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 Somatic Therapy include Trauma, PTSD & Childhood Wounding, Pregnancy Loss & Grief, Fertility Challenges, Postpartum Support, Prenatal Support, Eating Disorders, Anxiety, Depression & Self-Esteem Support.
