Trauma—Informed Somatic Therapy
Healing Through Mind-Body Connection
Somatic therapy is a holistic, body-based approach to trauma healing, working with the nervous system, stored emotions, and body memory to cultivate sustainable transformation for the whole self.
Soma, in the Greek, means body.
But it is not just the body as a physical part of us—it is the felt, lived experience of being in a body. It is the body as a doorway to the unconscious, the bridge between the seen and unseen, the vessel through which we experience the world.
Somatics is the practice of coming home to ourselves through the body. When we engage with the soma, we are not just working with muscles and movement;
we are working with memory, with energy, with the nervous system’s deeply ingrained patterns of survival and safety.
We are working with the stories we have inherited and the ones we are still writing. It is not about controlling, fixing, or forcing—it is about listening. It is about reclaiming the wisdom stored in our cells, the stories etched into our fascia, the emotions that pulse beneath the surface.
Why Somatic Therapy?
Trauma is not just a memory—it is an experience stored in the body.
Trauma does not only exist as a past event—it is an ongoing experience that lingers in the nervous system. Even when the mind tries to move on, the body remembers. This is because trauma is stored not just in thoughts, but in muscles, fascia, breath patterns, posture, and even the way we process sensory information.
Because trauma is stored beneath conscious awareness, it cannot always be resolved by talking alone. The body needs to be included in the healing process. For many, traditional talk therapy provides insight and understanding, but deep healing requires working with the body, where trauma is held and expressed. Somatic therapy meets trauma where it lives: in the nervous system, in the tissues, in the unconscious holding patterns that shape how we move, breathe, and relate to the world.
How Does Somatic Therapy
Heal Trauma?
Somatic therapy works at the root level of trauma, helping the body process and release what has been trapped inside.
Regulation: Teaching the nervous system how to shift out of survival states and into a felt sense of safety.
Release: Allowing the body to complete unfinished stress responses through movement, breath, and body awareness.
Reconnection: Restoring a sense of embodiment, agency, and presence—helping you feel safe in your own skin again.
Rather than overriding or suppressing symptoms, somatic therapy creates a compassionate space for the body to communicate what it has been holding. It is an approach that honors the wisdom of the body, working with it rather than against it, to restore balance and wholeness.
Benefits of Trauma-Informed Somatic Therapy
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If you often feel on edge, anxious, or emotionally shut down, it’s not just in your mind—it’s your nervous system trying to keep you safe. When we experience overwhelming stress or trauma, our body shifts into survival mode, activating fight, flight, freeze, or fawn responses to cope. The problem is that for many people, these responses don’t fully resolve, leaving the nervous system stuck in a constant state of hypervigilance or shutdown.
If you feel chronically anxious, overwhelmed, or emotionally shut down, it may be because your body still believes it’s in danger. The nervous system hasn’t yet received the signal that it’s safe to relax.
Somatic therapy helps retrain your nervous system to move out of survival mode and into regulation. This means teaching your body how to recognize safety, process stored stress responses, and return to a balanced state more easily.
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Trauma isn’t just something that happened in the past—it’s something your body is still carrying in the present. Even if you don’t consciously think about it, your body remembers. It holds onto unprocessed emotions, stress responses, and survival patterns, manifesting in ways that may feel frustrating, confusing, or even debilitating.
These sensations aren’t random—they are stored survival responses, the body's way of holding onto what was once overwhelming or unsafe to process. The good news is, your body also knows how to release, heal, and let go—when given the right support.
Somatic therapy doesn’t force the body to let go—it creates the conditions for release to happen naturally and safely. Instead of talking about your experiences, you work with your body to process what has been trapped inside.
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Trauma often creates a deep disconnection from the body, leaving you feeling as though you are watching your life from a distance rather than fully living it.
This disconnection isn’t a flaw—it’s a protective response that the nervous system develops when the body doesn’t feel safe. If your system has learned that being in your body means experiencing pain, fear, or overwhelm, it may default to disconnecting as a survival mechanism.
Somatic therapy works by gently guiding you back into connection with your body in a way that feels safe and supportive. It’s not about forcing yourself to feel—it’s about learning how to listen to your body without fear, judgment, or overwhelm.
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Your nervous system is constantly scanning for cues of safety or danger, even if you’re not consciously aware of it. When you experience stress or trauma, your body may become stuck in a heightened state, leading to chronic anxiety, emotional reactivity, or a sense of shutdown and numbness.
Somatic therapy works directly with the nervous system to gently retrain it to recognize safety, process past experiences, and respond to stress in a more regulated way.
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Trauma can leave us feeling disconnected, powerless, or at odds with our own bodies. It can make emotions feel overwhelming, physical sensations feel unsafe, and self-trust feel impossible. Somatic therapy helps you in restoring a felt sense of safety, rebuilding body trust, and reclaiming your voice and agency.
What Makes This Approach
Trauma-Informed?
Somatic therapy isn’t just about movement or breathwork—it’s about creating a safe, attuned, and body-led healing process that honors the nervous system’s natural rhythm. A trauma-informed approach means working with the body, not against it, ensuring that healing happens in a way that feels safe, supportive, and empowering.
Safety-first healing: Your body’s boundaries are honored, ensuring that healing happens gradually and never overwhelms the nervous system.
Consent and collaboration: You are always in control of your process—your choices, limits, and comfort levels are respected at every step.
A nervous-system-based approach: Trauma impacts the body first, often causing dysregulation—hyperarousal (fight/flight) or hypoarousal (freeze/shutdown). Somatic therapy helps you identify where your nervous system is stuck and teaches practical tools to return to balance.
Bridging mind and body: While traditional talk therapy focuses on thoughts and emotions, somatic therapy integrates body-based healing, helping you process stored trauma and regulate your system in real-time.
By working with both awareness and sensation, this approach allows for a deep, embodied transformation—one that doesn’t just shift how you think about trauma but changes how you feel, move, and experience the world. Healing happens at the pace of safety, creating space for trust, regulation, and connection to unfold naturally.
Testimonial; In Their Own Words
Since working together I have more access to the somatic experiences that arrive alongside my feelings, thoughts, and internal and external disruptions to my days. Taren revealed ways I can honor my experiences while also not inviting them to overtake/overwhelm me. My experience with Taren has profoundly transformed my journey towards healing and self-integration, and I am deeply grateful for her compassionate and insightful guidance. — Anna S.
Sessions can support you in navigating:
Complex and developmental trauma
Disordered eating responses
Anxiety
Insecure attachment dynamics
Body image distortions or dysmorphia
Sessions are informed by a range of methods and guiding principles:
Transpersonal Psychology
Attachment Theory
Grief
Depression
Chronic nervous system dysregulation
ACES — Adverse Childhood Experiences
PTSD and CPTSD
Abuse - psychological, sexual, physical
Shamanism
Meditation and Mindfulness
LGBTQ+ Affirming
Somatic Parts Work (IFS)
Testimonial; In Their Own Words
Taren emits a pure magnetism that you can’t help but be drawn to. And if you are, my guess is it’s because there’s something there for you to discover together. The divine masculine and feminine energies are beautifully woven within her presence. She has an intuitive ability to know when to offer a more nurturing, protective presence and when to lovingly nudge you past your comfort zone - both harmoniously helping you to stretch a little more and step into a more expanded version of yourself. Taren’s gentle ferocity is both an inspiration and a mirror - guiding you back to yourself in a way that leaves you feeling empowered and supported. I can’t imagine anyone else I’d rather have in my corner as I navigate the ebbs and flows of life. — Christina
Single Session
or Double Session
Price: $155 single / $300 double
Double Sessions are for initial connection and to see if this work is for you.
3-Month Container
Price: $976 ($155/session with 10% discount)
Includes: 7 sessions
This package is designed to help us start the healing process, giving us ample time to begin building resources, trust and adaptability in your system.
6-Month Container
Price: $1713 ($155/session with %15 discount)
Includes: 13 sessions
Because this work is relationally oriented, a longer package allows more safety to be built between us and thus deeper healing work to take place.
If we agree on a payment plan, payments may be made in monthly installments. Final Payment must be made before final session. Payment plans require a $25.00 processing fee per payment.
Curious About Somatic Therapy?
If you’re interested in exploring somatic therapy or have any questions, I’d love to connect. Feel free to reach out using the form on the right—I’m here to support you on your journey.
FAQ’s about
Trauma-Informed Somatic Therapy
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Traditional therapy focuses on thoughts, emotions, and gaining insight, which can be incredibly supportive for self-awareness, cognitive processing, and emotional healing. That said, stress, overwhelm, and life experiences aren’t just processed in the mind—they are felt and held in the body.
Somatic therapy works directly with the nervous system and body memory, addressing not only trauma but also chronic stress, emotional patterns, and unconscious tension stored over time. It recognizes that our posture, breath, and muscle tension often mirror our internal state, shaping how we move through the world.
Rather than just talking about emotions or experiences, somatic therapy helps you physically process and shift them in real-time—whether that means learning to release tension, regulate your stress response, or reconnect with a sense of ease and presence. By integrating both mind and body, somatic therapy creates deeper, lasting changes in how you manage stress, relate to yourself, and engage with life.
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Each session is tailored to your needs and may include a combination of:
Guided body awareness to help you reconnect with sensations and emotions, tuning into how stress, trauma, or tension show up physically.
Breathwork techniques to support nervous system regulation, stress relief, and the release of stored emotional energy.
Gentle movement and somatic exercises to release tension, restore balance, and improve the mind-body connection.
Mindful exploration of patterns stored in the body, helping you shift emotional and physical blockages that may be impacting your well-being.
Exploration of the unconscious—many stored experiences, emotional patterns, and survival responses are held beneath conscious awareness. Somatic therapy helps you access and process these deeper layers through body-based inquiry, active imagination, and felt-sense awareness, allowing for insights and healing beyond traditional talk therapy.
Unlike traditional talk therapy, somatic therapy engages the entire body-mind system, helping you develop greater emotional resilience, relaxation, and self-awareness in daily life.
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Absolutely! Online somatic therapy sessions are highly effective and offer the flexibility to practice in the comfort of your own space, which can be incredibly supportive. Online sessions use active imagination, guided movement, and nervous system regulation techniques to help you connect with your body, process emotions, and integrate healing at your own pace. Many people find that remote sessions create a sense of safety, allowing them to fully engage with the process without the stress of travel or office settings. Whether in person or online, somatic therapy helps you build long-term resilience, emotional balance, and a deeper sense of embodiment.
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Somatic therapy is an integrated approach that includes both verbal processing and body-based techniques, depending on your needs. Unlike traditional talk therapy, which focuses primarily on cognition and emotions, somatic therapy works directly with the nervous system, body memory, and physiological responses to stress.
Yes, there is talking – Sessions often include guided reflection, discussion of emotions and experiences, and verbal check-ins to help you process what arises. The difference is that rather than staying in the analytical mind, we bring awareness back to how emotions are felt in the body.
And yes, there is body-based work – Somatic therapy incorporates breathwork, movement, guided body awareness, and nervous system regulation to support healing beyond words.
You’re always in control – Some sessions may feel more conversational, while others may focus more on body awareness and somatic exercises, depending on what feels right for you.
Somatic therapy bridges mind and body, allowing you to engage in both verbal exploration and embodied healing, so you can process emotions, release tension, and feel more connected to yourself in a way that lasts.