Somatic Therapy
Somatic therapy is a highly effective and well-researched methodology in psychotherapy.
- post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD)
- grief
- anxiety
- depression
- relationship stress
- chronic pain
Bonnie has years of advanced training and decades of experience using the somatic approach for healing complex trauma and other mental health conditions.
Bonnie has completed her advanced certificate as a Somatic Experiencing Practitioner©.
As a skilled somatic therapist, Bonnie provides this approach either in-person in her Carmel, California office or to clients within California through secure videoconferencing (HIPAA compliant Zoom platform).
What is Somatic Experiencing© Therapy?
Somatic therapy includes yet goes beyond the verbal descriptions of the client’s difficult symptoms and painful experiences. The therapy begins with a discussion about the client’s symptoms, worries, and goals, as well as important aspects of medical and personal history.
As the process goes deeper within each session, Bonnie carefully guides clients with prompts that can include movement, breathing exercises, or visualizations.
Somatic therapists allow clients time to notice, share, and re-process their inner responses including sensations, thoughts, emotions, and possible recollections that arise.
The therapist’s cues are offered in the spirit of gentle curiosity and deep support, to help bring about a truly integrated experience of healing and re-connection within the client.
Somatic Therapy for Trauma and Anxiety
Current research demonstrates improved success using somatic therapy for PTSD compared to other methods studied.
The reason PTSD is called “post-traumatic stress” signifies that the trauma is in the past, but the “stress” is remaining in the body’s nervous system.
That is to say, the body doesn’t “know” that the trauma is over, and the body remains in a “survival” response in the present, triggering debilitating symptoms.
These symptoms can cause mild, moderate, or severe distress, unhappiness, anxiety, and depression, as well as flashbacks, nightmares, insomnia, and other serious impairments.
Unresolved trauma can be traced to a wide variety of stressors including:
- Accidents, near death experiences
- Medical procedures
- Chronic illness, chronic pain
- Emotional abuse or neglect (attachment trauma)
- Sexual or physical assault, bullying or shaming
- War and natural disasters
- Birth trauma
- Racialized trauma
- Gender-identity trauma
- Chronic Anxiety
- Depression
- Addictions
- Grief
Bonnie offers somatic therapy for these and other concerns of modern life. She works with clients at a pace that helps them build resiliency as they unwind the toxic and debilitating effects of their trauma histories.
The theory behind somatic therapy lies in an understanding of the function of the autonomic nervous system (ANS). We might think of “autonomic” aspect as being “automatic”, that is, we don’t have to think about it, it just does what it does to keep us safe. The ANS is essential for our survival, and is responsible for regulating the ‘fight-or-flight response’ when we are facing threats. Though the ANS is essential for our survival, this response can become overactive and chronic when our traumatic experiences are unresolved, leading to the nervous system becoming chronically or easily dysregulated. For most people, this can feel like anxiety, or extreme reactivity, or panic.
One of the most important goals of somatic therapy is to help the nervous system to settle, helping the unpleasant and often disturbing or frightening symptoms of PTSD to diminish and unwind. When symptoms are relieved through actual reprocessing of the traumatic activation of the ANS, clients gain more space in their lives, helping them to better manage their difficult symptoms of anxiety.
All of the “traumas” listed above, when untreated or unresolved, commonly lead to feelings of anxiety. Anxiety is often considered the “epidemic” of our current society.
Sometimes, somatic therapy is best used in conjunction with qualified psychiatric care. Anxiety can be a crippling, debilitating experience, and somatic therapy or talk therapy alone may not provide enough support. These concerns would be considered based on the client’s individual needs and history.
That said, somatic therapy can be extremely useful in helping clients to understand, navigate, manage and process their own body’s “anxiety” response
How to Find a Somatic Therapist
When looking for the right somatic therapist, you need to consider several factors including experience, training, and finding a therapist you can personally connect with.
Ideally, your somatic therapist should have training in treating the specific condition you need addressed on top of direct training using somatic therapy techniques.
If you are looking for an experienced somatic therapist in Monterey, Bonnie offers in-person somatic therapy at her office location. Additionally, telehealth video appointments are available for clients within California who are unable to do in-person sessions.
As a trauma-informed, somatic therapy specialist, Bonnie helps her clients to understand how the trauma response operates within their own unique bodies and experiences, and provides them a way to work through these impacts.
Each client’s treatment journey is unique depending upon their own goals and histories, and Bonnie always takes an individualized, personal approach for each client.
In addition to years of advanced training and practice in trauma treatment, Bonnie is scheduled to complete her certification in the internationally recognized therapeutic method of somatic therapy in 2023.
Bonnie believes in the innate healing potential of each of us. Through various activities within sessions, and practices that clients can do on their own between sessions, Bonnie works with clients at a pace that helps them build resiliency as they unwind the toxic and debilitating effects of their trauma histories.
If you are interested in whether Somatic Therapy might be the right approach for your unique needs, please fill out the contact form below and/or call the office line today.