Somatic Therapy in Annapolis, Maryland
Understanding the connection between your mind, body, and experiences
Sometimes we understand what is happening in our lives, but still find ourselves reacting in ways that feel difficult to change. We may know we are safe and still feel on edge. We may understand where a pattern began but struggle to respond differently in the moment. We may find it hard to settle, recognize our needs, or feel connected to our bodies.
Somatic therapy offers a way to explore these experiences through both conversation and awareness of the body.
At Anchored Hope Therapy, we integrate somatic and body-based approaches into trauma-informed psychotherapy. Our therapists help clients explore the connections between thoughts, emotions, physical sensations, relationships, and nervous system responses. The work is collaborative and paced around the person, rather than focused on pushing through an experience or achieving a particular physical response.
We offer somatic therapy as part of our broader integrative approach to trauma and mental health care. Telehealth may also be available depending on the clinician and the type of work being offered.
What is Somatic Therapy?
Somatic therapy is a body-oriented approach to psychotherapy that recognizes that our experiences can affect how we feel emotionally and how we experience ourselves physically. Stress, trauma, relationships, and significant life events may influence our awareness of sensation, our responses to stress, and our sense of connection or safety.
In a somatic therapy session, you might notice what happens in your body while talking about a difficult experience. Your therapist may invite you to become curious about tension, breath, movement, emotions, or changes in sensation. You might explore what helps you feel more grounded, what happens when you begin to feel overwhelmed, or how you recognize your own boundaries and needs.
There is no requirement to be especially body-aware, to meditate, or to know what you are feeling right away. The work begins with your experience as it is.
How Can Somatic Therapy Help With Trauma?
Trauma can influence the way we experience relationships, emotions, stress, and the world around us. Sometimes people feel constantly on alert. Others feel disconnected, shut down, overwhelmed by emotion, or caught in familiar responses even when they want to do something differently.
Somatic therapy can help you explore these responses with curiosity and support. Rather than focusing only on what happened in the past, therapy can also make room to notice what is happening in the present moment and how you respond to it.
For some people, this may involve developing greater awareness of bodily cues, exploring boundaries, recognizing signs of overwhelm, or finding more options for responding to stress. The approach depends on your experiences, goals, and the training of your therapist.
Somatic therapy may be incorporated into treatment for trauma and PTSD, anxiety, chronic stress, relationship difficulties, and patterns that feel hard to shift through insight alone. It is not a one-size-fits-all treatment, and your therapist can help determine whether this approach fits your needs.
What Happens in a Somatic Therapy Session?
Somatic therapy is still therapy. Sessions may include talking about what is happening in your life, exploring relationships and past experiences, reflecting on patterns, and working toward your therapeutic goals.
Your therapist may also invite you to notice bodily sensations, emotions, impulses, or changes in your level of comfort as they arise. You remain an active participant in deciding what feels useful. You can ask questions, pause, decline an exercise, or shift the focus of the session.
You do not have to revisit every traumatic experience in detail to benefit from therapy, and you do not have to share more than you feel ready to share. The work is guided by your goals and the therapeutic relationship.
Read our Blog, What Happens in a Somatic Therapy Session? for a closer look at what you can expect.
Is Somatic Therapy the Same as Bodywork?
Somatic therapy and bodywork share an interest in embodied experience, but they are not the same service.
At Anchored Hope Therapy, somatic therapy is psychotherapy provided by a licensed mental health professional. It may incorporate body awareness, movement, and attention to nervous system responses within the context of mental health treatment.
Bodywork is a separate kind of embodied practice. Depending on the practitioner and approach, it may include consent-based touch, movement, sensory awareness, or other forms of body-centered exploration. It has a different purpose and service structure from psychotherapy.
If you are exploring the difference between these approaches, you can also read What Makes Bodywork Trauma-Informed?
Finding a Somatic Therapist
Somatic approaches are not identical from one therapist to another. Some clinicians integrate body awareness with other trauma-focused approaches, such as Internal Family Systems, EMDR, or Brainspotting. Others may emphasize different aspects of the therapeutic process based on their training and experience.
Our team includes therapists with different specialties, age ranges, and availability. We encourage you to explore our therapist bios or contact our intake coordinator to discuss which clinician may be a good fit.
Begin With a Conversation
You do not need to know exactly what kind of therapy you need before reaching out. If you are curious about somatic therapy or wondering whether a body-oriented approach might be helpful, we can help you explore your options.
Contact Anchored Hope Therapy to begin the conversation and learn more about available therapists and services.
Chelsea and Catherine offer Somatic Integration sessions using a collaborative/community care approach. This session is typically one hour and includes both Craniosacral Therapy and Somatic Parts Therapy. Chelsea also blends somatic therapy, trauma therapy, Brainspotting, touch work, and Internal Family Systems when offering somatic integration sessions. To read more about Chelsea's approach visit her bio. To read more about Catherine's approach visit her website.