Somatic therapy for women
Your mind understands the story. Your body is still responding to it.
In-person therapy intensives in Orlando, Florida · Virtual therapy across Florida, Georgia & Colorado
The body does not gaslight you
A part of you may know…
There's no reason to panic, and still your heart races.
You're allowed to say no, and still you hear yourself saying yes.
This relationship is different, and still you brace for what happened in the last one.
Your body isn't working against you. It's responding to information. Some of that information may be outdated, shaped by experiences that no longer reflect your life today.
The body doesn't speak in logic alone. It also speaks through sensations, impulses, and reactions. And sometimes what you consciously know doesn't match what you're experiencing physically.
A sound, a smell, or something happening in a relationship can act like a time portal. Something in the present brings an earlier experience or familiar reaction into the moment you're living now.
In somatic therapy, that response gives us somewhere to get curious.
Rather than immediately explaining it away or trying to override it, we can slow down and pay attention to what's happening. We can explore what that response might be connected to without deciding ahead of time what it means.
That's part of working from the bottom up: allowing what's happening in your body to inform the work, rather than relying on explanation alone.
What is somatic therapy?
There are a lot of different ideas attached to the word somatic.
Some somatic approaches have their own specific frameworks and training. But when I talk about having a somatic orientation, I'm talking more broadly about embodiment—intentionally including the body in how we listen, how we understand what's happening, and how we approach the work.
Put simply, somatic therapy makes room for the body as part of the therapeutic conversation.
Sometimes somatic therapy gets reduced to a collection of techniques: breathing exercises, grounding, movement, or noticing sensations. Those things can certainly be part of the work.
But the way I think about somatic therapy begins before a technique.
It's about how we pay attention.
I'm interested in what's happening physically alongside your thoughts, emotions, memories, and relationships—not just what you can explain about an experience, but what's happening as you experience it.
And somatic therapy isn't simply about calming your nervous system. Grounding and regulation can support the work, but they're not the whole of it. We can also use what's happening in the present to work with experiences and responses that haven't shifted through understanding alone.
What somatic therapy looks like in a session
Imagine you're telling me about an argument with your partner. You can explain what happened and why it bothered you. Maybe you've even talked about this pattern in therapy before.
But as you're telling me the story, I notice your shoulders rise and your hands tighten.
I might soften my voice, slow us down, and ask if we can spend a moment with what's happening in your body.
Perhaps there's tightness across your shoulders, as though you're carrying something heavy. Maybe your fists are clenched, and we get curious about whether there's something your hands wanted to do but couldn't.
Or perhaps your eyes fill with tears.
We might discover that the argument has touched something familiar. Maybe growing up, love and chaos were so closely connected that conflict still brings up that old feeling, even in a relationship that's different now.
Instead of asking you to explain the pattern one more time, I might invite you to consider what you needed back then. What kind of care or protection wasn't available to you?
And if it feels right, we can make room for some of that care now.
Maybe that's a hand resting over your heart. Maybe it's a little movement your body has been holding back. Maybe we sit together for a moment while you allow yourself to receive kindness instead of immediately trying to make sense of everything.
Then we notice what's different.
Perhaps your shoulders feel a little less burdened. Perhaps there's grief you hadn't made room for before. Or perhaps receiving that care feels uncomfortable, and that's something we can gently explore, too.
The work isn't just about understanding why you respond the way you do. It's about making room for a different experience while you're here.
How I integrate somatic therapy into my work
Somatic therapy isn't limited to one method, and I don't treat it as something separate from the other approaches I use.
EMDR and Brainspotting are two distinct therapies, but I intentionally weave somatic work into both. I draw from each approach based on what's happening in the room and what you need.
Somatic EMDR
EMDR already includes attention to the body. In my practice, I'm especially intentional about physical responses, pacing, and what emerges beyond words.
I find this particularly valuable when you're experiencing something physically but don't have a clear memory attached to it. We don't have to identify a specific moment in your past or construct a story about where a sensation came from before we can begin working with what's present.
Brainspotting
Brainspotting is a deeply somatic approach that uses eye position and focused attention to support processing. One of its guiding ideas is that where you look can affect how you feel.
In my experience, many people find Brainspotting gentler and more organic than EMDR. It can feel almost meditative, with less need to organize or explain what's happening. We follow what emerges rather than trying to direct every step.
For someone who's intimidated by EMDR or has found it overwhelming in the past, Brainspotting can be a more comfortable place to begin.
How we can work together
I offer somatic therapy through two formats, both designed to give us more time than a traditional 50-minute session.
There are two ways we can work together:
Therapy intensives
A concentrated block of time focused on a particular experience, pattern, or area you want to work on.
We set aside dedicated hours or days to stay engaged in the work, with room for preparation, processing, and integration.
Extended sessions
Ongoing therapy in sessions of 90 minutes or longer, typically meeting less often.
We have room to settle in, work with what's meaningful, and slow down before you return to your day. The time between sessions allows space to notice what shifts in everyday life.
You don't have to figure out the next step on your own.
Schedule a complimentary 20-minute consultation and we'll talk about what's been coming up, what you're hoping will be different, and whether this approach feels like the right fit.
You don't need to decide between a therapy intensive and extended sessions beforehand. I'll help you explore which format makes the most sense for what you need.
Somatic Therapy FAQs
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Talking about your experiences can be incredibly valuable. Understanding your history, recognizing patterns, and making connections are all important parts of therapy.
Somatic therapy brings another layer into the conversation. Alongside what you're telling me, we pay attention to what's happening in the present—perhaps your breathing changes, your shoulders tighten, your stomach drops, or you notice an urge to pull away.
Those responses can give us information that words alone might not capture.
Rather than only talking about a reaction, we have an opportunity to notice and work with it as it happens. The goal isn't to replace insight. It's to help what you understand begin to show up in how you feel, react, and respond in everyday life.
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No. You don't need to identify a particular memory or understand exactly where a response began.
Sometimes the connection is clear. Other times, you might notice that your body reacts strongly to something without knowing why.
We can begin with what's happening now and get curious about it together. If memories or connections emerge, we can explore them, but we don't have to force an explanation or assume every sensation has a hidden traumatic origin.
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That's completely okay, and it's more common than you might think.
Some people notice every shift in their body. Others have spent years pushing through, staying busy, or focusing on everyone else's needs. Turning attention inward may feel unfamiliar, confusing, or even uncomfortable.
We start wherever you are. That might mean noticing your feet on the floor, recognizing when you feel more or less comfortable, or simply becoming aware that you're having trouble noticing anything at all.
There's no test to pass and no right way to experience your body.
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Not necessarily. Somatic therapy doesn't have to involve stretching, yoga, or specific movements.
Much of our work may look like a familiar therapy conversation, with occasional invitations to notice your breathing, posture, physical sensations, or impulses as we talk.
At times, we might explore a small movement or experiment with a different way of sitting or grounding yourself, but we'll discuss what we're doing and why.
You always have a choice. We'll talk about what we're doing, and you won't be pushed into an exercise or movement you're not ready for.
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Yes. Somatic therapy can be incorporated into virtual sessions, and many aspects of the work translate well to meeting online.
We can still notice changes in your breathing, posture, emotions, and physical sensations. We can slow down, explore what you're experiencing, and work with what comes up in the moment.
For some people, being in their own space actually makes it easier to feel comfortable and connected to themselves.
Online therapy isn't the right fit for every person or situation, so we'll consider your needs, preferences, and what you're hoping to work on when deciding whether it's appropriate for you.
I offer virtual extended sessions and therapy intensives for clients physically located in Florida, Georgia, or Colorado. Therapy intensives are also available in person in Orlando, Florida.