You’ve Got Options
If any of this speaks to you – if you’re done carrying it all in your shoulders and jaw and gut – know this: you don’t have to go through the motions anymore. You can stop bracing. You can start softening.
Somatic trauma therapy isn’t about being “strong.” It’s about letting your body know that it’s safe to stop fighting.
And if you’re local, I’d love to help you explore what that could feel like, gently, at your pace, and without ever needing to explain more than you want to.