Somatic therapy

What is somatic therapy?

"Somatic" comes from the Greek word for body. Somatic therapy pays attention to physical sensation as part of emotional health, on the idea that stress and trauma don't only live in memory, they also leave the body braced and on alert. Rather than starting with a story, a somatic approach often starts with what's happening right now: your breath, your posture, tension you've stopped noticing. Through practices such as breathwork, grounding, gentle movement and slowly tracking sensation, you learn to notice when your system is revved up or shut down, and to bring it back toward steady. This line of work grew out of body-oriented trauma treatment in the 1970s and 1980s and is now used widely alongside talk therapy.

How does Femme Health use somatic therapy?

Care starts with a personal intake that asks how stress shows up in your body, not just in your thoughts. From there, your therapist weaves body-based work into a plan that fits your season of life.

In clinician-led virtual groups, you practice grounding and breath together, which can be steadying when a week has been overwhelming. Many women find it easier to slow down when others are doing it alongside them.

With your primary therapist, you'll pair body awareness with skills from CBT or DBT, so a physical wave of anxiety becomes something you can notice and work with instead of something that takes over. Your care advocate helps with scheduling, costs and next steps.