Somatic Work in Therapy

    *Image from Downtown Somatic Therapy via Google Images

Are you really good at stating what you’re feeling, understanding why you’re feeling it, where it came from, and how to “solve” it, but you still don’t feel better? Maybe you’ve thought about it over and over again, talked about it, analyzed it from every possible angle, but somehow you’re still feeling anxious, angry, hurt, depressed, or stuck? 

Maybe you're really good at intellectualizing your feelings. In other words, you’re good at investigating the feelings, recognizing patterns, connecting the dots, using logic and reasoning to explain yourself, and jumping to solutions. However, if someone tells you to “feel your feelings” or if a therapist asks, “Where do you feel that in your body?” you feel stuck wondering what the heck that even means. Maybe you’re used to constantly checking in with what’s going on in your brain, but you haven’t checked in with the rest of your body. 

Intellectualization is a defense mechanism and a way for us to protect ourselves from feeling overwhelming feelings because we don’t want to feel out of control. Although it acts as a shield against pain, it can keep us so stuck in our heads that we start experiencing a mind-body disconnection. It could also lead us to minimize our own experiences, have delayed emotional responses, and prevent us from processing our feelings. You can know exactly why something hurt you and still feel hurt. You can understand where your anxiety comes from and still feel anxious. And you can have all the insight in the world and still struggle to feel better.

Or maybe you’ve learned to disconnect from your feelings altogether, so maybe you space out, dissociate, feel numb, or go on autopilot. 

This is where somatic work comes in. Somatic comes from the Greek word “soma,” which means “body.” So, somatic work involves connecting emotions, thoughts, and physical sensations and helps us pay attention to what is physically happening in our bodies rather than merely focusing on what’s going on in our minds. 

What is Somatic Work?

 *Image from Right as Rain by UW Medicine via Google Images

Unlike traditional talk therapy that focuses on thoughts, somatic work uses a bottom-up approach and uses the body as the starting point rather than the mind. It focuses on tracking body sensations to release tension, trauma, and/or stress. This work is body-focused because our bodies tend to respond to emotional experiences before we consciously recognize what’s going on. For example, anxiety might show up as a tight chest, grief might show up as heaviness in your chest, anger might feel like heat radiating throughout your body, nervousness might involve sweating, love might feel like warmth, stress might feel like tension in your neck and shoulders, and so on and so forth. 

Somatic work will invite you to pause, slow down, and be curious about these sensations instead of avoiding them, ignoring them, or trying to make them go away. This work can also encourage clients to keep their eyes open, scan the room, feel their feet against the floor, and shift attention outward if somatic work starts feeling uncomfortable, frustrating, or disorienting. The goal isn’t to get rid of uncomfortable feelings. It’s to help you build a different relationship with your body and reconnect your mind with your body. 

Getting Started

 *Image from Lindsay Braman via Google Images

Here are a few tips to get started noticing sensations:

• Location: Where do you notice something? Your chest, throat, legs, hands?

• Sensation: What does it feel like? Tight, heavy, steady, weak, jumpy, or numb? Refer to the outer portion of the emotion-sensation wheel above to identify what you could be experiencing. 

• Intensity: Is it soft, subtle, or strong? Does it stay the same or does it change?

• Movement: Does the sensation move, spread, compress, tighten, or weaken with attention? 

• Needs: What might help you feel more grounded and present right now?

Below are examples of some specific techniques therapists may use in session.

Somatic Techniques

 *Image from Right as Rain by UW Medicine via Google Images

• Tracking

  • Tracking means paying attention to any physical sensations that might come up without fixing, figuring out, or analyzing what it means. This can help a client increase their interoceptive awareness, which is the ability to be aware of internal sensations and respond to the body’s needs.

  • A therapist may pause you to notice sensations or walk you through a structured body scan from head-to-toe or toe-to-head to pinpoint any clenching, heat, tightness, tension, heaviness, or even relaxation. 

  • Example: Notice one physical sensation. Is it tight, heavy, warm, shaky, tense, fidgety, or something else? Where do you feel it in your body? If it had a shape or color, what would it be? There’s no right answer. Just notice.  

    
    

• Pendulation

  • Pendulation involves gently shifting attention between discomfort and something comfortable, supportive, neutral, or calming. This helps clients connect with their whole body, even the calm parts, rather than merely focusing on the parts causing distress. 

  • Example: You might notice chest heaviness and your jaw clenching. Now shift your attention to your back against your chair or your feet against the floor. If that feels okay, shift back to your chest and jaw. You can repeat if this feels safe, stay with the sensations, or stop the exercise.

    
    

• Titration

  • Titration means easing into a heavy story or a traumatic experience to avoid emotional overwhelm or flooding. This involves slowly telling a small part of your story, pausing to check in with your body, noticing mild sensations, shifting your attention to something neutral, then continuing the story again if it feels okay and safe to do so. If not, stop there.

    
    

• Resourcing

  • Resourcing involves finding memories or objects that make you feel supported, regulate you, or pull you back into the present moment. This can be a comforting memory, a pet, a favorite place, or something in your current environment.

  • Example: Think about your favorite place. Imagine that you’re there. What do you see? What do you smell? What colors are around you? What do you hear? You could also notice something around you that you enjoy looking at. What is it? What color is it? What’s the texture? Notice if this helps ground you and bring you back to the present moment.

    
    

• The Voo Sound

  • Sit with both feet on the floor, open your mouth, and make the “Voooo” sound for as long as you can. According to Dr. Peter Levine, the founder of Somatic Experiencing, that vocal vibration can stimulate your vagus nerve, which can then activate your parasympathetic nervous system. 

    
    

• Breathwork

  • Breathwork involves slowing down one’s breath. Not every breathwork exercise will work, so there can be multiple options to try, such as the following:

    • Diaphragmatic breathing: Focusing on deep belly breathing through inflating and deflating your belly like a balloon

    • 4-7-8 breathing: Inhale for 4 seconds, hold for 7 seconds, and exhale for 8 seconds

    • Box breathing: Inhale for 4 seconds, hold for 4, exhale for 4, and hold for 4 again

    • Alternating nostrils: Block the right nostril and inhale through the left, then release and repeat with the left nostril; repeat this pattern several times

    • Cyclic sighing: Inhale deeply then exhale as slow as you can

    • Bumblebee breath: Inhale deeply then hum as you exhale to make a buzzing sound

      
      

• Self-Soothing Touch

  • Self-soothing touch can help you feel more supported and present by yourself in the moment. This can include placing a hand over your heart, gently giving yourself a hug, gently squeezing your arms and legs, or pressing your palms together. 

  • Example: Place a hand on your chest, notice your heart rate, take a slow exhale with pursed lips, and remind yourself that you’re present with yourself, saying, “I’m here with you.”

    
    

• Gentle Movement

  • The body can sometimes feel restless, stuck, frozen, wound up, or tense. Gentle movement can help release or reactivate some parts of your body. This can look like gently shaking out your arms or legs, rolling out your neck and shoulders, standing up and sitting back down, lifting your arms above your head, stretching different body parts, or even dancing. You don’t have to do this fast or force anything. Keep your movements small, and you can stop the movement whenever you want. 

    
    

Final Thoughts

Somatic work isn’t about paying attention or interpreting every single sensation and seeing it as wrong or assuming your body always knows the answer. This work is more about being curious about body sensations and reconnecting your mind with your body. It’s learning how your thoughts, emotions, body, and sensations can influence one another. You don’t have to be “good” at somatic work to benefit from it. You can start by noticing some tension, recognizing that you’re holding your breath, feeling your jaw clench, or seeing that you need to release or take a break. You don’t have to give the perfect answer. You just have to try to listen.

If you’d like to try somatic work safely, reach out to our office to get connected with one of our therapists. 

Sources

Blevins-Ranes, S. (2026, June 3). Somatic experiencing therapy: 12 techniques and exercises for healing trauma in the body. ICANotes. https://www.icanotes.com/2024/03/28/somatic-experiencing-therapy-for-trauma-recovery/

DeGeorgio, L. (2026, August 31). On the myth of the “meat suit”: How intellectualizing blocks somatic healing. Kindman & Co.  https://www.kindman.co/blog/intellectualizing-somatic-therapy-embodiment

Hinge Health (2025, September 17). Somatic breathwork: What it is, benefits, exercises to try. Hinge Health. https://www.hingehealth.com/resources/articles/somatic-breathwork/

Integris Health. (2024, October 28). Somatic therapy: Signs your body is releasing trauma. Integris Health. https://integrishealth.org/resources/on-your-health/2024/october/somatic-therapy-signs-your-body-is-releasing-trauma

Noe, S. (2026, October 21). Intellectualization: When you handle a feeling by studying it. Coastal Therapy Group. https://coastaltherapygroup.com/undercurrent/intellectualization-defense-mechanism/

Voss, E. (2024, November 5). Resourcing, pendulation, and titration: The core concepts of somatic therapy. Integrative Psychology Institute. https://www.integrativepsychology.org/blog/resourcing-pendulation-and-titration-the-core-concepts-of-somatic-therapy