Can somatic therapy help with anxiety and depression?

Yes, somatic therapy can be effective in addressing symptoms of anxiety and depression by helping individuals process emotions and release physical tension.

Is somatic therapy suitable for everyone?

Somatic therapy can benefit many individuals, but it's important to consult with a therapist to determine if it's the right approach for your needs.

How is somatic therapy different from traditional therapy?

Somatic therapy emphasizes the physical experience of emotions and aims to address both the mind and body's response to stress and trauma.

Are your therapists licensed?

Somatic Therapy is an alternative therapeutic approach that focuses on the embodied experience of the individual. The mind and body are not treated separately but as one process. I encourage you to explore more, in my practice we used touch and body guided verbal interventions to guide clients into themselves for discovery and healing. If you have any specific questions please feel welcome to message me directly.

What should I expect during my first session?

During your first session, we will discuss your goals and any concerns you have, and begin to explore somatic techniques that may benefit you.

Do you accept insurance?

Please contact us directly to discuss insurance options and payment plans.

How can I book an appointment?

Appointments can be booked through our website at somatictherapybrooklyn.com or by calling us at +1 347-658-4923.

What services do you offer at Somatic Therapy NYC?

We offer a range of services including individual therapy sessions, group therapy, and workshops focused on somatic healing techniques

About

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Okay, 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 explore all aspects of you. Instead talking about an emotion, we find the emotion and engage it directly.

So where did this come from?

It's many things blended together in order to combine touch and talk therapies in a meaningful way.

Featured

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.

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.

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.

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.

The Polyvagal System

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.

Somatic Therapy also incorporates the Polyvagal Theory by Dr Stephen Porges, the connection of the automatic nervous system and behavior.

So now you have the facts and some links below if you still are unsure.

Somatic Therapy is based upon many things. Gestalt talk therapy, The Alexander Technique , Feldenkrais and The Rubenfeld Synergy Method.

Somatic Therapy also includes the Polyvagal Theory by Dr Stephen Porges, a pioneer in neuroscience and psycho-physiology.

Touch provides its own language of compassion, a language that is essential to what it means to be human.

In recent years, a wave of studies has documented some incredible emotional and physical health benefits that come from touch. This research is suggesting that touch is truly fundamental to human communication, bonding, and health. - New York Times

“Most psychologists treat the mind as disembodied, a phenomenon with little or no connection to the physical body. Conversely, physicians treat the body with no regard to the mind or the emotions. But the body and mind are not separate, and we cannot treat one without the other.”

— - Candace Pert PHD

By incorporating talk with touch

the client becomes an active participant in the process. As clients notice what is happening in their bodies, guided by gentle touch, they are invited to express their experience verbally. - Shelly Meurer and Theresa Pettersen-Chu

“The choices we make in day-to-day life are prompted by impulses lodged deep within the nervous system… Self-awareness sets us free. The great thing, then, in all education, is to make our nervous system our ally instead of our enemy”

— The New York Times

My first years in practice revealed that there was a huge emotional component to symptoms, especially pain

Toni Luisa D.C.

“The degree to which the person with chronic pain feels received, heard, and accepted may be a significant factor, for often as patients, they feel that their bodies have betrayed or failed them, or that they are constantly at war with the enemy body.”

— Pamela M. Pettinati, M.D., M.P.H., Ph.D.