Somatic Therapy is an umbrella term for a wide range of somatic modalities for the body.

This can include, but is not limited to:

Sensorimotor Psychotherapy

• Sensorimotor psychotherapy is body-based talk therapy, integrating current findings from neuroscience to transform traumatic memories into strengths and resources for the client.

• It works with developmental trauma, such as maternal lack of attunement, as well as acute or gross trauma like sexual abuse, violence, or verbal abuse.

• Sensorimotor therapists work on mindfulness and collaboration with the client, repeatedly asking permission to do each experiment or process along the way.

Internal Family Systems (IFS)

• The Internal Family Systems Model is an integrative approach to individual psychotherapy developed by Richard C. Schwartz in the 1980s.

• It combines systems thinking with the view that the mind is made up of relatively discrete subpersonalities, each with its own unique viewpoint and qualities.

• Listen to an informal IFS session here.

AEDP

• Accelerated experiential dynamic psychotherapy (AEDP) is a form of talk therapy that aims to help people overcome trauma, loss, or other serious emotional challenges.

• Drawing on attachment theory, body-focused approaches, and other related disciplines, AEDP posits that humans are wired for resilience and have an inborn ability to cope with emotional pain; however, many people who have undergone trauma are unable to access the skills that would allow them to navigate these emotional challenges.

• AEDP aims to help clients uncover and draw on these innate coping mechanisms to manage their trauma and move toward flourishing.

Somatic Experiencing

• Somatic experiencing is a form of alternative therapy aimed at treating trauma and stressor-related disorders like PTSD.

• The primary goal of SE is to modify the trauma-related stress response through bottom-up processing.

EMDR

• A structured therapy that encourages the patient to briefly focus on the trauma memory while simultaneously experiencing bilateral stimulation (typically eye movements), which is associated with a reduction in the vividness and emotion associated with the trauma memories.
  

Brainspotting

• Brainspotting locates points in the client’s visual field that help to access unprocessed trauma in the subcortical brain.

• Brainspotting (BSP) was discovered in 2003 by David Grand, Ph.D. Over 13,000 therapists have been trained in BSP (52 internationally), in the United States, South America, Europe, the Middle East, Asia, Australia and Africa. Dr. Grand discovered that "Where you look affects how you feel." It is the brain activity, especially in the subcortical brain that organizes itself around that eye position.