Why Somatic Therapy and Not Traditional Talk Therapy anymore?

A Search for Answers

For the last 20 years, I have been searching for answers—answers for myself, for my own healing, and for the questions I had about others I encountered or heard about. I wanted to understand everything about human suffering and, more importantly, how to overcome it. Why do some people heal while others remain stuck? My search took me to many places, but one place I never looked much was in traditional psychology. Instead, I was always drawn to a felt-sense orientation, an internal knowing that guided me. I didn’t choose paths based on cognitive logic or what would advance me in an ego-driven way. I followed my internal map, drawn to what felt exciting and alive.

Throughout this journey, I explored different modalities, always gravitating toward those that engaged the body as well as the mind. I realized that deep healing wasn’t about analyzing or intellectualizing experiences—it was about feeling, sensing, and embodying change. I was searching for something beyond words, beyond traditional frameworks, and I found it in somatic therapy.

The Power of Somatic Work

Fast forward to 2025, and I am deeply immersed in somatic work—so deeply that I cannot do anything else anymore. Nothing else makes sense. Somatic therapy has opened an incredible door, not just for me but for the clients who embrace it. I often hear them say: I don’t know what this is, but I want more of it. I feel better, and I know it’s making a difference, even if I can’t fully describe it.

That’s the power of somatic work—it’s a felt experience, an inner knowing. When sessions slow down, when we drop the narrative and tune into the body, something profound happens. Instead of getting lost in the endless loops of retelling a story, we work with what is here, now—what is showing up in the body. A subtle shift in breath, a tightening in the chest, a release of tension—these are the moments where transformation begins. The body holds memories, patterns, and survival strategies that have been in place for years, decades, and through somatic work, we can start to renegotiate them in a way that goes beyond words.

Learning to Shift States

Many clients, for the first time in their lives, learn how to shift states. Instead of spiraling into a deep depression or a state of immobility where others can’t reach them, they begin to recognize this place as it emerges. They sense the edge of collapse before fully falling into it. And for the first time, they realize they have a choice: Do I want to go back there, or do I want to stay?

This moment of awareness is profound. Some clients, after developing enough capacity, can say: I’m getting tired, heavy. I’m nearing my edge. Let’s not go there. I don’t want to anymore. I want to build something different, to occupy a space that is more open, more daring.

This is where real empowerment happens. It’s no longer about being overwhelmed by emotions or getting stuck in repetitive cycles. Instead, clients start to feel agency over their own inner world. They begin to cultivate resilience—learning not just how to survive, but how to truly live in a way that feels expansive and open.

A Path to Deep Transformation

With this capacity, we can explore and renegotiate so much—moving along a client’s timeline, working with their stored experiences in ways that create deep transformation. This work is a goldmine. Once people have reference points for their own patterns, once they understand their own mechanical makeup, life becomes different. States can be changed. Patterns that were once purely survival-based become options rather than defaults.

Clients who once felt trapped in old cycles start to experience themselves differently. They gain the ability to hold discomfort without shutting down, to stay present in moments where they would normally dissociate or numb out. This is not about forcing change but about gently expanding what is possible. As capacity builds, we can work with deeper material, gently unraveling the layers of stored survival responses, past traumas, and deeply ingrained habits. And with each step, clients gain more access to choice, vitality, and aliveness.

The Wisdom of the Body

I have never seen this level of depth in traditional talk therapy. And I have been to many therapists over the years. I remain in awe of our body’s capacity to hold it all—everything from our personal experiences to generational memories. The body is truly an incredible organism, and through somatic therapy, we get to tap into more and more of its wisdom.

Our nervous system is designed to protect us, and it has been shaping our responses to the world since before we were even born. By working somatically, we get to listen to this system, to understand its language, and to create change at a level that is deeper than cognition. The body knows how to heal when given the right conditions, and through somatic therapy, we create a space where those conditions can emerge.