what is somatic therapy? and why it matters
Our bodies keep the stories of our lives. Sometimes they whisper a tight chest before a hard conversation, a jaw that clenches without you realizing. Sometimes they shout: panic attacks, chronic tension, restless sleep. These signals aren’t random; they’re reminders that healing doesn’t just live in the mind. It also lives in the body.
This is where somatic therapy comes in.
What Somatic Therapy Is
“Somatic” simply means “of the body.” Somatic therapy is an approach to healing that works with both mind and body together. It recognizes that trauma, stress, and emotions don’t just shape our thoughts; they shape our nervous system, posture, breathing, and movement.
Instead of only talking about what happened, somatic therapy helps people notice what’s happening within—the subtle shifts in breath, the urge to move, the tension or release that arrives when a memory is explored. Through practices like grounding, breathwork, movement, or guided noticing, clients learn to safely experience and release what the body has been holding.
Why It Matters
Trauma-informed care begins with understanding that overwhelming experiences can leave the nervous system in a constant state of “on alert.” Holistic engagement means acknowledging that the mind, body, and spirit are deeply connected. Somatic therapy bridges these truths by:
Regulating the nervous system: Supporting the body to return to safety after being stuck in survival mode.
Restoring the mind-body connection: Helping clients feel present and at home in their own skin.
Empowering choice and awareness: Building tools to notice what the body needs in each moment.
Supporting integrative healing: Combining talk therapy with embodied practices so insights aren’t just ideas—they’re lived experiences.
Somatic Therapy at Hearten House
At Hearten House, somatic therapy is woven into our trauma-informed, experiential model of care. Alongside methods like psychodrama, expressive arts, sandtray, EMDR, and Brainspotting, somatic work helps clients move beyond words into embodied change. Sometimes this looks like breathwork to regulate the nervous system, gentle movement to process emotion, or grounding practices to anchor during activation.
You’re in charge of pace, depth, and what you share. We check in, co-create, and opt-in together.
Healing isn’t just about telling the story of what happened. It’s about restoring a sense of safety, agency, and aliveness in the body you carry every day. That’s the gift of somatic therapy—and why it’s such an essential part of what we do.