Somatic Therapy (Body Centered)

Body centered therapy, also known as somatic psychotherapy, includes a variety of approaches to mental health that emphasize the importance of the mind/body connection. Integrating traditional talk therapy with practices that use the body as a healing resource, body centered therapy may include activities like stretching, breath exercises, tai chi, dance, yoga, massage, and relaxation techniques. Body centered therapy can be effective for a wide range of issues including anxiety, body image problems, eating disorders, stress, trauma, abuse, chronic pain, physical illness, terminal disease or disability.

Local experts in Somatic Therapy (Body Centered)

Sarah Howeth (she/her)

Marriage and Family Therapist Associate

M.A. in Marriage, Couple and Family Therapy

Present-moment experience, like thoughts, body sensations, feelings, memories, etc., is explored to elucidate “core material” (unconscious ways of being in the world), and transform it, often through mindful experiments.

View Profile
Arrival Counseling annie dolle LCSW (she/her/hers)

Licensed Clinical Social Worker

LCSW

As a student of Hakomi and AEDP I am focused on the most gentle, effective, and powerful tools for self awareness and choice. I believe that we can attune to our bodies, minds, emotions, moods, memories, beliefs, and spirit to move towards greater inner peace and joy. Carefully attuned body awareness is an effective tool in driving this process. This background makes me an excellent choice for integration therapy.

View Profile
Brittany England

Licensed Marriage Family Therapist

MA in Counseling

My Mind-Body approach that is rooted in somatic based interventions, meridian tapping techniques (FasterEFT & EFT), NLP, mindfulness and neuroscience. This approach allows us to work with the subconscious mind which is where your internal operating system lives. We will work together to help you tune into your somatic (body/physical) experience to help you gain more awareness of your internal experience. This holistic approach invites in the possibility for deeper healing and transformation.

View Profile
Jeanell Innerarity (She/Her)

Professional Counselor

MA, QMHP-C, HTS, LMT

As a bodyworker with over twenty years of somatic experience, everything I do is rooted in the intelligence and wisdom of the body. I utilize Processwork methods of exploring body symptoms and chronic pains and illnesses as part of your life path, uncovering the wisdom and insight contained within your body experience.

View Profile
Kristine Zappa (she/they)

Licensed Professional Counselor

MA, LPC, R-DMT

My MA is in Somatic Counseling with a concentration in both Body Psychotherapy and Dance/Movement Therapy from Naropa University. Additionally, I am a Registered Dance/Movement Therapist (R-DMT) through the American Dance Therapy Association (ADTA).

View Profile
Allison Batty-Capps (she/her)

Licensed Marriage Family Therapist

MA, LMFT

I am trained in mind/body therapy, yoga, internal family systems, and mindfulness practices which neuroscience research has shown is effective in treating depression, trauma, and anxiety.

View Profile
E.K. Frey (she / they)

Licensed Professional Counselor

Foundations in Somatic Abolitionism, with Resmaa Menakem and Carlin Quinn (January - December 2021) Ongoing group work (2021 - present).

View Profile
Cornelia Taubmann (she/her)

Hypnotherapist

PgDip

In my practice, I use Somatic Experiencing and other body-focused approaches like EMDR because of their effectiveness in dealing with trauma.

View Profile
Quinn Rivenburgh (they/them)

Art Therapist

MAAT, ATR-BC, LAT, LPCC

Somatic Experiencing Therapy is a trauma-healing technique focused on the body. Because of the way that traumatic memories are stores in our brains and nervous systems, it is often not effective to merely talk about the trauma. This is because trauma reactions get "stuck" in the nervous system. Somatic Experiencing Therapy uses body-based tools to help mitigate and resolve trauma responses, in order to restore resilience and ease to a person's daily lived experience.

View Profile
Vlasi Vlahosotiros (he/him/his)

Somatic Practitioner

BBTRS®

In the Western World, there is a dominant myth that the mind and body are separate. I specialize in breaking down that myth, integrating the mind and body for the treatment of anxiety, pain, depression, and a myriad of other conditions/motivations. I am a certified BioDynamic Breathwork & Trauma Release (BBTRS®) practitioner and have completed 260+ hours of training through the BBTRS® Institute. My approach is centered around mindful, compassionate somatic awareness.

View Profile
Trish Nicholson (she/her)

Professional Counselor Associate

Board-certified (NCC)

View Profile
Lolo Haha (he/him)

Somatic Practitioner

M.A., Diploma of Process Work

I am trained in Process Work, which uses somatic awareness practices to work with body symptoms, nighttime dreams, relational difficulties, vision for the world, and more. Through embodiment of that which attracts or disturbs us, we can often gain insights that can bring new ways of being and living our lives more fully. Embodiment can allow for a more rapid integration of these learnings.

View Profile
Jennie Towne

Licensed Professional Counselor

MEd, MS, LPC

As a Hakomi graduate, I utilize Hakomi principles and techniques in my work.

View Profile
Marcy Irene Jenks (she/they)

Licensed Professional Counselor

MS, RN, LPC, LMHC

"Soma" is the Greek word meaning "living body". Too often we are disconnected from our body's wisdoms and might ignore the wealth of insight and understanding the body has for our lives. Somatic approaches to therapy involve exploring and including the body's experiences in each session, understanding that our bodies, even when in pain or discomfort, can be a resource and ally towards living a fulfilling life.

View Profile
Jessica Besner (she/they)

Licensed Professional Counselor

LPC, M.S.

Studied somatic methods during my training, including Trauma-Sensitive Yoga for Complex PTSD. Attended body-centered conferences in early training. Currently completing Somatic Attachment Therapy Certificate and hold a certificate in Integrative Somatic Trauma Treatment, both from the Embody Lab.

View Profile
Carolyn Knutson LPC, LMT (she/her)

Licensed Professional Counselor

Somatic Experiencing-- This type of therapy views the body as a source of wisdom and a path to healing and self-awareness. It uses mindfulness as a way to study present experience, the holding patterns in our physical form, and the core beliefs that shape us. When we are aware of our patterns, it frees us to live more full, authentic lives. This approach is non-pathological and recognizes that people are always seeking wholeness.

View Profile
Alicia Banister

Professional Counselor Associate

My background is in somatic-oriented therapies, including Craniosacral therapy, massage, and therapeutic yoga. Much of my practice involves integrating the body into your lived experience, through movement, experience, and nervous system regulation.

View Profile
Margaret McNeal (she/her)

Professional Counselor Associate

MA

The body is an essential aspect of our self and wellbeing. Modern science echoes the wisdom held in many ancient traditions that the body is integral to our psychology, that psyche and soma are not separate. Somatic work can powerfully reveal and heal hidden aspects of our experience through exploration of movement, posture, and symptoms. Somatic work is also a useful complement to trauma work and IFS/"parts work" that helps facilitate regulation and expansion of the self.

View Profile
Katrina Clark (she/her)

Licensed Clinical Social Worker

MSW, LCSW

I integrate body-based processes and techniques to help you release nervous system stress, blocked emotions and stored traumas in your body.

View Profile
Peter Addy (he/him)

Licensed Professional Counselor

PhD, LPC, LMHC

As a therapist with expertise in somatic therapy, I am trained in body-based approaches to healing. I emphasize the mind-body connection and help clients release stored tension and trauma through the wisdom of the body. With specialized training, I support clients in their healing journey using somatic techniques that address the interconnectedness of body, mind, and emotions.

View Profile
Kelsey Huber (they/them)

Professional Counselor Associate

LPC-A

View Profile
Nova (Stephenie) Knutson (she/her)

Professional Counselor Associate

MA, CHT

Somatic therapies operate on the principle that body and mind are co-arising and co-influencing and that attending to the body is integral to the healing process. Untended emotional challenges often manifest in physical pain and dis-ease. As a certified Hakomi Therapist I have specialized training and over 16 years of experience in counseling with a somatic/body centered orientation.

View Profile
Dr. Sarah Kendrick (she/her)

Professional Counselor Associate

PMH-C, CCTS

I could have spent my whole life talking about trauma instead of moving it through. As a student who stumbled into the field, I was its biggest critic. I wanted evidence that the body mattered. In my most profound relationships now as client or healer, we don't talk a lot & the evidence is right there in the ability to process & release pain without analysis paralysis. I lead folx to learn from their own body how stress shapes the way they walk the world & they let it lead them toward freedom

View Profile
Kellie Supriano (she/her)

Licensed Professional Counselor

LPC

View Profile
Jane Flanagan (they/them)

Professional Counselor Associate

Master of Clinical Mental Health Counseling

View Profile
Marley Dagner (she/her)

Licensed Professional Counselor

MA, NCC

The brain, nervous system, emotions, and physical experiences are an integral part of our human experience. Somatic-based and focused therapeutic interventions can provide great insight and regulation to a variety of life's struggles; which can lead to an impactful recovery, growth, and healing for many folks.

View Profile
Monica Maragos (she/her)

Marriage and Family Therapist Associate

MA, MFTA

View Profile
Haley Bosco Doyle (she/her)

Marriage and Family Therapist Associate

M.A.

View Profile
MereAnn Reid

Licensed Professional Counselor

Registered Play Therapist, Certified Adoption Therapist

Our bodies & nervous systems are our best tools to navigate the world around us. A felt sense of safety, connection, and manageable stress are based on input from the environment, internal sensations, and relationships. These inform the skills & resources we draw on to navigate challenge, meet new experiences, and handle big feelings. When we (or our kids) don't have the skills we need, we do the best we can; therapy helps build new tools, expanding felt safety & resilience internally.

View Profile
Caitlin Keitel (she/her)

Professional Counselor

M.A. Process Oriented Facilitation

Our bodies have an incredible capacity to hold experiences as sensory-grounded memories. By consciously following the signals and symptoms of our bodies, we can find much greater awareness and healing than we can with our thinking minds alone.

View Profile
lisa anne ross (she/her)

Professional Counselor

Core Energetics explores the intersection of body, mind, and spirit using embodiment practices to bring consciousness to the flow and constrictions of energy in our body, mind, and emotions. I’ll guide you in applying awareness and movement to unwind the physical and energetic armor that formed as we developed from childhood into adulthood, leading to an authentic self unbound by insecurities.

View Profile
Shay Larken

Licensed Professional Counselor

MA, LPC

View Profile
Melinda Norman (She/Her)

Licensed Professional Counselor

I blend a mixture of energy work with my training in PSIP (psychedelic somatic interactional psychotherapy---which can be done non medicated) to assist clients in releasing stored trauma from their body.

View Profile
Camillia de la Garza Thompson (she/her)

Licensed Professional Counselor

MA, LPC, CMA

My ability to explore the body-mind interface is supported by years studying dance movement therapies, a degree in movement analysis from the Laban Institute of Movement Studies in New York City, training in Hakomi and other modalities. I am also a self-proclaimed interpersonal neurobiology geek and love bringing this psychoeducation into my work :)

View Profile
Anjuli Shah-Johnson (She/Her)

Licensed Clinical Social Worker

LCSW, LMT

Dually licensed as a clinical social worker and a massage therapist, I have continued training with Kathy Kain in a modality called Somatic Regulation and Resilience completing certification for using this modality in the treatment of developmental trauma. I have also worked with Carol Gray with a focus on integrating craniosacral work as a means of releasing emotions and patterns that are no longer serving us from the body.

View Profile
Holly Wigmore (she/her)

Professional Counselor Associate

MS, NCC

Embodied practices that move beyond talk therapy are vital to how I help clients move towards healing trauma. Our bodies hold trauma and also hold the keys to our healing. Through somatic interventions, we will get creative in how we can use your own innate resilience to connect with your core self and move toward the best version of you available.

View Profile
Jen Yerty (She/They)

Licensed Professional Counselor

LPC, CADC I

I have training in somatic and mindfulness techniques pioneered by Bessel van der Kolk and Peter Levine. I have specifi training in Somatic Experiencing for trauma processing.

View Profile
Portland Therapy Project

Licensed Professional Counselor

All clinician and supervisors work through the lens of somatic therapy. We believe understanding our whole self starts with holding space for all the emotions and experience of the body.

View Profile
Pearl Waldorf

Licensed Professional Counselor

The body holds the story of our lives in the present moment. We can work here and now to heal the wounds which thwart satisfaction in our lives. Through deep listening we learn to attend to the wisdom deep in implicit memory system and to sort what's past from what's actually happening right now.

View Profile
Amelia Mackle MSEd LPC RYT

Licensed Professional Counselor

My perspective is that the mind and the body cannot be seperated if we are to feel like we are wholly living. I use a variety of breathing techniques, yoga, body sensing and physical health approaches to bring the mind and body to healing together.

View Profile
Misha Drlikova

Licensed Clinical Social Worker

LCSW

Body centered therapy emphasizes the importance of the mind/body connection. Often, we forget to simply “be” present in our bodies. By tuning into our body, we can learn how to inhabit the full spectrum of our human experience and let our body be an ally to our journey of healing, by simply listening to its wisdom.

View Profile
Julianna Vermeys

Licensed Professional Counselor

LPC, NCC

Each of us has the potential to be fully present by utilizing the vast communication potential of the body. I am highly skilled at utilizing the awareness of the sensation in one's body to guide a richer understanding of one's emotions, reactions and experience during therapy.

View Profile
Hayden Collier

Licensed Professional Counselor

LPC, CADC-I

View Profile
Candice Guertin (She/Her)

Marriage and Family Therapist Associate

MFT Registered Associate

I believe the mind and body need to be integrated for healing to occur. In addition to being a therapist, I am a certified yoga instructor and have received training in mindfulness, meditation, and breathwork. I creates a safe space for clients to explore and be their authentic selves. Clients appreciate my warmth, understanding and ability to foster a space of non-judgement. “Balance in the body is the foundation for balance in life” B.K.S

View Profile
Terra Anderson (they/them)

Professional Counselor Associate

MA, R-DMT

My guess is that when it comes to sex and intimacy, you'd like to actually feel progress, not just talk about it. Right? My approach to therapy inherently includes your body as a gateway to knowing yourself and your needs on a deeper level. In our work together I will help you track your felt experience by way of your breath, sensation, and movement to create shifts on an embodied level.

View Profile
Christine Finucane (She/her/hers)

Licensed Clinical Social Worker

LCSW, SUDP, LICSW, SEP

Similar to mindfulness, Somatic therapy, also known as Somatic Experiencing, is a body focused approach to healing. Research has shown that unresolved trauma is energy that is stored in our body. Learning to befriend our bodies and to notice when we are caught in a traumatic reaction in our nervous system such as fight, flight, freeze is the first step to healing. Please see my website for more information.

View Profile
Jessica Barnese

Licensed Professional Counselor

What we have experienced in our lives creates patterns of responses that we often catch ourselves falling into, but don't always know how to get out of. These patterns are held in our nervous system as different forms of thinking and feeling, both in our emotions and as physiological responses in our bodies. In my practice, I address the way the mind, emotions, and body are interconnected to help my clients unwind these patterned responses and have more freedom and choice in their lives.

View Profile
Caitlin Truitt (she/her/hers)

Clinical Social Work Associate

MSW, LSWAIC

Traumatic experiences are not processed like other memories. The brain does not assign a "time stamp" to trauma memories like it does to other past experiences, which causes our bodies to operate as if that trauma is still happening. This causes our nervous systems to go haywire and wreaks havoc on our bodies. Somatic approaches, like polyvagal theory, heal trauma by helping us find safety in our bodies, retraining our nervous systems to realize that we are no longer constantly in danger.

View Profile
Lesley Smith (they/she)

Licensed Clinical Social Worker

LCSW

I believe that our bodies hold so much information and need to be involved in the practice. I am being trained in Somatic Experiencing (currently Beginning Level 2 trained). To learn more about Somatic Experiencing check out - https://traumahealing.org/

View Profile
Rebecca Garetz (she/her)

Licensed Professional Counselor

LPC, LMHC, CYT

I am a trauma informed certified yoga teacher and therapist (500 hours). Yoga is a great addition to talk therapy. The body holds emotions and trauma that sometimes our brains haven't even processed or consciously aware of. Working with the body can calm the nervous system and teach us about safety, boundaries, and connection.

View Profile
Danielle Davis (they/she)

Professional Counselor Associate

View Profile
Emily Ardent (she/they)

Professional Counselor Associate

MS, NCC, LPC intern

View Profile
Courtney Burns

Licensed Clinical Social Worker

I am certified in The Trauma Conscious Yoga method (TCYM). Incorporating this somatic modality into session can look a number of different ways; to exploring where a particular emotion is “landing” in the body, to engaging in breath work as well as postures that can be helpful in learning to regulate your central nervous system.

View Profile
Bonnie Singman (She/her)

Professional Counselor

LPC, PSEP

Somatic (Body) Psychotherapy treats the whole person, integrating body, mind, emotions, and spirit, enabling you to do deeper more meaningful work in less time with more lasting results. I work with the breath, movement, inner body sensations/awareness, and access the right-brain through symbolism, intuition, & imagery. Somatic Experiencing® teaches you to track and attune to your nervous system to regulate, release trauma, empower, and attend to needs and nervous system states effectively.

View Profile
James Reling (he/him/his)

Licensed Professional Counselor

#C7430

Trauma (from big events to the accumulation of smaller invalidating experiences) is stored in the body, as is resilience and the potential for healing. By learning how to listen to and follow your body's cues, you can heal in ways that may be less accessible to traditional talk therapy. I am currently in a three-year training to become a Somatic Experiencing Practioner.

View Profile
Jenni Goldstein (she/her)

Licensed Professional Counselor

MA, LPC

Hakomi and other modalities I work with work very directly with the body. This might include tracking the body through mindfulness, movement/gestures, or consensual therapeutic touch in service to self-study. The body is also utilized for processing traumatic memories that are stuck in the nervous system.

View Profile
Erika Nelson (she/her)

Licensed Clinical Social Worker

LCSW

Connecting the mind, body and spirit can be essential in the healing and growth process. I utilize many somatic approaches in order to support better integration of the change we are trying to create. This can look very different and is individualized for the person and situation.

View Profile
Ayala Parker (she/they)

Marriage and Family Therapist Associate

MA, LMFT-A

View Profile
Miranda York

Licensed Marriage Family Therapist

I use mindfulness to guide you to understand your body's natural impulses that may have been suppressed due to shock traumas, relational traumas, or social conditioning. These natural impulses can help us understand the adaptive actions we need to take in life that flow naturally from our emotions.

View Profile
Bethany Ingram (she/her)

Licensed Clinical Social Worker

LCSW

We must learn to truly feel our emotions rather than "thinking about feeling them". Our emotions live in the body, and I encourage connection to the body in order to get to know ourselves and move through the emotional pain we experience. Our body, especially our nervous system, can teach us about what we need to feel safe and find connection with ourselves and others. I teach my clients to "befriend their nervous system" to learn how to respond to triggers and increase safety.

View Profile
Ivy Katz (she/her)

Licensed Professional Counselor

LPC

In a somatic approach, the information the body conveys is welcomed. Together we pay close attention to the messages your body is sending. Somatic approaches to therapy understand the ways our bodies digest experiences and utilize this understanding to inform the healing process. A somatic orientation to therapy integrates healing at an embodied level often allowing for progress and changes to happen more sustainably.

View Profile
Marc•francis Otto (they/them)

Licensed Professional Counselor

MA, LPC, RSMT/E

Somatic refers to the lived experience of the body. Not just having a body, but living in a body. As all our patterns are grounded in our body, we won't just talk about what's going on. Instead, we'll attend to how your body has uniquely adapted to your life. We'll focus on sensations, feelings, and movements in helping you find your greater wholeness.

View Profile
Emma Stern (she/her/hers)

Professional Counselor Associate

R7893

Somatic psychotherapy integrates body-based inquiry and mindfulness into traditional talk therapy. Much of our subconscious emotional experience manifests as physical tension and holding patterns. “Feelings” are literally physical manifestations of the brain and nervous system’s response to emotional stimuli. Through developing a cognitive understanding of the mind-body connection, we find manageable ways to face challenges and cultivate deeper compassion for ourselves and others.

View Profile
Skyhook Counseling Center

Professional Counselor Associate

PSYD, LPC, LCSW, Professional Counselor Associate

View Profile
Lauren Saville (She/They)

Licensed Professional Counselor

C5949

View Profile
Erica Ochsenreither (she/her)

Professional Counselor Associate

MA, ATR-P

View Profile
Bex Mertulien (They/Them)

Professional Counselor Associate

Registered Associate R7909

I have utilized somatic therapy for the last 5 years both through my own personal experience as well as throughout my graduate education. I incorporate principles from Interpersonal Neurobiology as well as concepts learned from my undergradute education in the field of Neurobiology. I intertwine treatment techniques from sensorimotor therapy to ground the body as we explore or engage with trauma, anxiety, dissociation/depersonalization and other issues.

View Profile
Riva Stoudt

Licensed Professional Counselor

View Profile
Grace Carter (She/Her)

Professional Counselor Associate

A modality grounded in the mind-body connection, somatic psychotherapy is the largest branch of somatic psychology. Contemporary practitioners of somatic therapy believe that viewing the mind and body as one entity is essential to the therapeutic process. This mind/body entity will move toward healing and growth of its own accord, given the right environment, and interpersonal interactions, when conducted in a safe and respectful manner, can positively impact and help regulate the mind/body.

View Profile
Stuart Malkin

Licensed Professional Counselor

MS, LPC

Drawing on mindfulness-based, somatic training in Hakomi, Recreation of Self (RC-S), I use the body as a way to access emotions, sensations, imagery, memories that may related to a way a client experiences their body and their therapeutic goals.

View Profile
Karin Pfeiffer-Robinson (she/her)

Professional Counselor Associate

M.A., NCC

Our bodies hold so much wisdom. And yet, many of us have learned how to disconnect from them as a way to avoid feeling our pain and other intense emotions. It is possible to rebuild your connection, gradually and safely, with the feelings your body holds. I often weave together somatic therapy with parts work, informed by Internal Family Systems therapy, and find that this helps clients access their experience in deep, meaningful ways.

View Profile
Shannon Rice (she/her)

Licensed Professional Counselor

MA

I have 3 years of training in Somatic Experiencing, a world-renowned trauma-informed therapeutic modality. This includes acute PTSD, as well as sexual, complex, relational, or developmental trauma. You will learn how trauma works and how to regulate yourself when triggered to feel more empowered in yourself and in the world. My goal is to help you feel more "at home" in your body and learn how to trust your internal cues.

View Profile
Ally Simone (she/her)

Licensed Marriage Family Therapist

LMFT T2066

View Profile
Andrew Conner (He/Him/His)

Marriage and Family Therapist Associate

MA

I am a certified teacher of The Realization Process, an embodied path to spiritual awakening, personal growth, and healing created by Judith Blackstone.

View Profile
Jennifer Stratton (She/Her/Hers)

Licensed Professional Counselor

LPC

View Profile
Johanna Rayman (she/her)

Licensed Clinical Social Worker

LCSW, GCFP

Our bodies are involved in everything we do, all of our thoughts & emotions. It can be powerful to slow down enough to hear what your body is trying to tell you. Sometimes words can't convey the depth of our experience, but mindful attention to physical experience can open up new awareness and self-compassion. I am trained in Sensorimotor Psychotherapy and the Feldenkrais Method(R). I am also influenced by ideas from Interpersonal Neurobiology, Internal Family Systems, and Authentic Movement.

View Profile