Have questions about somatic therapy, Somatic Experiencing, or what it might feel like to work with your body in this way? If what you’re wondering about isn’t here, I’d love to hear from you. Seedling Somatics offers sessions in person in West Philadelphia and virtually.
Somatic means “of the body.” It comes from the Greek word soma, which describes the body as a living whole (“the living organism in its wholeness"). Somatic approaches invite you to notice what it’s like to live in your body, including sensations, impulses, memories and emotions, and to treat that experience as a source of wisdom and healing.
Somatic therapy is a body-based approach to healing that works with sensations, breath, movement and the nervous system, not just thoughts and words. It recognizes that we carry trauma, resilience and the capacity for healing in our bodies. By listening to what your body is holding, somatic therapy helps you process stress and trauma and move through patterns that feel stuck.
Somatic exercise and movement refers to mindful movement that focuses on how your body feels from the inside rather than how it looks, performs or is “supposed to” be. Somatic practices refer to things you can do help you connect to your body, and the practices vary based on the purpose–for example, some somatic practices focus on calming the nervous system (such as rocking, shaking, humming, tapping), others are designed to help increase your awareness of sensations (such as body scans), and others help you practice a new pattern or way of doing things (such as boundary setting practices). You can try somatic practices on your own to ease tension and settle your nervous system, and sessions can help you find the practices that fit your body best.
Somatic release is the way your body lets go of stress and survival energy it’s been holding. It might show up as shaking, warmth, tears, yawning, or a deep, spontaneous breath. In Somatic Experiencing, this is called discharge. Release isn’t something you can force; it can happen naturally when your body feels enough safety and support to process activation.
Somatic Experiencing (SE) is a body-based approach to trauma resolution developed by Dr. Peter Levine. Rather than focusing mainly on talking through what happened, SE works with physical sensations and the nervous system. It’s based on the understanding that people, like other animals, can naturally recover from overwhelming experiences when there is enough safety and support.
Somatic Experiencing works by gently supporting your nervous system to complete protective responses like fight, flight, and freeze that get stuck during overwhelming events. A practitioner helps you move between sensations of activation and sensations of ease (pendulation) and approach difficult experiences in small, manageable pieces (titration). Over time, your body builds more capacity to feel safe and settled, and to complete these self protective responses.
Somatic therapy looks like a gentle, collaborative exploration of what’s happening in your body. We’ll start by talking a bit about the change you’re hoping for and what's going on for you, and then move into present moment awareness of what's happening in your body. We can use a mix of talking, movement, nervous system practices and, if you are interested, touch to help explore the shifts that are possible in your system. Sessions are 60 minutes, in person in West Philadelphia or virtual.
A somatic therapist is a practitioner who uses body-based approaches to support healing. The term can describe licensed mental health professionals (therapists, counselors) or trained practitioners without a clinical license. I am a somatic practitioner rather than a licensed therapist. I’ve completed the Somatic Experiencing Professional Training and also draw on training in Internal Family Systems, somatic bodywork, and somatic coaching.
Somatic therapy sessions typically cost between $100 and $250, depending on the practitioner’s experience, location, and session length. At Seedling Somatics, sessions are offered on a sliding scale of $90 to $180 for 60 minutes, with a few lower-cost spots ($70 to $85) available through a waitlist. If you’re unsure where you land, we can discuss finding an amount that feels sustainable during a free consultation.
Nope! Touch can be a very powerful way to communicate directly with the body and can allow for deep processing and settling to occur if and when it’s the right fit for you. However, it’s not always the right time for it and much benefit can be found from other types of somatic work–cultivating your awareness, tuning into your body and using somatic practices–without ever using touch.
This really depends on your goals! Some people come in knowing how long they want to be in somatic therapy and find benefits from doing a limited number of sessions, and others want an ongoing healing space. If you want to work on something very specific (a goal you have, processing a particular traumatic event, etc) short term work can be enough (a few weeks to a few months). If you want to just try it out and learn some somatic practices, even one session can have benefits. If you want to work on attachment trauma or very chronic patterns, it's helpful to expect longer term work; these are deep imprints that need gently paced and consistent attention for sustainable change. How long you stay with it is of course up to you and when you feel you've gotten what you wanted!