Written by: Dr. Scott Giacomucci, DSW, LCSW, BCD, CGP, FAAETS, TEP

Many people think of therapy as simply talking about problems. While talking can be an important part of healing, trauma is not stored only in our mind, it also affects our nervous system, body, and physiological responses.

If you’ve ever felt your heart race during a difficult conversation, experienced muscle tension when thinking about the past, or found yourself frozen during conflict despite knowing you were safe, you’ve experienced how emotional experiences live in the body.

Somatic therapy recognizes that healing from trauma often requires more than changing our thoughts. It also involves helping the body and our nervous system learn that the danger has passed.

At the Phoenix Center for Experiential Trauma Therapy, we integrate somatic therapy with other evidence-based trauma treatments to help individuals regulate their nervous systems, process traumatic experiences, and reconnect with a greater sense of safety, resilience, and well-being.

What Is Somatic Therapy?

Somatic therapy is a body-centered approach to psychotherapy that recognizes the close connection between the mind, brain, body, emotions, and nervous system. Rather than focusing only on thoughts or behaviors, somatic therapy helps people become more aware of their physical sensations, emotional experiences, and physiological responses while learning new ways to regulate stress and trauma.

The word somatic comes from the Greek word soma, meaning “the living body.” Somatic therapy is not massage therapy or physical therapy. It is psychotherapy that intentionally incorporates awareness of the body’s responses into the healing process. Though they are different from therapy, healing often does involve other holistic somatic approaches such as massage, reiki, reflexology, acupressure, mindfulness, and yoga.

Why Trauma Affects the Body

Trauma is not defined simply by what happened to us, it is also shaped by how our nervous system responds to overwhelming experiences. When we encounter danger, our bodies automatically prepare to survive through protective responses such as fight, flight, and freeze. These responses occur automatically and often outside of conscious awareness. Even after the danger has passed, the nervous system may continue responding as though the threat is still present. This can contribute to symptoms such as:

How Trauma Affects the Body
  • Chronic anxiety or depression
  • Hypervigilance and hyperarousal
  • Emotional numbness
  • Panic attacks
  • Difficulty relaxing
  • Muscle tension
  • Concentration struggles
  • Sleep disturbances and nightmares
  • Somatic flashbacks of past trauma
  • Digestive problems
  • Feeling disconnected from your body
  • Difficulty feeling safe in relationships
  • Inability to tolerate physical touch

Understanding these responses often helps people realize that their symptoms are not signs of weakness, they are adaptive survival responses that have become stuck.

What Happens During Somatic Therapy?

Somatic therapy is not about forcing people to relive traumatic experiences. Instead, somatic therapy often involves helping clients gently notice what is happening in their bodies while remaining emotionally regulated and connected to the present moment.

Depending on your needs, sessions may include:

  • Increasing awareness of body sensations
  • Identifying physical signs of stress or activation
  • Developing awareness of emotional states
  • Building tolerance for difficult emotions
  • Learning nervous system regulation skills
  • Mindfulness and grounding exercises
  • Breathing techniques
  • Cultivating safety and strength in the body
  • Exploring the connection between thoughts, emotions, and bodily experiences
  • Releasing stuck somatic energy
  • Integrating traumatic memories while maintaining emotional stability

Many people are surprised to discover how much information their bodies provide about stress, safety, and emotional needs.

Somatic Therapy for Trauma

Trauma often disrupts a person’s sense of safety – not only psychologically, but physically. Even when someone logically knows they are safe, their body may continue reacting as if danger is still present. Somatic therapy helps bridge the gap between intellectual understanding and physiological experience.

Rather than trying to convince yourself that you’re safe, somatic therapy helps your nervous system gradually experience safety through new emotional, relational, and bodily experiences.

Is Somatic Therapy Evidence-Based?

Research continues to demonstrate that trauma affects both the brain and the body. Many evidence-based trauma treatments already include important somatic components. For example:

Movement Somatic Therapy
  • EMDR helps people process traumatic memories while attending to present-moment somatic experiences and bilateral stimulation.
  • Psychodrama and parts work integrate movement, posture, and action into treatment.
  • Mindfulness-based therapies increase awareness of bodily sensations and emotional experiences.
  • Somatic Experiencing and Sensorimotor Psychotherapy emphasize the role of movement and body awareness in trauma recovery.
  • Many expressive arts therapies intentionally incorporate movement and body-based approaches.

While different somatic therapies vary in their research support, growing evidence suggests that integrating body awareness with psychotherapy can enhance trauma treatment for many individuals.

Somatic Therapy at the Phoenix Center

At the Phoenix Center, we don’t only view somatic therapy as a standalone technique. Instead, we integrate body-centered interventions into comprehensive, trauma-informed treatment based on each client’s unique needs. Depending on your goals, somatic interventions may be incorporated into:

Our therapists help clients understand the connection between their nervous system, emotions, thoughts, behaviors, and relationships while developing practical tools for emotional regulation and healing.

Who Can Benefit from Somatic Therapy?

Somatic therapy may be helpful for individuals experiencing:

  • PTSD or Complex PTSD
  • Anxiety disorders
  • Panic attacks
  • Childhood trauma
  • Chronic stress
  • Grief and loss
  • Emotional dysregulation
  • Dissociation
  • Burnout
  • Relationship difficulties
  • Medical trauma
  • High levels of nervous system activation

Because every person is different, our therapists carefully tailor treatment to your symptoms, history, preferences, and goals.

Common Misconceptions About Somatic Therapy

“Somatic therapy means I won’t talk.”

Somatic Therapy and Talking

Talking remains an important part of therapy. Somatic therapy simply expands the conversation by paying attention to what is happening in your body alongside your thoughts and emotions. Somatic therapy doesn’t only focus on somatics, it also integrates other aspects of experience.

“It’s just breathing exercises.”

Breathing is helpful (and required on some level!), but somatic therapy involves much more than relaxation techniques. The goal is to help individuals better understand and regulate their nervous system while integrating difficult experiences in ways that promote lasting change. Somatic therapy involves exploring various bodily sensations related to past trauma and present day experiences while also engaging in body-based interventions to change the somatic imprints of trauma.

“The body stores trauma.”

You may hear people say that “the body keeps the score” or that trauma is “stored in the body.” While these phrases are useful metaphors and have some truth, they can oversimplify a complex process. Trauma affects the entire person – including the brain, mind, nervous system, body, emotions, beliefs, behaviors, relationships, and spirit. Somatic therapy emphasizes that healing is most effective when we address all of these interconnected systems rather than focusing on thoughts alone.

Begin Healing Through Mind and Body

Healing from trauma is not simply about understanding what happened in the past. It is about helping your entire system (mind, body, and spirit) experience greater safety, flexibility, and resilience in the present.

At the Phoenix Center for Experiential Trauma Therapy, our clinicians integrate somatic therapy with evidence-based approaches such as EMDR, psychodrama, experiential therapy, and attachment-informed treatment to provide individualized care for every client.

If you’re interested in learning whether somatic therapy or other holistic somatic healing approaches may be right for you, we’d be honored to help. Contact the Phoenix Center today to schedule a consultation and begin your journey toward healing.

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About the Author

Blog Written by: Dr. Scott Giacomucci, DSW, LCSW, BCD, CGP, FAAETS, TEP

Dr. Scott Giacomucci, DSW, LCSW, BCD, CGP, FAAETS, TEP (he, him, his) is the Director, Founder, & Owner of the Phoenix Center for Experiential Trauma Therapy. He provides clinical services at the center as well as supervision, consultation, training, and organizational leadership.
Scott’s work has been internationally recognized and he is the recipient of various awards. He frequently presents training workshops at local, national, and international events and has published various articles on using experiential methods (especially sociometry, psychodrama, and group work) in clinical, educational, community, and organizational settings. Most recently, the CEO of NASW commented in a press release that “With social work leaders such as Dr. Giacomucci on the rise I’m assured the social work profession will have an especially bright future.”