Somatic Trauma Therapy: Reconnecting with your body
When we go through a deeply stressful or scary event, trauma doesn’t just stay in our minds—it gets trapped in our nervous system. You might find yourself stuck in a constant state of “fight or flight” (feeling anxious, hypervigilant, or unable to sleep) or completely “frozen”.
Often, this shows up as a functional freeze. On the outside, you might be going through the motions of daily life, working, and showing up for others. But on the inside, you feel completely numb, disconnected, emotionally exhausted, or running on autopilot.
These aren’t signs that you are broken. They are completely normal survival responses from a body that still feels like it is in danger.
Somatic therapy focuses on helping your nervous system finally release that trapped stress so you can feel safe inside your own skin again.
What exactly is Somatic Trauma Therapy®?
“Somatic” simply means “of the body.” Traditional therapy often focuses mostly on talking, but trauma physically changes how our bodies respond to the world. It can manifest as chronic tension, a racing heart, or a feeling of being completely detached from yourself.
Instead of just talking in detail about the past, we focus on how your body is holding onto that trauma right now.
My training is deeply rooted in advanced somatic trauma work, including the renowned methods of Dr Peter Levine’s Somatic Experiencing® (SE).
Understanding Disconnection
It is incredibly common to lose touch with your body. For many of us, chronic stress and anxiety keep our minds racing in a state of high alert, leaving us entirely trapped in our thoughts and disconnected from our physical selves.
If we have experienced trauma, disconnecting from our body is often a brilliant coping mechanism our brain used to protect us from overwhelming physical sensations and emotions at the time. But over time, living detached from our physical self can leave us feeling numb, exhausted, or unsafe in your own skin. Somatic therapy gently helps us rebuild that body awareness so that we feel more like ourselves and whole.
How it works
Our sessions are gentle, focused on safety and entirely client-led. We work at a careful pace using specific mind-body techniques:
Body Awareness & Grounding: Learning to notice physical sensations (like tightness, warmth, or trembling) and using simple exercises to stay anchored in the present moment.
Cultivating a felt sense of safety (Resourcing): Trauma can make the body feel like an unsafe place to be. Resourcing is the practice of finding physical pockets of comfort, ease, or neutrality to help you anchor yourself in the present moment. We discover internal resources—such as shifting your posture to feel the solid support of the chair or releasing tension in your shoulders—alongside external resources, like the calming visual of a favourite place or connecting with memories of people who make you feel protected.
Titration: Exploring very small amounts of difficult sensations or memories at a time, to prevent owerwhelm.
Pendulation: Gently guiding your focus between a state of physical discomfort and a state of safety, helping your body build resilience.
How it can help?
Because this approach works directly with the body’s natural survival system, it is incredibly supportive for anyone whose nervous system has been disrupted by a single overwhelming incident or long-term, chronic stress.
It can be especially helpful for:
Anxiety, Depression, & PTSD: Easing chronic tension, improving sleep, and lifting the weight of constant survival mode.
Childhood Trauma or Neglect: Gently repairing early experiences that shaped how your nervous system handles emotional regulation and trust.
Accidents, Injuries, or Medical Procedures: Helping the body understand that the physical danger has passed, even if it still feels vigilant.
Survivors of Abuse or Assault: Offering a gentle, non-verbal pathway to recovery when talking about what happened feels like too much.
Daily Challenges: Navigating self-esteem problems, complicated grief, and intimacy or trust issues.
Sessions & Costs
Sessions are priced at my standard rate £65.
Trauma is not what happens to us, but what we hold inside in the absence of an empathetic witness.”
— Peter A. Levine