About Somatic Therapy
Somatic therapy in New York ; but what is somatic therapy?
"Somatic" derives from the Greek word 'soma' meaning body. In touch and talk therapy the body is included in the talk aspect of traditional therapy. In this work the body, mind, emotions and sense of spirit are inseparable so all are addressed - the body is the starting point rather than the thinking mind in order to get us out of our heads and in tune with what you are experiencing. Instead of talking about an emotion, we resource the experience of that emotion and engage it directly. Instead talking about issues, we engage with them in the body and in the present.
What Is Somatic Therapy?
Somatic therapy brings the body into the therapy room. Rather than treating the mind as separate from the body, this approach recognizes that our physical sensations, nervous system responses, and emotional patterns are deeply interconnected. While many therapies focus primarily on thoughts and stories, somatic therapy also includes the body’s story: its habits, cues, and protective strategies.
This work is grounded in the understanding that neuroplasticity, the brain’s ability to form new pathways, happens through lived experience. By engaging the body directly, somatic therapy supports lasting change and integration at the level of both mind and nervous system.
Tuning In and Body-Centered
Somatic therapy begins with interoception—the ability to notice and track internal sensations. This might include sensing your breath, feeling your heartbeat, noticing temperature shifts, or becoming aware of muscle tension or ease. Interoception is how we tune into the felt experience of the body, and it forms the foundation of somatic work.
As we connect to these internal signals, we begin to relate to ourselves in a new way—one that is curious, attuned, and rooted in the present moment. Interoception invites us to listen to the body as a source of information rather than something to control or override. This deepening relationship with our inner world creates the conditions for healing, insight, and trust in our own experience.
Noticing and Naming
As we begin to listen inward, we open the door to a quieter kind of knowing—one that differs from the thinking mind we’re used to. Somatic therapy invites us to notice the body’s subtle language and to listen closely to the parts that begin to emerge.
But awareness alone isn’t the end of the road—it’s an opening. Naming what we feel gives shape to sensation and allows us to stay near the experience without getting overwhelmed by it. We might describe what’s present as warm, tight, hollow, dense, sharp, or still. Using sensory language helps us track what’s unfolding in real time without needing to analyze or interpret. This simple act of naming re-engages the prefrontal cortex, gently bringing the thinking brain back online while staying grounded in the body.
We can also move beyond the literal. The body often speaks in symbol, image, and gesture. You might sense “a fog curling in my throat,” “a humming wire across my chest,” or “a stone held behind my eyes.” These metaphors aren’t just poetic—they’re bridges. They help us translate the internal world into something we can relate to with curiosity, creativity, and care. Hand gestures, small movements, and shifts in posture offer another layer of embodied storytelling, allowing the body to speak in its own vocabulary.
This process isn’t about getting it right. It’s about widening the ways you understand yourself—from the inside out.
Resourcing And Safety in Somatic Therapy
Resourcing is the practice of anchoring into what feels supportive, steady, or life-giving. In somatic therapy, we don’t just focus on what’s hard—we also make space for what brings strength, calm, or connection. These moments may be quiet or subtle, but they matter. They remind the nervous system that safety is possible, even in the midst of challenge.
Resources can take many forms: a person who makes you feel seen, a place where you’ve felt at ease, a memory that brings warmth, or even a part of your body that feels neutral or settled. Sometimes a color, sound, or rhythm can act as a resource. What matters is that the experience creates a felt shift—however small—toward greater stability.
We build this capacity not by forcing safety, but by noticing where it already exists. When we pause to feel what’s working or what feels okay right now, we strengthen our system’s ability to stay connected during more intense emotional work. Over time, resourcing becomes a way to come home to yourself—a reliable inner refuge you can return to again and again.
Titration
Healing doesn't require us to relive everything. In fact, the body often needs us to move slowly. Titration is the practice of approaching overwhelming or traumatic material in small, digestible pieces—just enough to touch in, feel what’s there, and then return to a sense of safety or ease.
This pacing is what helps us stay present. It prevents flooding and allows the nervous system to integrate what’s rising, rather than shutting down or pushing through. In somatic therapy, we might notice a constriction in the chest or a wave of fear, then pendulate back to a grounding resource. This back-and-forth teaches the body that it can tolerate intensity without becoming overwhelmed.
Titration builds capacity over time. It’s less about “getting through it” and more about learning how to stay with yourself—gently, bravely, and with increasing trust.
Dialogue, Thoughts and Feelings
As we deepen into somatic awareness, certain sensations begin to feel familiar—like old patterns that have something to say. What starts as tightness in the belly or a clench in the jaw may carry an emotion, a belief, or a story. In somatic therapy, we learn to engage with these patterns not as problems to fix, but as parts of ourselves worth listening to.
Dialogue is the practice of being in relationship with what arises. Rather than interpreting or overriding a sensation, we get curious. What might this part be trying to express? How long has it been here? What does it need from you now?
We might use words, inner imagery, or simply sit with a sensation as if it were a character in the room. Sometimes a gesture, breath, or tone of voice helps the part feel met. This kind of contact can create profound shifts—not because we force anything to change, but because we offer recognition. When parts feel seen, they often soften.
In some cases, this process allows for something even deeper: the chance to reconcile with what was once too overwhelming to process. The body may complete a response that was interrupted—like expressing anger that had to be suppressed, or softening after years of tension held in defense. These moments of resolution often bring a sense of inner clarity, relief, or restoration.
Dialogue with the body is not about control. It's about connection, consent, and the willingness to listen with presence and care. In that listening, completion becomes possible.
The Role of Touch in Somatic Therapy
In some forms of somatic therapy, touch is thoughtfully included as part of the healing process. When offered with clear consent, attunement, and intention, touch can support regulation, connection, and a sense of being met in a way that words alone sometimes cannot.
Touch can help bring awareness to areas of the body that feel frozen, numb, or over-activated. It may assist in grounding, softening tension, or offering a steadying presence to parts of the system that have learned to brace. At its best, therapeutic touch offers a kind of co-regulation—an invitation to feel held, accompanied, and supported in a way that the nervous system can receive.
Touch is never required in somatic therapy, and it is always used with full transparency and respect for your boundaries. Whether through physical contact or attuned presence, the goal remains the same: to help the body feel safe enough to remember itself and to begin trusting connection again.
Integration
The end of a somatic session isn’t just a stopping point—it’s a time to gather what emerged, make meaning of it, and begin weaving it into your everyday awareness. As we shift out of exploration and into reflection, we give the body and mind space to integrate what was felt, discovered, or released.
This is where lasting change begins to take root. We might notice how a new felt state—a sense of relief, steadiness, or openness—relates to old patterns or ways of being. We begin to track: What feels different now? What did I learn about myself? What do I want to carry forward?
By closing in this way, we help the nervous system register the shift as real and safe. It becomes part of your inner map—something you can return to, remember, and build on. Integration is the beginning of new wiring, where insight becomes embodied and healing becomes sustainable.
Somatic Therapy in NYC
Finding body-centered healing in New York City means finding a practitioner who understands both the science of the nervous system and the art of being present with what emerges. At Somatic Therapy NYC, Andria Lea brings over 15 years of experience to her practice, offering a sanctuary in the heart of Manhattan where the body's wisdom can unfold safely. Located at 244 5th Avenue in Midtown, her approach weaves together touch and talk, integrating Sensorimotor Art Therapy, bilateral movement, and Parts Dialogue to support lasting change.
Whether you're navigating trauma, seeking relief from chronic stress, or looking to deepen your relationship with yourself, this work offers a path that honors both your story and your body's innate capacity for healing. For those who can't make it to the office, virtual sessions bring the same depth of somatic support directly to your space, making body-based therapy accessible wherever you are in the city—or beyond.
So where did this come from?
It's many things blended together in order to combine touch and talk therapies in a meaningful way.
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Gestalt Talk Therapy
Gestalt talk therapy, which is based on the gestalt (whole) of client's present experience. Often times role playing is used in the present to revisit and heal past events. This talk therapy also focuses on Non-Judgmental self awareness and on the client-therapist relationship. Isn't of talking About being a sad child for example, you are encouraged to BE that sad child.
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Alexander Technique
Alexander technique, an educational way to move through and past harmful tensions in the body during day to day activities and reconnect ourselves to sensory amnesia we may have created through stressful and dysfusntional holding patterns.
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Feldenkrais Method
Feldenkrais method, a system designed to promote bodily and mental well-being by conscious analysis of neuromuscular activity via movements that improve flexibility and coordination and increase ease and range of motion.
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Dr. Bessel Van Der Kolk
Bessel van der Kolk is a psychiatrist, author, researcher and educator in the area of post-traumatic stress. In the past 3 decades, we have learned an enormous amount about neuropathways and interpersonal attachment systems. Dr. van der Kolk's work is focused on integrating therapy with science, and the mind body connection.
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The Polyvagal SystemNew List Item
Dr. Stephen Porges’ research of the 3 major branches of the nervous system and how to work with each of them to return our bodies to homeostasis. Dr. Porges studies of the nervous system also teaches us how trauma responses are living in the body and with that understanding how to disrupt and reconcile trauma responses such as shut down, fight or flight and people please.
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Sensorimotor Art Therapy
We instantly respond to safety and threat with our body. Sensorimotor Art Therapy® encourages the awareness of such implicit felt sense experiences; it fosters the expression of these body sensations to enable clients to actively respond to otherwise often overwhelming or inexplicable events. Drawing in rhythmic repetition, or the physical encounter with the resistant clay engages the motor cortex; and simultaneously it stimulates increasingly satisfying sensory feedback.