Most people find this work the same way: a late-night Google search for “somatic therapy near me.”
They don’t always know what they’re looking for. Just that something feels off. That talk therapy helped, but didn’t get all the way there. That their body feels wired, tired, or just not home.
And the truth is, that search isn’t really about finding a therapist. It’s about finding relief. A way back into your body. A place to feel safe again.
If you’re here, maybe that’s what you’re hoping for too. And if so, I want to walk you through what this kind of therapy really is – beyond the buzzwords – and why it might be the shift your nervous system has been waiting for.
What I Thought People Meant by “Somatic Therapy”
Before I began practicing this work, I used to hear phrases like “body-based healing” or “trauma-informed therapy” tossed around in mental health spaces. But they always felt a little abstract. Vague. Like something you might say when you didn’t want to get too specific.
Now? I know better.
Because I’ve seen what happens when people come in after searching for “somatic therapy near me.” They’ve often tried everything else. They’ve talked it through, journaled, meditated, medicated, self-helped themselves to exhaustion. And still, their body won’t settle.
That’s when somatic therapy becomes more than a wellness trend. It becomes a lifeline.
Because when the mind runs out of ways to explain what you feel, the body starts to speak in its own language. And that language deserves to be heard.
What Is Somatic Therapy, Really?
The word somatic comes from the Greek soma, meaning body. Somatic therapy is a category of approaches that work directly with the nervous system, not just with your thoughts or your memories, but with the way your body responded to what you’ve lived through.
That’s a crucial distinction. Because trauma isn’t just about what happened. It’s about what your nervous system did in response.
When that response doesn’t get to complete, when your body doesn’t get to fight back, flee, cry, shake, or collapse in safety, it stays stuck in a loop. And that unresolved loop often shows up later as:
- Chronic anxiety
- Exhaustion or burnout
- Pain or tension with no clear cause
- Emotional numbness
- The sense that you’re always bracing for something
Somatic therapy helps you interrupt that loop – not by explaining it, but by experiencing something different, in real time, in your body.
How It’s Different from Talk Therapy
Let’s be clear. Talk therapy can be powerful. For many people, it’s life-changing. But for others, talking about their pain doesn’t bring lasting relief. In fact, it can make them feel worse – more dysregulated, more confused, or more emotionally raw without resolution.
That’s where somatic work shifts the frame.
Rather than asking “What happened?” or “How do you feel about it?” somatic therapy might ask:
- Where in your body do you notice that right now?
- Is there movement or stillness there?
- What happens if we stay with that sensation just a little longer?
Sometimes, there are no words. And that’s okay. Because in this work, your body leads. The therapist listens. And you don’t have to explain everything to be deeply understood.
What It Looks Like in a Session
A somatic therapy session is slower than most people expect.
You might sit on a chair or lie on a mat. You might begin by talking briefly, or just dropping into breath. The therapist may invite you to notice simple things: your feet on the floor, the quality of your breath, or the sensation in your hands or chest.
From there, you might track a particular feeling – heat, tightness, tingling – and simply stay with it, noticing what happens next. That may be all you do that day. And it might be enough.
Other sessions involve more movement. Maybe you stretch, rock, sway, or reach. Not to perform, but to follow your body’s cues, sometimes finishing a gesture it once had to suppress.
And sometimes, it’s the stillness that brings the biggest shift. A breath that deepens. A jaw that softens. A tear that finally comes.
The Safety Isn’t in the Talk – It’s in the Body
Here’s one of the most powerful things about this work: you don’t need to tell your story to heal.
If you want to talk about what happened, we can. But we never have to. Your nervous system already knows what it lived through. Our job isn’t to force disclosure. It’s to help your body stop bracing.
Safety doesn’t come from reliving your pain. It comes from knowing, viscerally, that you’re no longer in danger. Somatic therapy helps your system feel that safety, sometimes for the first time in years.
Why It Matters Now More Than Ever
We live in a world that rewards disconnection. That teaches us to push through, numb out, and analyze instead of feel. But at some point, all of that pushing starts to cost us. The body keeps the receipts.
Somatic therapy offers a counterpoint. A reminder. A way home to yourself.
It’s not always flashy. It’s not a quick fix. But it’s real.
And in a world that so often pulls us out of our bodies, the simple act of returning to yours might be the most radical thing you do.
Somatic Therapy Isn’t One Thing
People often think “somatic therapy” is a single technique, but it’s actually a category. There are several modalities that fall under this umbrella, each grounded in the same principle: the body holds the story, and healing happens when we let the body speak in its own language.
Here are a few of the most widely used:
Somatic Experiencing (SE)
Developed by Dr. Peter Levine, SE helps clients track physical sensations to gently release stored survival energy. There’s little to no storytelling, just careful, compassionate attention to what your body is doing right now. This is especially helpful for people who’ve reached a plateau in talk therapy or feel overwhelmed by reliving their trauma.
Somatic Movement Therapy
This is not a workout. It’s a reconnection. You might sway, rock, stretch gently, or simply shift your weight. The goal isn’t to get stronger or more flexible. It’s to notice how your body wants to move when it’s finally given permission to feel safe. This work can be particularly powerful for people with trauma stored in the muscles, fascia, or breath.
Polyvagal-Informed Therapy
Based on Dr. Stephen Porges’ Polyvagal Theory, this approach helps track where you are in your nervous system (fight, flight, freeze, fawn, or social engagement) and supports a gentle shift toward regulation. Many somatic therapists use this framework to pace the work and co-regulate with the client throughout.
Breathwork and Trauma-Informed Yoga
While not therapy in the clinical sense, these modalities are often used in support of somatic healing. With the right facilitator, they can help access stuck emotional states, regulate the nervous system, and build capacity to stay present in the body.
What Real Healing Looks Like
Healing is often quieter than people expect. It’s not always about dramatic breakthroughs. It’s about micro-moments of reconnection and relief.
Here are a few real-world examples:
- One client came in with chronic panic attacks. In sessions, she learned to track the first signals of anxiety – tightness in her ribs, shallow breath – and respond before the panic spiraled. Over time, she reported fewer episodes, better sleep, and a sense of internal steadiness she hadn’t felt in years.
- Another client felt numb, emotionally flat. They’d tried everything, from medication to meditation, but still felt disconnected. Through gentle somatic movement and sensory tracking, they began to feel again. The first moment of spontaneous laughter in session felt like a breakthrough. Not dramatic. Just human.
- A trauma survivor who couldn’t talk about what happened found relief not by naming the trauma, but by working with the aftereffects: hypervigilance, startle responses, frozen breath. Their healing didn’t come from storytelling. It came from finally not having to tell the story at all.
You Don’t Have to Relive It to Heal From It
This can’t be said enough: you do not have to retell your trauma to resolve it.
In fact, for many people, talking about the event activates the nervous system so much that they leave therapy more flooded than when they arrived. Somatic work takes a different path.
You might feel heat in your arms. A wave in your chest. A tremble in your fingers. We stay with that. Gently. Without judgment. Without pushing.
The goal isn’t catharsis. It’s completion. Letting the body finish what it started in a safe, resourced environment.
Somatic Therapy Isn’t About Insight – It’s About Integration
Traditional therapy often focuses on cognitive understanding. That can be useful. But insight doesn’t always lead to transformation.
In somatic work, we’re not just asking, “Why do I feel this way?” We’re asking, “What’s happening in my body right now, and what does it need?”
Sometimes the answer is rest. Sometimes it’s movement. Sometimes it’s just to be witnessed without being fixed.
This kind of presence builds trust, not just in the therapist, but in yourself.
What It’s Like to Work With Me
My role isn’t to diagnose or decode you. It’s to walk beside you while your body tells us what it knows.
In our sessions, we’ll move slowly. Some days will be quiet. Some days might feel emotional. Others might feel surprisingly neutral. All of that is welcome.
You don’t need to show up with answers. You just need to show up with a body and a little willingness to listen to it in a new way.
Together, we’ll explore what safety, softness, and wholeness feel like, not in theory, but in your actual lived experience.
If You’ve Been Searching for “Somatic Therapy Near Me”
Maybe you’ve known for a while that talk therapy wasn’t enough.
Maybe you’re tired of feeling like your body is the problem.
Maybe you’re ready to build a different kind of relationship – with yourself, your nervous system, and your healing.
If you’re in the Lake Arrowhead area, or nearby in Blue Jay, Crestline, Twin Peaks, Running Springs, or Big Bear, I’d love to explore this work with you.
No pressure. No performance.
Just you. As you are.