SOMATIC EXPERIENCING
Sometimes, understanding what’s happening isn’t enough
You can know exactly why you react the way you do and still find yourself doing the same ole thing.
Somatic Experiencing is a body-based approach that gives us another way in. We slow down and pay attention to what’s happening beneath the story: sensations, impulses, patterns, and the ways your body has learned to respond to what happens around you.
Some of those responses may still be serving you. Others may be getting in your way. Our work together slows things down enough to discover what else is possible and restore access to choice in places where your body may have learned there wasn’t any.
When knowing better doesn’t cut it …
You understand yourself incredibly well, but certain reactions still seem to happen before you have much choice in the matter.
You get activated quickly or become easily overwhelmed. Or you go the other direction: you shut down, disconnect, go blank, or disappear from yourself.
You’re exceptionally good at staying composed, being strong, managing what needs to be managed, and keeping difficult feelings at a distance.
You’ve done meaningful work in therapy. You understand your patterns, where they came from, and why they make sense. And still, in the moment, your body reacts before you have much say in the matter.
You’re moving through a period of change or intensity and noticing that your body is responding more strongly than you expected.
Or there’s an experience that still feels unfinished somehow. A birth. A medical experience. An accident. A loss. Something frightening or overwhelming that may be over, but that your body still seems to be responding to.
You don’t need to have experienced a major trauma to benefit from Somatic Experiencing.
We start with what’s happening now
Our work is primarily grounded in the present: what you’re feeling, what your body is doing, what happens when we stay with something for a moment, and what might become possible if you don’t have to respond in the same old way.
Sometimes earlier experiences become relevant because they continue to shape what’s happening now. But we don’t need to go searching through your past to do meaningful work.
The work is gentle and collaborative. We pay attention to what happens as it happens, follow what your body is showing us, and work at a pace that allows something new to become possible without forcing it.
Somatic Experiencing + Therapy
Somatic Experiencing can stand on its own or complement ongoing therapy.
My work focuses primarily on present-day capacity and integration. When significant unresolved trauma becomes central and requires treatment beyond the scope of our work, I may recommend collaborating with or referring to a therapist or other clinician who specializes in that area.
For Therapists + Clinicians
I welcome referrals for clients looking for adjunctive Somatic Experiencing work and am happy to collaborate with you as part of their broader support team.
I also offer individual Somatic Experiencing sessions for therapists and other clinicians who want a space to experience the work themselves. Whether you’re curious about SE, looking for support around the demands of clinical work, or simply want a place where you get to be the person being held for a change, you’re welcome here.
How we work together
There’s no one right container for this work. How often we meet and how long we work together depends on what you want to explore and what we discover along the way.
Sessions are 50 minutes and may be weekly or every other week depending on what we’re working with. We can meet virtually or, for clients in the Bay Area, in person at a local studio in Marin.
Most sessions are conversational and experiential, working with sensation, movement, impulse, and what we notice happening in the moment. Depending on what we’re working with, in-person sessions may also include touch work when appropriate and mutually agreed upon.
We’ll talk about what makes sense for you when we meet.