How I work
Somatic therapy in Orange County and across California
Your body often reacts before your mind can put words to what's happening. Somatic work means paying attention to those physical signals – not just talking about what's going on, but noticing how it shows up in your body.
Somatic work
Your body holds onto more than your mind always catches. Stress, anxiety, and old patterns don't just live in your thoughts – they show up as a tight chest, a clenched jaw, shallow breathing, a body that's braced before you even know why. Sometimes that response comes from trauma, and just as often, it's simply how you learned to move through the world. Somatic work means learning to notice those signals as they happen, not just talking about what's going on.
In session, that means I'll sometimes slow us down and ask what you're noticing physically. Where the tightness sits. Whether it has a shape. What happens if we stay with it for a few breaths. We use grounding and breath to help your nervous system settle, and we build your sense of what "settled" even feels like, which for a lot of people is unfamiliar territory.
We take it slow. Connecting with the body can feel difficult when past trauma lingers, so you set the pace and stay in control throughout the session.
Who tends to find this helpful
Somatic work can be a good fit if you:
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Feel like you understand your patterns intellectually but still can't shift them.
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Notice physical tension – a tight chest, clenched jaw, shallow breathing – that doesn't seem to go away.
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Feel disconnected from your body, or numb.
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Find it hard to relax, even when nothing is actively wrong.
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Have a history of trauma but don't want to retell it.
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Want to build a felt sense of calm and connection to your body.
Common questions
- Who is somatic therapy good for?
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Anyone, really – we all carry stress in our bodies in some way. It can be especially helpful for people who've experienced trauma, since trauma tends to get stored physically – showing up as constant alertness, ongoing tension, or feeling numb or shut off.
- What is a somatic therapy session like?
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We usually start with whatever is still present with you from the week. I'll ask what you notice in your body, and where. If a sensation feels too big or overwhelming, we slow down and focus on just one small part of it – instead of trying to take in everything at once.
- Does somatic therapy work over video?
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Yes, the work is about your attention on your own body, not about being in the same room. Being at home also means you can get comfortable in whatever way works for your body, keep a blanket nearby, and move if that's what you need. The one thing that matters is having a private space where you won't be interrupted.
- Do I need to be good at meditation or body awareness?
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No. Most people start with very little sense of what's happening in their body. That awareness is something the work builds, not something it requires.
- What if it brings up too much?
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Then we stop and come back to the ground. Titration – working in small amounts, with room to settle in between – is a core part of how the work is done.