Somatic Psychotherapy · Online Across California
After years of being in relationships, work, or life situations that asked you to disconnect from yourself, your body is still holding that story. Tightness in your chest. Numbness in your limbs. A persistent sense that something's not right - but you can't quite name it.
Somatic therapy brings your body back into the conversation. We listen to what it's been trying to tell you all along.
Talk therapy is powerful for understanding your story. But our nervous systems don't only live in words - they live in sensation, breath, movement, and the way we hold ourselves in the world. Somatic work adds another layer. It helps your body feel safer, notice what it's been holding, and find its own information about what comes next.
Who I Work With
Tension that won't release. Breathing that feels shallow. A sense that your nervous system is always braced for something bad. Somatic work helps your body learn that it's safe to settle.
You know intellectually what you should feel, but your body feels numb or empty. Somatic awareness helps you reconnect with what's actually alive in you.
Betrayal, abuse, abandonment - these leave imprints in the nervous system. Body-centered work helps you metabolize what happened and find safety again.
For many ADHD and autistic adults - especially those who experience overwhelm, shutdown, sensory sensitivity, or difficulty naming internal states - the body offers a more direct doorway in. Somatic grounding gives your nervous system something concrete to work with.
Understanding the Approach
Somatic therapy is based on a simple understanding: you can't separate the mind from the body. They're one system. Your nervous system holds memories, stress, and patterns in your physical being - not just in your thoughts.
When something difficult happens, your body learns protective strategies. It tightens. It numbs. It braces. Over time, these become habitual. Your body stays in a state of vigilance even when the danger has passed.
Somatic work gently invites your nervous system to notice what it's holding, understand why, and begin to loosen it. We work with breath, awareness of sensation, gentle movement, and grounding - so your body can find its way back toward safety.
Before I became a therapist, I spent 17 years as an acupuncturist. Nearly two decades of working with bodies every day taught me how stress, emotion, and old experiences show up physically - and how to work with that patiently. That background informs everything I do in somatic therapy.
What to Expect
We develop awareness of what's happening in your body right now - where you feel tension, where you feel numb, how your breath moves or doesn't.
Together we explore what your nervous system learned to do and why. What was it protecting you from? What does it still need to know?
Using breath, gentle movement, and grounding practices, we help your nervous system unwind. You integrate new patterns - ones that feel safer and more alive.
Why This Matters
Some things are easier to notice through sensation than through words. Somatic work isn't a replacement for talking - it's another doorway into the same work.
Some memories and patterns live below language. Your body often knows things your mind hasn't caught up to yet. Somatic work meets you there.
Breath, sensation, and grounding are things you can actually feel and practice - in session and between sessions. For many clients, that makes the work more usable in daily life.
For clients who experience overwhelm, shutdown, sensory sensitivity, or trouble identifying what they're feeling, paying attention to the body can be more accessible than starting with words. We find the entry point that works for you.
We never push or force. I follow your body's pace. You're in charge of what you're ready to explore.
Common Questions
Ready to Listen?
Start by telling me a little about what's going on. I'll reach out within 24 hours with a link to book a free 15-minute call, and we can talk about what somatic work might look like for you.
Start HereOr call / text Maring: 619-387-8725