Somatic Therapy in Edmonton

Working with the felt sense, the nervous system, and the body’s wisdom

Somatic therapy is a body-based approach to healing that recognizes something simple and profound: your body has been with you through everything—every loss, every fear, every moment you braced, shut down, or pushed through. It doesn’t just remember these experiences cognitively; it carries them in tension, posture, breath, and sensation.

Somatic therapy helps you gently reconnect with your body’s signals so you can process emotion, regulate your nervous system, and find a deeper sense of safety and ease from the inside out.

What Is Somatic Therapy?

Somatic therapy focuses on the felt sense—the physical, sensory experience of your inner world. Rather than working only “from the neck up,” we include the body as an active ally in healing.

In somatic therapy, we might:

• notice where tension or numbness shows up in your body

• track how your nervous system responds to stress or safety

• use breath, movement, or grounding to help your system regulate

• explore how emotions feel physically (tightness, warmth, pressure, expansion)

• support the completion of stuck fight, flight, or freeze responses

This “bottom-up” approach works directly with the nervous system and subcortical brain regions where trauma, stress, and survival patterns are stored.

Why Work with the Body?

Experiences like grief, anxiety, depression, and trauma don’t stay only as memories. They show up as:

• tight shoulders and jaw

• shallow breathing

• gut knots or heaviness in the chest

• chronic fatigue or restlessness

• feeling wired, numb, or shut down

These are nervous system responses, not personal failures.

Somatic therapy helps you:

• understand your body’s stress and protection patterns

• complete survival responses that once got “stuck”

• gently unwind old, embodied habits of bracing or collapsing

• build new patterns of regulation, safety, and calm

Instead of fighting your body, you learn to listen to it—and partner with it.

Polyvagal-Informed Somatic Work

My somatic work is informed by Polyvagal Theory, which describes three primary nervous system states:

• Ventral vagal (safety & connection) – grounded, present, open

• Sympathetic (fight or flight) – activated, mobilized, on alert

• Dorsal vagal (freeze or shutdown) – collapsed, numb, disconnected

All of these states are adaptive at the right time. Problems arise when we get stuck in chronic fight/flight or freeze.

Somatic therapy supports you in:

• recognizing which state you’re in

• widening your window of tolerance

• learning body-based tools to move toward safety and connection

We work with, not against, your nervous system.

What Somatic Therapy May Include

Sessions are collaborative and paced with care. We might work with:

• Body awareness & grounding
  Noticing sensations, posture, and contact with the ground; simple adjustments that support presence.

• Self-soothing touch
  Hand on heart, holding your own arms, or other gentle touch to signal safety to the nervous system.

• Breath and nervous system regulation
  Soft, accessible breath practices (like gentle belly breathing or extended exhales) to support regulation.

• Gentle movement & release
  Swaying, stretching, micro-movements, or therapeutic tremoring to help discharge stored activation.

• Tracking glimmers of safety
  Noticing small moments of ease, warmth, or softness in the body as anchors for healing.

You are always in control of the pace. We go slowly enough for your system to stay within (or near) your window of tolerance.

Somatic Therapy & Trauma, Grief, and Stress

Somatic therapy can be especially helpful if you’re dealing with:

• trauma or PTSD (single-incident or complex)

• chronic stress or burnout

• grief and loss

• anxiety or panic

• dissociation, numbness, or feeling “far away” from yourself

• difficulty sensing or expressing emotions

By working directly with the body and nervous system, we address the root patterns that talking alone often can’t reach.

My Somatic Therapy Approach in Edmonton

In my practice, somatic therapy is woven together with:

• Polyvagal-informed nervous system work

• AEDP and attachment-based approaches

• Depth and narrative therapy

• Parts work and trauma-informed care

• Gentle, relational, and consent-centred pacing

My intention is to create a space where your body is not judged, pushed, or overridden—but listened to, honoured, and supported.

Is Somatic Therapy Right for You?

Somatic therapy may be a good fit if you:

• feel “stuck in your head” and want to reconnect with your body

• notice physical symptoms tied to stress or emotions

• have tried talk therapy and want a more embodied approach

• feel overwhelmed, numb, or dysregulated and want tools to ground

• are curious about nervous system work and Polyvagal-informed healing

If this resonates, you’re welcome to reach out and explore somatic therapy with me in Edmonton. Together, we can gently reconnect you with the wisdom of your body and support your system in finding more safety, resilience, and ease.