A woman sitting on a grey couch pondering. White brick wall behind her. Peach flowers and green plants and coffee much on a white marble table next to her.

If you’re curious about somatic psychotherapy, you may be wondering what actually happens in a session. While traditional talk therapy often focuses primarily on thoughts, feelings, and experiences, somatic psychotherapy also incorporates the awareness and tracking of your body experiences. Your therapist may ask you to notice what you feel in your body when you feel an emotion or feeling and can help you to connect the ways your body responds to stress or other dynamics.

Somatic psychotherapy offers a space to slow down, build awareness, and develop a deeper connection with yourself, at a pace that feels safe and manageable for you. Below, I will discuss some ways that Somatic Psychotherapy can be integrated into sessions.

A Moment to Arrive at the Beginning of Sessions

Somatic Psychotherapy sessions may begin with exercises in grounding, noticing breathing patterns, and bringing your awareness to the present moment. Having just a few moments to “land”, can help you connect with what you are feeling in your body and in your mind. Here are simplified explanations of each.

Grounding

A women sitting watchingthe sunset at the beach.

Your therapist may guide you in an exercise to help you feel more regulated. A way to do this is by something called “grounding”. It is a tool that you can use both inside and outside of session whenever you need to feel more centered. One way a body centered therapist may do this is to guide you to bring your attention to the sensation of your feet on the ground or your back against your chair or other places in your body that feel connected to the ground. Practicing grounding exercises can help you feel more present and can offer a comforting reset.

Noticing Your Breathing

Your Somatic Psychotherapist may guide you to bring your awareness to your breathing. One example is simply noticing how you are breathing, without changing. This can be a good way to get a sense of how you are in the present moment. For example, noticing you are holding your breath between inhaling and exhaling can be an important clue to your state of being. Together, with your mind-body therapist, you can explore the reasons that come up around doing so with curiosity which can lead to new insights. When needed, they may also guide you in breathing exercises when you feel overwhelmed.

A women is at the beach, her head facing the sky with her eyes closed taking a breath as the wind breezes her hair back.

Bringing Your Awareness to the Present Moment

When you arrive to your session, you might naturally continue the automatic rhythm you have been in all day. As you settle into sitting on the therapy couch, you might notice that you are thinking about what was happening before your session or be distracted by the things left to do in your day. To help the transition in the therapy space, your body-oriented therapist may ask you to take a minute and check in with your system. Moving away from the reflexive response to the question of “how are you” and this somatic intervention can help you move into a deeper, more authentic understanding of how you are. In session your somatic therapist may offer tools such as helping you orient to the room or guide you on how to check into how your body is feeling.

Some Things A Somatic Psychotherapist Therapist May Track

In addition to talk therapy and the above, a Somatic Psychotherapy sessions may include your therapist and you incorporating your posture and positioning, movement and gestures, muscle tension and physical sensations, facial expression and eye contact, changes in observable or reported nervous system activation and regulation, your voice and speech, your spatial awareness and how you embody boundaries, emotional expression and congruence, body expressions and gestures, tracking internal sensations, and present-moment orientation into your therapy sessions. The reason that somatic therapists do this is to help you understand how your mind and body are connected and to help you develop tools to use to regulate and to find new ways to feel resourced.

Somatic Psychotherapist Pause You When Noticing You Are Dysregulated

A blue, white, brown and orange colored butterfly pausing on a grass leaf.

Often in life, we have to move through things quickly and seldom find time to catch up and reflect on what just happened. Even when we shift our attention to something else intellectually, our bodies can still hold onto experiences that can contribute to feeling out of balance.

A mind-body therapist has the skill to slow you down gently in session when you are sharing something triggering and help you find a pace that feels attuned to your needs in that moment.

The Importance of Integration in Somatic Psychotherapy

A digital image of electric blue strands woven together with other strands and dots surrounding.

A goal of somatic psychotherapy, using a trauma informed lens, is supporting you to feel more regulated after session. Discussing emotionally charged material can be dysregulating by it’s very nature, as it unearths things that may have been unexamined or feel vulnerable. Whenever possible, a skilled therapist will take the time to help you integrate this by taking the time to help you feel resourced before ending session.

Staying curious about your body oriented responses

You may have already noticed the mind-body connections in your day to day life or when you feel overwhelmed. This is an important piece to understanding yourself. You are the expert of your experience and bringing that into session is helpful to your therapy process. For example, you might notice that every time you feel scared, you feel tightness in your stomach and feel nauseous. When you bring that information into session with an experienced Somatic Psychotherapist, the therapist can help you tune into that feeling with curiosity to unlock the process that happens for you.

Therapy office in Lafayette, CA Loveseat sofa, cushions, rug, therapy chair and plants — Therapy office in Lafayette, CA

As a skilled and experienced Somatic Psychotherapist, I incorporate the above along with other supportive practices in sessions in a way that is practical, useful and can be used not only in session, but can be valuable beyond the therapy room. If Somatic Therapy resonates with you and you would like online therapy in California or would like in person Somatic Psychotherapy in Lafayette, CA, you can reach out to schedule your free phone consultation with me using the link below.

Schedule Phone Consulation

Contact Me

This blog is for general information purposes only. It is not meant for a substitution for medical or mental health advice or treatment. Please see a licensed professional for medical or mental health advice and/or recommendations specific to your needs.

What Happens in a Somatic Psychotherapy Session?