Somatic Psychotherapy
Somatic Psychotherapy is an effective form of therapy that addresses numerous psychiatric and physical issues by focusing on the brain, body, and nervous system. This type of therapy is body-centred and utilizes both psychotherapy and physical therapies, drawing upon a range of body modalities such as movement therapy, postural and structural integration, yoga and the Hakomi Method. In addition to talk therapy, somatic therapy practitioners use mind-body exercises and other physical techniques to help release pent-up tension, such as stored survival stress that can negatively impact a patient’s physical and emotional well-being.
Who is this for?
Individuals who have a more stable and capable system than an acute trauma client are recommended for Somatic Psychotherapy. This includes those who want to change personality constructs, habits, behaviours, and relational patterns. Additionally, people who want to resolve distressing, stressful, and traumatic past experiences, heal from developmental and relational injuries, and recover from physical diseases are also suitable candidates for Somatic Psychotherapy.
Addresses the Conditions & Symptoms of:
Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD/CPTSD)
Functional Neurological Disorder (FND)
Generalized Anxiety Disorder (GAD)
Depression
Anxiety & Panic Attacks
Stress-Related Disorders
Managing Emotions and Behaviours
Relationship Problems
Overwhelm
Reactivity
Burnout
Chronic Fatigue Syndrome (CFS)
Fibromyalgia
Chronic/Unexplained Pain
Body Tension
Other Neurological Diagnosed Conditions/Symptoms
Book Your Introductory Session
Finding a therapist to help you unpack and work through trauma and distress can be— overwhelming. In our first session, we will explore your symptoms, history and levels of dysregulation to create an integrative treatment plan specific to your story. We work together to create a safe and stable internal environment to process trauma and bring you to a place where you can look forward to the future.
This 90-minute session can be done over Zoom or in person at the clinic (based in Bingley, West Yorkshire, UK).
Frequently Asked Questions
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Somatic Psychotherapy fundamentally works to foster body-brain integration. By adding mindfulness and bodily sensations to emotions and insight, somatic work enables us to integrate the instinctive, unconscious, and right-brain aspects of our experiences with the analytic, linguistic, and left-brain aspects. This integration changes structures in our three brains (reptilian, limbic and neocortical) so we can regulate our emotions more easily and make changes and choices in our lives from a grounded, alive, and interpersonally connected place. Body sensations, gestures, eye contact, breathing patterns, movements, shifts in physical position, the pace of speech, speech quality and many other physiological processes are routes to the unconscious— those things we are not aware of and have not processed yet affect us in our daily lives.
Like other somatic psychology approaches, Somatic Psychotherapy professes a body-first approach to working trauma and old survival patterns stuck in the system due to being stuck in a survival response. As such, the physiology has adapted to the survival of the past. By looking at the sensations underneath our feelings and uncovering our habitual behaviour patterns to these feelings, Somatic Psychotherapy employs the awareness of body sensation to help clients ''renegotiate'' and heal their traumas safely rather than relive them.
Sessions involve working at the pace of the client’s nervous system (their window of tolerance) to gently activate and work the unresolved trauma and stress remnants through the body and nervous system. This happens in cycles, where clients sense their way through the normal oscillations of internal sensation, such as contraction and expansion. This is carried out gently and safely, working at the pace and speed of each client’s nervous system.
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£150 for Introductory Assessment (90 minutes)
£70 per Session (60 minutes)
£105 per Extended Session (90 minutes)
Sessions can be online or in-person.
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For the Introductory Assessment, payment is required to book.
For treatment sessions, payment is required 48 hours prior to the scheduled date.
There is a 24-hour cancellation policy for a full refund. If cancelled within 24 hours, payments are non-refundable.
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For UK residents only. There is a variety of companies that I can work with; please contact me for more details.