Somatic Therapy in Vancouver
Therapy for anxiety, trauma, overwhelm, and nervous system dysregulation.
Somatic Therapy can help if you’re feeling:
Constantly “on edge” or unable to relax
Anxiety living in your body, even when your mind wants to calm down
Emotionally overwhelmed or shut down
Stuck in fight, flight, freeze, or survival mode
Disconnected from your body or emotions
Tension, exhaustion, or stress that never fully goes away
Triggered by experiences that feel difficult to explain
Like talking about your experiences alone hasn’t fully helped
What is Somatic Therapy?
Somatic therapy is a gentle, trauma-informed counselling approach that recognizes that our experiences, especially stress, overwhelm, and trauma, are not only held in the mind, but also in the body and nervous system. Sometimes we can understand our experiences intellectually, yet still feel anxious, disconnected, emotionally reactive, or stuck. Somatic therapy helps bridge that gap by bringing awareness to your physical sensations, nervous system responses, and emotional experiences in a safe and supportive way.
At Viva Counselling, we work to better understand how your body responds to stress, emotions, and past experiences. Through counselling techniques such as grounding, breathwork, mindfulness, and body awareness, you can begin to recognize signs of tension, shutdown, overwhelm, or dysregulation before they take over. Through counselling, somatic therapy can help you feel more connected to yourself, more emotionally balanced, and more capable of moving through difficult experiences with greater ease and resilience.
Somatic therapy can be especially supportive for those navigating anxiety, trauma, relationship challenges, burnout, grief, fertility struggles, pregnancy and postpartum experiences, or anyone feeling disconnected from themselves. Counselling sessions are always collaborative and paced gently, helping you build a greater sense of safety, regulation, and trust within your body and mind.
Areas of Focus for Humanistic Therapy include Trauma, PTSD & Childhood Wounding, Pregnancy Loss & Grief, Fertility Challenges, Postpartum Support, Prenatal Support, Eating Disorders, Parenthood Support, Youth & Teen Counselling, Anxiety, Depression & Self-Esteem Support.
Stages of Somatic Therapy
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At the beginning of each counselling session, whether online or in person, our counsellors will ensure you feel safe to ensure that your sessions are contained and effective.
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Your somatic therapist will first talk with you about your goals for therapy and what you hope to work through with your somatic sessions. If you’re interested, your therapist will also offer psycho-education so you understand the methods and the “why” behind them to help you achieve your goals.
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Your somatic therapist will first work with you to help your body release stored trauma, focusing on your posture, movement, and nervous system activation.
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After bringing more awareness to your physical experience, together with your therapist, you’ll investigate the underlying causes of your trauma, anxiety, or relationship troubles and how to better manage the physical, emotional, and cognitive expressions of your experience.
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After working through your initial concerns, you and your therapist will revisit your goals for therapy and determine the best course of action for ongoing therapeutic care.
How Can Viva Counselling Help?
Have you ever felt that traditional talk therapy can feel frustrating or limiting, especially when you understand your experiences intellectually but still feel emotionally stuck or overwhelmed?
Viva Counselling offers a somatic approach that helps you reconnect with your body, process stored trauma, and move toward a greater sense of emotional safety and balance. Rather than focusing only on your thoughts and emotions, this counselling approach also works with the nervous system and physical sensations to support deeper, lasting healing.
Together, we may incorporate body-based techniques, mindfulness practices, and somatic awareness to help you build coping tools, strengthen your connection with yourself, and foster resilience throughout your healing journey, always at a pace that feels supportive and comfortable for you.
YOUR QUESTIONS ABOUT THERAPY, ANSWERED
Frequently Asked Questions about Somatic Therapy
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Yes! Somatic therapy approaches have a growing evidence base, especially for trauma, attachment, anxiety, stress-related conditions, and nervous system regulation. There is especially strong evidence for body awareness and nervous system regulation in trauma therapy.
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Somatic therapy includes conversation like traditional talk therapy, but it also pays close attention to what’s happening in the body and nervous system during the session.
In traditional talk therapy, the focus is often on thoughts, emotions, insight, patterns, relationships, and verbal processing. Somatic therapy adds another layer by exploring physical sensations, nervous system responses, felt sense and body awareness.
An example of somatic therapy is instead of only discussing anxiety cognitively, Viva counselling can help you notice where anxiety shows up physically, what happens in your body when difficult emotions arise, how your nervous system moves into fight, flight, freeze, or shutdown states, and what helps your body feel more regulated and grounded.
The goal of somatic therapy is not just insight, but also helping the body experience greater safety, regulation, and connection.
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No, you do not need to have experienced major trauma to benefit from somatic therapy. While somatic therapy is often associated with trauma work, many people seek it for:
anxiety and chronic stress
burnout or overwhelm
difficulty relaxing or “shutting off”
chronic tension or nervous system dysregulation
feeling disconnected from themselves
perfectionism or high-functioning stress
improving self-awareness and grounding
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No. You do not need to share painful memories in detail for somatic therapy to be effective. Therapy sessions are guided at a pace that feels manageable and collaborative. Somatic therapy often focuses on present-moment experiences, body awareness, and nervous system regulation rather than repeatedly retelling difficult events.
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Yes, somatic therapy can be just as effective in online therapy as it is in person. Many body-based and nervous system regulation practices work well virtually, including grounding, breath awareness, mindfulness, and tracking physical sensations. Sessions are tailored to help you feel safe, comfortable, and supported in an online setting.
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The length of somatic therapy really depends on each person’s goals, needs, and experiences. Some clients come for short-term support around stress or anxiety, while others engage in longer-term work related to trauma, emotional patterns, or nervous system regulation. At Viva Counselling therapy is paced collaboratively and tailored to what feels supportive and sustainable for you.
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Absolutely. Many people begin somatic therapy feeling disconnected from their bodies, unsure what they’re “supposed” to notice, or worried they won’t do it correctly. Somatic therapy is not about being naturally body-aware or physically expressive. It’s a gradual process of building awareness and curiosity at a pace that feels manageable and supportive.
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Yes! Many clients find somatic therapy helpful for anxiety and panic as it supports nervous system regulation and increased awareness of how stress and emotions are experienced physically. Clients often learn grounding and body-based tools to help reduce overwhelm, build regulation skills, and feel more connected and supported in their daily lives.
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Yes. Somatic therapy is a very safe and effective therapy for trauma survivors. At Viva Counselling, somatic therapy is grounded in a trauma-informed, collaborative approach. Sessions are paced carefully, with attention to safety, nervous system regulation, and helping clients work within a manageable level of emotional activation rather than becoming overwhelmed or dysregulated.