Somatic therapy and mindfulness-based therapy are distinct approaches that work with the body and present-moment experience. Mindfulness strengthens your ability to notice thoughts, emotions, sensations, and reactions as they occur. Somatic methods use that awareness to work directly with physical and nervous-system responses. Together, they turn awareness into a way of changing how pain and emotions are processed.
Mindfulness makes it possible to notice difficult thoughts and feelings without being overwhelmed by them or reacting automatically. Somatic work brings physical and nervous-system responses into the mix. Working with thoughts, emotions, sensations, and physical responses changes how the brain and nervous system process distress. This interrupts automatic reactivity and gives you greater control over how you respond.
When these responses change, distress does not take over as quickly or completely. Trauma and physical pain become less overwhelming when you can remain present and regulate your response. Anxiety and depression become less intense and exert less and less control over your life. Chronic stress becomes easier to recover from as your nervous system becomes more regulated. When we’re more present, we get the chance to live more fully and become more active participants in our own lives.
My work draws from somatic and mindfulness-based approaches, each chosen for a specific role. I combine them according to what the work requires.
Sensorimotor-Informed Work
Examines bodily patterns as they occur, including posture and impulse, so they can be recognized and worked with directly.
Somatic Experiencing-Informed Work
Follows sensation and stress responses to increase the nervous system’s capacity to move through distress without becoming overwhelmed.
Polyvagal-Informed Work
Provides a framework for understanding how the nervous system responds to threat and safety, and what supports regulation.
MBCT & MBSR
Mindfulness-Based Cognitive Therapy and Mindfulness-Based Stress Reduction provide structured ways of using mindfulness in therapy. MBCT-informed work changes how mental patterns that intensify depression and emotional distress are recognized and related to. MBSR-informed work strengthens the ability to live well with chronic stress and physical pain.
Classical Contemplative Foundations
Include Vipassana, Samatha, and Metta. Vipassana develops the capacity to observe inner experience without becoming lost in it. Samatha develops the capacity to steady and calm the mind through sustained attention. Metta develops the capacity to meet experience with loving-kindness and compassion.
The Pathway to Self method is not based on a single protocol, and it does not repeat the same exercise every week. It moves through a clear progression: regulation and stability, deeper processing, then integration and reconnection. Stability is the essential first step to working through the rest of your concerns and difficulties. Somatic and mindfulness approaches are used throughout each stage.
To actively process what you’ve been experiencing and struggling to work through, mindfulness and somatic processes become part of the therapy itself. Through the present-moment, embodied awareness you build in therapy, you will be able to notice your emotions, thoughts, or reactions before they become overwhelming.
Mindfulness and somatic work allow you to ease the overwhelm if it does occur. With practice, attention and awareness give you ways to regulate your emotions directly. That’s also what makes these approaches so important for processing painful memories. They provide the stability needed for processing while also directly engaging in the processing itself.
Therapy is meant to help you outside the session, not just when we meet. The skills you’ll gain in therapy will be available when you need them in your day-to-day life. You’ll be able to enjoy your relationships and connections with others more. Goals and obligations will be easier to work towards. Therapy gives you the chance to reclaim the life that you want to build, a life that is well worth living.