Somatic therapy begins with the understanding that our emotional lives do not exist separately from our physical bodies. The body stores memory, trauma, resilience, and joy—and it also holds keys to healing. At the Center for Mindful Psychotherapy, we recognize the body as an essential part of the therapeutic process. Our therapists integrate body-based approaches to help clients access deeper emotional awareness, release tension, and restore inner balance.
People often turn to somatic therapy when talk therapy alone doesn’t reach the full depth of their experience. Whether you’re feeling disconnected from your body, overwhelmed by emotion, stuck in chronic stress patterns, or carrying the residue of trauma, somatic approaches can help you reconnect to yourself from the inside out. These modalities are especially effective for those who experience anxiety, dissociation, chronic pain, trauma, or who simply have a sense that healing needs to happen on a level that words cannot reach.
Browse our Therapist Directory
Below are five unique but interrelated somatic therapy modalities we offer. Each one supports healing through embodied presence, and each meets the client exactly where they are:
Somatic Therapy
This broad, integrative approach uses bodily sensations, movement, and breath to help process emotional experience. Somatic therapy is especially useful for individuals who feel “stuck” in talk therapy, or who find that their body carries symptoms of unresolved stress or trauma. It lays the foundation for many of the other practices described below.
Relational Somatic Healing (RSH)
Relational Somatic Healing incorporates touch, nervous system attunement, and trauma-informed relational repair. It is rooted in the belief that early wounds often occur in relationship—and must also be healed in relationship. RSH can be particularly supportive for those with attachment wounds, early developmental trauma, or dissociative coping patterns.
Hakomi
Hakomi is a mindfulness-centered body psychotherapy that explores how unconscious beliefs shape our present experience. Gentle, experiential, and non-invasive, Hakomi guides clients through internal inquiry with a compassionate presence. It is especially helpful for accessing “core material” and shifting long-standing emotional patterns.
Dance/Movement Therapy
Dance/Movement Therapy brings emotional processing into physical form. It draws on creative movement, breath, rhythm, and body language to support self-expression, embodiment, and healing. This modality is ideal for individuals who express themselves best nonverbally, or who are seeking a more expressive, integrative approach to therapy.
Brainspotting
Brainspotting uses fixed eye positions to access and process deeply held trauma and emotional material stored in the brain and body. It bypasses cognitive processing and works directly with the subcortical brain, where trauma is often held. Clients often experience rapid shifts and emotional relief through this precise and powerful method.
Find a Somatic Therapist in California
Each of these somatic therapies offers a different doorway into embodied healing. Whether you’re seeking to calm your nervous system, integrate past trauma, or reconnect with your inner aliveness, we invite you to explore what resonates with you.
There are also other therapy types that might interest you. Explore those options by choosing the “How We Help” option in the menu above and perusing the dropdown menus.
You can also browse our therapist directory to find someone who fits your needs, or contact us to get help finding the right support.
Browse our Therapist Directory