What Happens in a Somatic Therapy Session?

When Trauma Happens to the Body, Healing Happens Through the Body

You may have heard the term somatic therapy and wondered what that actually means when you walk into a therapist’s office.

Are you going to talk about your body instead of your problems? Are you going to have to move around? Is there going to be touch? Do you have to talk about your trauma? What if you don’t notice anything happening in your body at all?

These are all reasonable questions.

Somatic therapy is about bringing more awareness to the experience of being a person in a body. It helps you notice the connection between your body, emotions, thoughts, and lived experience.

At Anchored Hope Therapy, somatic therapy is one of the ways we help clients explore the relationship between their thoughts, emotions, experiences, relationships, and bodies. Sometimes that means talking. Sometimes it means slowing down and noticing what is happening physically. Sometimes something important happens in the space between the two.

There isn’t one way a somatic therapy session is supposed to look.

Before we go any further, it may help to clarify one thing: somatic therapy and somatic bodywork are not the same service.

The somatic therapy described in this article is psychotherapy provided by a licensed mental health professional. It can include talking, reflection, body awareness, movement, and attention to nervous system responses as part of the therapeutic process.

Somatic bodywork is a separate kind of embodied practice. It may involve therapeutic touch, movement, sensory awareness, and other ways of exploring your physical experience. While there can be meaningful overlap in the way both approaches invite you into greater awareness of your body, they have different purposes, settings, and professional boundaries.

For this article, when we talk about a somatic therapy session, we’re talking about psychotherapy. Several of our therapists offer somatic therapy sessions and use a combination of bottom-up approaches to nervous system healing.

So, what actually happens in a somatic therapy session?

A somatic therapy session can look a lot like a traditional therapy session.

You might sit on a couch or in a chair and talk with your therapist about what has been happening in your life. You might talk about a relationship, something that happened recently, an old experience that continues to affect you, or a pattern you are trying to understand.

The difference is that your therapist may also become curious with you about what is happening in your body while you are talking. Curiosity towards the body is a tenant of somatic therapy sessions. Your mind and body are not separate from one another.

Maybe you notice your shoulders tightening when you talk about a particular person. Maybe your stomach drops when you think about a certain situation. Maybe you realize that you stop breathing fully when a difficult subject comes up. Maybe you feel yourself wanting to move away, shut down, laugh, change the subject, or leave the conversation altogether.

We can become curious about those moments rather than rushing past them.

Your body becomes part of the conversation.

You don’t have to know what you’re feeling

One of the misconceptions about somatic therapy is that you need to be especially “in tune” with your body before you begin.

You don’t.

Some people have a very easy time noticing physical sensations. Others have spent years disconnecting from their bodies, especially when being highly aware of their physical experience once felt overwhelming, unsafe, or simply wasn’t something they learned to do.

You might say, “I don’t feel anything.”

That’s okay. There is no right answer.

We might start with something much simpler. Do you notice yourself leaning forward or backward? Are you holding your breath? Do you feel more comfortable with your feet on the floor? Does anything change as you talk about this particular experience? Sometimes awareness develops slowly and sometimes simply realizing that you don’t notice something yet is useful information.

What does the body have to do with therapy?

For many of us, our bodies respond before we have words for what is happening.

You may know intellectually that you are safe and still feel anxious. You may know that a relationship isn’t working and still find yourself unable to leave. You may understand where a pattern came from and still find yourself repeating it.

This doesn’t mean that you are doing something wrong.

Our responses are shaped by our experiences, our relationships, our histories, and the environments we’ve lived in. Trauma in particular can affect how we experience safety, connection, boundaries, stress, and our own bodies. Somatic therapy creates space to notice some of those patterns as they are happening. Rather than only asking, “Why do I do this?” we might also ask,

“What happens inside me when this happens?” That shift can open up a different kind of curiosity.

Does somatic therapy involve movement?

Sometimes, but it doesn’t have to.

Somatic therapy isn’t an exercise class, and you don’t need to be physically active to participate. Depending on the therapist and the work you’re doing together, you might make a small movement, change your position, notice your posture, or pay attention to what happens when you move toward or away from something.

Sometimes the movement is barely noticeable.

The point isn’t the movement itself. The point is what you learn by paying attention to your experience.

You remain in charge of your body throughout the process. Your therapist isn’t trying to make something happen to you.

Does somatic therapy involve touch?

Generally, the somatic therapy described here does not involve hands-on bodywork. To learn more about trauma-informed bodywork click here.

Somatic therapy can involve paying attention to physical sensations, movement, posture, breath, and other aspects of your embodied experience without physical contact.

If you’re interested specifically in an embodied session that incorporates consent-based touch and bodywork, that is a different service from psychotherapy.

Do I have to talk about my trauma?

No.

You don’t have to tell your therapist every detail of something that happened to you in order to begin doing somatic work.

For some people, talking about an experience is an important part of healing. For others, moving too quickly into the details of a traumatic experience can feel overwhelming.

Somatic therapy can give us another way to pay attention to what is happening in the present moment.

This doesn’t mean avoiding difficult experiences forever. It means paying attention to the pace of the work and to what you need in order to stay connected to yourself while doing it.

Trauma therapy is not about forcing yourself through something because you think you should be able to handle it.

Sometimes healing includes learning that you have choices about how you approach something difficult.

What if I don’t feel anything?

This is more common than you might think.

You may sit with your therapist and genuinely have no idea what is happening in your body.

You might even find yourself thinking, Am I doing this right?

There isn’t a right way.

Somatic therapy isn’t a test of how aware you are of your body. Your therapist can help you begin wherever you are, including with uncertainty, numbness, disconnection, or not knowing.

Sometimes noticing “I don’t know” is the first piece of information we have to work with.

Is somatic therapy the same as bodywork?

No, although they can overlap in their attention to the body.

Somatic therapy is psychotherapy provided by a licensed mental health professional. The work may include trauma, emotions, relationships, thoughts, memories, nervous system responses, body awareness, and the ways you experience yourself.

Bodywork is different. It may involve therapeutic touch, movement, sensory awareness, and a more direct exploration of physical experience.

Neither is necessarily better than the other. They simply offer different ways of working with the body.

At Anchored Hope, somatic therapy is part of our broader integrative approach to mental health and trauma therapy. To learn more about somatic therapy and integrative sessions click here.

If you’re interested in exploring embodied awareness through bodywork rather than psychotherapy, Chelsea also offers separate private-pay sessions through Woven Wisdom Somatics.

Chelsea Haverly, LCSW-C and Emily Young, LCSW-C are both somatic therapists with Anchored Hope Therapy. They also wrote Trauma-Informed Bodywork: A Professional’s Guide to Somatic Awareness, Movement Techniques, and Nervous System Regulation

What if I’m curious but still not sure?

You don’t have to know exactly what kind of therapy you need before you reach out.

Part of finding the right therapist is having a conversation about what you’re experiencing, what you’ve tried before, and what you’re hoping will be different.

Somatic therapy may be one part of that work. It may be integrated with other approaches, such as Internal Family Systems, Brainspotting, EMDR, or other trauma-informed therapies.

The goal isn’t to find the perfect technique.

It’s to find an approach that makes sense for you.

And sometimes that begins with something as simple as becoming a little more curious about what is happening inside you.

Frequently Asked Questions About Somatic Therapy

Is somatic therapy only for trauma?

No. Somatic approaches can be used with people experiencing trauma and PTSD, but they can also be incorporated into therapy for anxiety, chronic stress, grief, relationship concerns, life transitions, and other experiences where the body is part of what you’re navigating.

Can somatic therapy be done virtually?

Yes. Somatic therapy can be adapted for virtual therapy. Much of the work involves awareness and noticing rather than anything that requires a therapist to physically be in the room with you.

Is somatic therapy evidence-based?

Somatic therapy is a broad term that encompasses several different approaches, and the research base varies between specific somatic therapies. At Anchored Hope, we integrate somatic approaches with other established trauma-informed and evidence-informed therapeutic approaches based on the individual client.

How do I know if somatic therapy is right for me?

You don’t have to know before you begin. If you feel like you understand your experiences intellectually but still feel stuck in patterns of anxiety, overwhelm, shutdown, disconnection, or other physical responses, it may be worth exploring. A conversation with a therapist can help you determine whether a somatic approach fits your needs.

What should I wear to somatic therapy?

Wear whatever allows you to feel comfortable and move naturally if movement becomes part of your session. There is no special clothing required, and somatic therapy does not require you to undress.

Exploring Somatic Therapy in Annapolis and Maryland

At Anchored Hope Therapy, we offer integrative, trauma-informed therapy in Annapolis and virtually throughout Maryland.

If you’re curious about whether somatic therapy might be a good fit for you, our intake team can help you explore your options and connect you with a therapist whose approach fits what you’re looking for. Request an appointment.