What Exactly is Somatic Therapy?

Somatic therapy is a body-based approach to psychotherapy that focuses on how stress, trauma, and emotional patterns are stored in the nervous system. While traditional talk therapy focuses on thoughts and insight, somatic therapy helps you notice what is happening in your body in real time. Because lasting change happens when your nervous system feels safe, not just when your mind understands the problem.

"What is somatic therapy?" is the most common question we get, even from people who are actively seeking it out! Maybe you're one of them: someone told you to try somatic therapy and you're open to the idea, but you'd like to know what you're getting into. 

If you’re ready to experience this work directly, take a look at our Somatic Integration Therapy options in Calgary and online.

What Does “Somatic” Mean?

Everything seems to be labeled "somatic" these days.

• somatic workouts
• somatic dance
• somatic sandwichmaking...

It makes sense, because we can do anything "somatically", but the overuse of the word means there's more room for misunderstanding.

The word is often used in ways that are either redundant (somatic yoga) or ridiculous (somatic business coaching). And while its overuse can make it difficult for you to find legitimate somatic therapy, it's also a welcome indication that people are looking for more a embodied way of living. Cheers to that!

Ultimately: SOMA = BODY

You can bypass your thoughts and feelings. Your body doesn't lie, and your nervous system doesn’t care how smart you are.

And the truth is, "somatic therapy" could be done in thousands of different ways, based on each therapist's style and experience. 

Because each individual therapist has a myriad of different tools to use, they choose in the moment based on what their client needs that day, and their own intuitive sense. 

If you asked each of our clients to define their experience with Somatic Integration Therapy, you'd get a different answer from each of them. 

Your somatic therapy session won't look like anyone else's.

If you'd like a better idea of how Somatic Integration Therapy would work specifically for you, book a free call with us and we'll figure it out together.

How is Somatic Therapy Different from Traditional Talk Therapy?

Many people ask how somatic therapy is different from traditional talk therapy. There is a lot of overlap, and many therapists offer both at the same time.

The short answer: talk therapy works primarily with thoughts and insight, while somatic therapy works directly with the nervous system and the body’s stress responses.

You could go through a whole talk therapy session without acknowledging your racing heart or that twinge in your belly. But what if those physical sensations contained answers to the questions you came to therapy to explore? 

In our practice, somatic therapy is not mechanical or scripted. It’s relational. We pay attention to the space between words, the shifts in breath, and the moment your posture changes when something lands. We call it Somatic Integration Therapy because our intention is to help you integrate all the parts that make you You: your physical body, your intellect, your relationships, and your spirit.

If you’ve already done years of insight work and still feel reactive, this could be the missing layer for you. Begin with our Foundations package.

Somatic Therapy vs Talk Therapy

Traditional Talk Therapy Often Focuses On:

 • Understanding your past

• Analyzing thoughts & beliefs

• Gaining insight into patterns

• Talking through emotions

• "Fixing" problems

• Cognitive strategies for change

Somatic Therapy Focuses On:

• Nervous system regulation

• Encouraging the thinking brain to take a back seat 

• Completing stress responses (fight, flight, freeze) 

• Expanding your capacity to stay present during discomfort

• Discovering connections between physical and emotional symptoms

• Creating new emotional experiences in the body

What Happens in a Somatic Therapy Session?

Even after reading this whole article, you probably won't have a good idea of how it works.

Somatic therapy cannot be easily summarized with words. It's is not a cognitive exercise; it must be felt and experienced to be understood. Here are some basics to give you a sense of what might happen:

1. To begin each session, we'll guide you to orient to the present moment and establish a sense of safety. These two foundations are essential to the entire process. Depending on your particular nervous system and how you're arriving that day, most (or even all) of the session may be devoted to building this base. The more regulated you are, the more quickly this happens.

2. Once you've connected to safety and presence, we'll begin exploring your soma. Through an exchange of words and simple experiential exercises, you'll be invited to notice your emotions, memories, thoughts, sensations, and shifts in energy as they arise. Sometimes we’ll follow a specific memory or symptom you’d like to address. Other times, your body’s current sensations will naturally lead the way.

3. We stay in the experience with you. Being witnessed, held, understood and accepted by another human is what dissolves shame. Compassion is an antidote to trauma. This is why, no matter how much you've "worked on yourself", you can't seem to break free of certain patterns. As uncomfortable as it may sound, there's absolutely no substitute for human-to-human connection.

4. You practice new skills in real time. Rather than simply talking about what you might do differently in your life (hello, CBT, I'm looking at you) you'll experience a true felt sense of new ways of being in the world. This practice gives your nervous system more tools to work with. So when the old triggers show up, you'll have more options to respond instead of repeating the same old patterns.

5. This is important: Each session builds on the previous one. Over time, we get to know you, and you get to know yourself on a deeper level.

As you grow your self awareness, you begin to make connections between your past and your current experiences.

As we get to know you, we learn to spot your shame spirals, inner dialogue patterns, and negative self beliefs.

As you get more comfortable with us, we get more glimpses of your your natural strengths and your innate magic.

Then we can better direct you towards your power, and prevent you from hiding that power behind the shame.

The longer you work with one of us, the more finely tuned this direction will become.

What Does Real Change Actually Require?

This isn't for someone who wants to be saved.

We can’t “heal” you.

And you can't rush your transformation.

You’ll need to fully face yourself.

You’ll need to see it all: truth and lies. Angels and demons. Beauty and ugliness.

You’ll need to change the way you move in the world if you want your patterns to end.

You’ll have to change the way you see the world if you want to experience it differently.

Are you open to the possibility of discomfort?

Are you ready to stop hiding behind fear?

Are you willing to let your light be seen by others?

Much of the work we do with clients happens outside the therapy room. You meet with us and take what you’ve learned into your daily life, then you return to debrief, go deeper, and anchor in the new. 

We are direct when it serves growth. We're gentle when your nervous system needs it. And we trust that while each person already carries an innate capacity for healing, sometimes that healing just needs the right conditions to emerge.

How do I Choose a Somatic Therapist? 

This choice goes beyond location and price. Finding a therapist you resonate with is essential.

The practitioner you choose will be based on compatibility, intuition, and individual needs. You may want to learn through resonance from someone who’s walked a similar path to yours, or from a therapist who embodies qualities you'd like to grow within yourself. It can also be valuable to challenge and rewrite your stories through intentional interactions with someone of the opposite gender.

Healing happens through connection, so focus on that when you're looking for the right therapist for you.

Read more about us here.

Who is Somatic Therapy For?

Many people search “What is somatic therapy?” because they understand their patterns intellectually but still feel stuck emotionally.

They may have read about trauma, or even tried talking to a therapist. They're probably aware of their triggers and maybe even have some diagnoses they're dealing with. And yet, they still find themselves reacting automatically. These reactions could show up in ways such as overeating, drinking, yelling, smoking, dissociating, or having panic attacks. The common thread: their body.

Whether you're dealing with anxiety, cPTSD, or addiction, or something else, your symptoms and diagnoses don't matter as much as the way you feel about them. 

Somatic therapy may be the right fit if you:

• Are self-aware, but still feel stuck in the same emotional patterns

• Function well in your career, but feel anxious or disconnected in close relationships

• Value personal growth and are willing to actively participate in the process

• Have a sense that you're ready for a significant transformation

• Want real change, not just insight

Many of our clients are high-functioning adults: professionals, entrepreneurs, parents, and leaders who carry significant responsibility. On the outside, they appear steady and capable. On the inside, they often feel overwhelmed, shut down, or stretched thin.

If that sounds like you, the Foundations Package is where most people begin.

Does Somatic Therapy Work for Trauma and Anxiety?

You might understand your anxiety perfectly and still feel hijacked by it. Maybe you can see your relationship pattern clearly, but you find yourself continuing to choose the same toxic people.

Understanding doesn't rewire a dysregulated nervous system. Sometimes the knowledge can make the problem seem worse! You might watch yourself swirling in the same patterns, and feel helpless to change.

Somatic therapy helps your body experience something different, not just think something different.

This is what leads to real change.

When your body has that different experience, it can navigate its way through a different pattern. It's the difference between having a map to a new place, and trying to find your way blindfolded.

Are All Types of Somatic Therapy the Same?

No. “Somatic therapy” is an umbrella term that includes many different approaches. Some models are newer and shorter-term certifications, while others are more established and rooted in decades of clinical development.

For example, Somatic Experiencing International trains practitioners in Somatic Experiencing (SE), one of the original and most comprehensive nervous-system-based trauma models. SE is grounded in detailed study of stress physiology, survival responses, and gradual trauma resolution.

Other somatic modalities may integrate body awareness in valuable ways, but vary in depth and training requirements.

Somatic therapy is more of an art than a specific process. An analogy: you can learn art from someone with a master’s degree in art history and theory, or from a highly skilled self-taught artist. Both may offer meaningful experiences, but their training pathways, frameworks, and emphasis will differ.

When choosing a somatic therapist, it’s helpful to ask about their training background and clinical experience, not just whether they use the word “somatic.”

What are the Benefits of Somatic Therapy?

Insight can be helpful. Regulation is transformational.

In the words of our client Jenn:

"I've understood my patterns for years, but this is the first time my body actually feels different. During fights with my husband, or when I'm getting frustrated at work. All the time. There's no way to describe it because it's just a feeling, and that feeling leads to knowing. I'm ok. I can handle this. I don't have to run.”

You will feel different because you can feel more. That’s the difference somatic work can make.

This access to more of yourself is the greatest benefit of somatic therapy.

Whether you begin sessions because you want to overcome a numb, depressed state, or you need support to deal with a medical trauma, you can expect your somatic therapy journey to touch all aspects of your life. Be open to seeing shifts that are different that what you imagined.

We often find that a client's original therapy intention isn't the most significant transformation they'll experience. As they uncover memories, make connections, and discover new parts of themselves, their vision becomes sharper and their nervous system becomes more regulated.

Naturally, as your nervous system capacity expands, your ability to meet life's difficult situations will increase. This could positively affect anything from public speaking to parenting.

Click here to hear directly from our clients.

How to Know if Somatic Therapy is Right for You:

First, consider your goals and personality:

Are you ready to meet yourself? To vulnerably explore the truth behind your actions and beliefs? To accept responsibility for the things you've blamed others for, or to own up to the anger that hides behind your own self-blame?

If you’re willing to slow down, feel, and express yourself truthfully, you are ready.

For some people, this feels relieving and grounding. Being able to sense and express themselves is like finding a soft place to land.

For others, it's very unfamiliar to be in direct contact.

Every transformation feels messy before reorganization and recalibration occurs.

So ask yourself... How uncomfortable am I willing to be? 

Then, find a therapist you jive with:

Do they inspire you? Do you resonate with their personal story? Do you trust them enough to be guided by them? Do you see them as a fellow flawed human, as opposed to someone to be pedestalized and obeyed at all costs?

In our work, somatic therapy is active and collaborative. We don’t just sit back and nod. We share our intuitive pings, and stop you from getting lost in your well-worn grooves. We help you track patterns as they happen, experiment with new responses, and build the capacity to stay regulated during conversations that used to overwhelm you.

Whether we’re working with individuals or couples, the goal is not just insight. It’s increased resilience and emotional range. 

Wanna suss us out? Let's talk. 

FAQ

▷ Is somatic therapy evidence-based?

Somatic therapy is grounded in physiology. Your nervous system follows patterns. Stress responses can be tracked. Regulation can be built. Trauma responses can soften when they are met slowly and skillfully.

There is real science behind why this work helps, and we're happy to track how the growing investments into neuroscience research is "proving" what we already know.

But healing is not mechanical or linear.

Our Somatic Integration Therapy also leaves room for something less measurable: intuition, meaning, and the quiet intelligence of the body. Our clients find that as their system regulates, their sense of clarity and inner guidance strengthens as well.

_{^{For those who like official studies and hard numbers, see: Somatic Experiencing for trauma, SE for PTSD, SE for low back pain and PTSD, SE for veterans, a review of 13 studies on SE, and a review of various somatic treatments.}}

▷ Does somatic therapy work for relationship issues?

Doing somatic therapy with us will affect all of your relationships: with your partner, your kids, your co-workers, and the random people you interact with every day.

We have a strong understanding of Attachment Theory and how it applies to real life experiences. Your attachment style is a flexible, but essential, part of who you are. Somatic Integration Therapy will help you strengthen your relational gifts, and reconfigure your dysfunctional patterns.

If you’re reading this because a specific relationship pattern feels stuck, you may benefit from a Relationship Insight Session. It's a focused 90-minute session designed to clarify what’s really happening beneath the conflict. Relationship Insight Session https://www.theauminstitute.com/relationship-insight-session

Or, if you and your partner are both serious about real transformation within a Conscious Partnership, check out The Relationship Reconnection Experience.

▷ Can Somatic Therapy help me heal my trauma?

Many clients come to us looking for symptom relief, or to "move past" a specific story. Over time, they discover something more: increased clarity, stronger boundaries, deeper relationships, and a renewed sense of alignment with themselves.

Somatic therapy is not about fixing what is broken. Even the word healing doesn't quite fit. This work is about restoring your access to what has always been intact beneath stress and survival, and finding integration for all of your parts.

If you’re ready to move from understanding your patterns to experiencing real change in your life, that’s where this work begins. 

▷ What is the difference between Somatic Therapy and EMDR?

Both somatic therapy and EMDR are body-informed approaches that help process trauma, but they work in different ways. EMDR is a specific process used to target a particular past event. Somatic therapy incorporates multiple processes and works with the present-moment bodily experience to heal past trauma while building regulation and capacity over time. Somatic therapy can also be used to treat acute memories, relational issues, chronic pain, and other physical symptoms.

▷ Is there any physical touch involved in Somatic Therapy?

We are trained in Somatic Experiencing touch work. This hands-on method is not required, and not every client wants or needs to explore physical contact during their sessions. We definitely don't start there with a new client, as it's essential to build awareness of safe boundaries and effective communication first. That said, human-to-human contact is one of the most healing and supportive tools we have. From your first breath, how you were touched shaped who you became.

If you're curious about being supported in this way, reach out and let's chat.

▷ Can I do Somatic Therapy online? 

Yes. We can meet you online, or in our physical space in Calgary. A big part of this work is attuning to each other, co-regulating, and receiving energetic transmissions. Everyone is different in the way their system prefers to connect, so there are benefits to each:

Online sessions are done from the comfort of your own home, wherever you are in the world. There's no commute to deal with, and you already have the established safety of being in your own space.

In-person sessions take place in our home studio, where we've set up a comfortable space that signals to your nervous system that you're in an intentionally created container for healing. We can see your whole body, demonstrate different exercises using our own bodies. We have a closet of tools for nervous system regulation, and we can pull out the massage table to use touch therapy when needed.

▷ Can I do talk therapy and Somatic Therapy at the same time?

Absolutely. Plenty of our clients also see traditional psychologists for various forms of talk therapy. Often, they're directed to somatic therapy by their psychologists, who suggest exploring their issues from a different perspective. It's like growing a vegetable garden while taking a class on making fancy salads: they're not mutually exclusive.

▷ Do I have to choose one specific memory or symptom to work with?

Some clients arrive without knowing exactly what will come up that day. Others have a particular direction they'd like to take, but find that they're pulled towards something unexpected. A session can be focused on anything from "I'm having a crappy day" to "I'd like to heal my relationship with my father" to "I'm so excited to be dating again, but I'm afraid to mess it up." We can work with whatever you'd like to explore: vehicle accidents, childhood bullying, sexual trauma, body image issues, chronic illness, people pleasing, etc.

Everything you bring into the session is connected, and we're here to help you integrate all the pieces of You.

▷ Can I do one session, or do I need to do multiples?

This isn't a magic pill!

Somatic therapy works best when approached as a process, not a quick fix. Because we are working with the nervous system, change happens through repetition, safety, and integration over time.

Life never gets easier. If anything, it gets more complicated. Your capacity is challenged, then it grows, then the cycle repeats. 

For that reason, many clients choose to begin with a structured package so we can build momentum and create meaningful shifts.

While we do our best to make this work accessible in various ways, private somatic therapy is an investment of time, energy, and financial resources. It tends to be most effective for those who are ready to prioritize their growth and commit to the process.

→ Find more Frequently Asked Questions here.

Ready to Try Somatic Therapy for Yourself?

Reading about somatic therapy can help you understand it, but experiencing it is what creates change. If you’re tired of managing your patterns intellectually and ready to feel some big shifts in your life, this is where the work begins. You don’t need to have it all figured out... you just need a willingness to show up honestly and engage the process.

If this resonates, the next step isn't to read more. To get started, view our package options and pricing here or book a free 20-minute call and we'll help you decide on the right path for you.