If you’re reading this, you’re probably curious about somatic therapy – maybe even considering it – but wondering what actually happens in a session.

It’s a fair question. Somatic therapy can feel a bit mysterious if you’ve only ever experienced traditional talk therapy. You might be wondering: Will I have to lie down? Will there be touching? Do I still get to talk? What if I can’t feel anything in my body?

Let me walk you through what somatic therapy sessions with me look like, so you can get a sense of whether this approach feels right for you.

Before we begin: your first session

Your first session is about getting to know each other and building a foundation of safety.

We’ll talk about what’s brought you to therapy, what you’re hoping for, and I’ll explain more about how somatic work happens. There’s no pressure to dive into difficult material immediately. In fact, one of the core principles of somatic therapy is that we move at a pace your body can handle.

You might notice I ask questions like:

• “How does your body feel right now, as we’re talking about this?”
• “What do you notice happening in your chest, your shoulders, your belly?”

These aren’t test questions. There are no wrong answers. I’m simply beginning to invite your attention to the present moment, to sensation, to what’s alive in you right now.

What we actually do in a session

Here’s something that surprises people: we still talk in somatic therapy.

If you’re someone who’s articulate, insightful and verbal, that part of you is absolutely welcome here. I’m not going to ask you to stop thinking or analysing entirely.

What changes is that we expand our attention beyond just the content of your story. We start paying attention to how your body responds as you speak.

For example:

• You might be telling me about a difficult conversation you had, and I might gently ask: “What’s happening in your throat right now?”
• You might notice your hands clenching as you talk about a memory, and we might pause to stay with that sensation
• You might realise you’ve been holding your breath, and we might take a moment to simply breathe together

We’re learning the language of your body: what it holds, what it remembers and what it needs.

Sometimes this includes gentle movement, breathwork (slowing the breathing, focusing on the exhale and inhale) or grounding exercises. Sometimes we work with imagery or metaphor. Sometimes we just sit together in the stillness, noticing what wants to emerge. Sometimes we shake things off, literally.

The pace is slow, the movements are slow. By going slowly, we are going deeper. In this, somatic therapy is quietly radical: it refuses the capitalist demand for speed and quick fixes, and instead trusts that healing has its own rhythm, one that can’t be rushed.

Your questions answered

“Will you touch me?”

The “somatic” part isn’t about my hands on your body. It’s about your attention in your body. Many somatic therapists work without any physical touch at all. 

Touch is never required in somatic therapy with me. In the rare circumstances where touch is offered (usually when doing specific work around anger), it’s always with explicit consent and only if it feels right for you.

You’re always in control of your boundaries, and I’ll check in regularly to make sure you feel safe and comfortable.

“Do I have to talk about my trauma?”

Not necessarily.

One of the beautiful things about somatic therapy is that we can work with what your body is holding without you having to retell traumatic stories in detail. In fact, sometimes retelling can retraumatise and your body doesn’t always know the difference between remembering and reliving.

We can work “bottom-up”, meaning we start with sensation, with what’s happening now in your body, rather than “top-down” (analysing the past). Your body knows what it needs to release and heal, even if your mind doesn’t have all the narrative details.

That said, if talking is helpful for you, there’s space for that too. We follow what serves your healing.

It’s important for you know that talking about the trauma, even in talk therapy, is never needed to get better. You decide whether you want to share and if that’s what you wish, we’ll create the right supportive space for you do so, at your own terms and pace.

“Will I have to relive my traumatic experiences?”

No. This is a crucial point.

Somatic trauma therapy is designed specifically not to retraumatise you. We work with what’s called “titration”: taking small, manageable amounts of activation at a time, rather than flooding your system.

We also use “pendulation”: moving between areas of difficulty and areas of resource or ease. So if something feels too much, we can always come back to safety, to your breath, to the feeling of your feet on the ground, to a pleasant memory.

Your window of tolerance – how much intensity you can handle without getting overwhelmed – actually expands over time through this gentle, mindful approach.

You’re never alone in what you’re experiencing. I’m here with you, tracking what’s happening, and we adjust the pace to what your body can integrate.

“What if I can’t feel anything in my body?”

This is so common, especially if you’ve spent years living primarily in your head or if numbness and disconnection have been your way of coping. Not being able to feel sensations is an important bit of information that tells us something about how your system has learned to protect you.

We work gently to build what’s called “interoception”: your ability to sense what’s happening inside you. This might start very simply:

• Can you feel your feet on the floor?
• Can you notice the temperature of the air on your skin?
• Can you sense your breath moving?

We build slowly, with curiosity rather than pressure. There’s no rush.

When we work outdoors

Sometimes, if it feels right for you, we take sessions outdoors.

There’s something deeply supportive about being held by the more-than-human world as we do this work. Nature has its own rhythm, its own invitation to slow down and sense. The ground beneath your feet, the sound of wind in the trees, the vastness of sky: these can all become resources for your body.

An outdoor session might include walking together as we talk, sitting on a bench (sometimes on the grass if we get to experience a long-enough dry spell), or simply being still in a green space and noticing what shifts when we’re not enclosed by walls.

What changes look like

Somatic therapy doesn’t always produce dramatic, immediate shifts, though sometimes it does. On social media, somatic work is sensationalised and oftentimes show outcomes that are rarely there, surely not when filmed or when there’s a marketing agenda behind.

More often, the changes are subtle and cumulative:

• You might notice you’re breathing more deeply
• The tension in your shoulders eases slightly
• You catch yourself pausing before reacting
• You feel more present in your body, less like you’re watching your life from behind glass
• Sensations that used to feel overwhelming become more manageable

In between sessions, your body continues processing, reorganising, finding new patterns. Sometimes people report sleeping better, or noticing they can tolerate difficult emotions more easily, or feeling more connected to themselves and others.

There’s no fixed timeline. Some people feel shifts quite quickly; for others, it’s a slower unfolding. We trust your process.

Is somatic therapy right for you?

Somatic therapy can be particularly helpful if:

• You’ve done talk therapy and feel like something’s still missing
• You experience a lot of physical symptoms that don’t have clear medical causes (after checking with your GP and/or specialised services)
• You feel disconnected from your body or emotions
• You tend to intellectualise or overthink
• You’ve experienced trauma and want an approach that doesn’t require retelling
• You’re drawn to working with nature and the outdoors
• You’re curious about the mind-body connection

It works well alongside other forms of support: medication, other therapies, bodywork, spiritual practices. It’s not an either/or.