Somatic Therapy in Pittsburgh, PA and Online Across Pennsylvania
Your body has been trying to protect you all along.
When your nervous system stays stuck in survival mode, it can feel impossible to simply "calm down." Somatic therapy helps your mind and body reconnect so healing becomes something you experience—not just something you understand.
What is Somatic Therapy?
Somatic therapy is a body-based approach to healing that helps you understand and regulate your nervous system—not just your thoughts. Rather than asking, "What's wrong with you?" it asks, "What is your body trying to protect you from?"
Maybe you've been told to challenge your thoughts.
To think more positively. To remind yourself that you're safe.
Sometimes those things help. Sometimes they don't.
Because there is a difference between knowing you're safe...
and feeling safe.
Somatic therapy helps restore the relationship between your mind and your body so they can begin
working together instead of against one another.
Healing isn't about fighting your body.
It's about helping it realize it doesn't have to work so hard anymore.
In a nutshell, somatic therapy is combination of skills for the body that create a felt sense of safety and support.
Ready to begin somatic healing?
Maybe you've spent years understanding your anxiety.
You've talked about your childhood.
You've read the books.
You've learned coping skills.
Yet your shoulders still tighten.
Your chest still feels heavy.
Your stomach knots before difficult conversations.
You wake up exhausted before the day has even begun.
If this sounds familiar, you aren't failing at healing.
Your nervous system may simply need a different conversation.
One that doesn't only happen through words.
Maybe your body has been carrying what your mind has already let go
Curious how trauma changes the nervous system?
There Is a Difference Between Knowing You're Safe and Feeling Safe
One of the biggest misconceptions I hear is:
"If I know I'm safe...why doesn't my body feel that way?"
Because your brain and your nervous system don't always update at the same pace.
Your mind may understand the danger has passed...
while your body is still preparing to protect you.
That doesn't mean you're doing therapy wrong.
It doesn't mean you're broken.
It means your nervous system is doing exactly what it learned to do.
Somatic therapy helps bridge that gap.
Through repeated experiences of safety and support, your nervous system begins learning something new.
Not through force.
Not through positive thinking.
But through experience.
Over time, your body begins responding more from the present moment than from past survival.
This is important
One of the biggest misconceptions about nervous system regulation is that healing means you'll never feel anxious, overwhelmed, or stressed again.
It doesn't.
Regulation isn't the absence of stress.
It's your nervous system's growing ability to move through stress, recover more efficiently, and return to its baseline.
Healing isn't becoming emotionless.
It's becoming more flexible.
More resilient.
More connected to yourself.
Somatic Skills Changed My Life
I'll share something personal.
Somatic skills changed my life.
Not because they made my anxiety disappear.
Not because they eliminated stress.
They changed the relationship I had with my body.
For years, I understood my anxiety, trauma and chronic pain.
I could explain where it came from.
I knew the coping skills.
I knew the "why."
But knowing wasn't enough.
Learning somatic skills helped my body begin believing what my mind had understood for years.
Over time, my body stopped feeling like something I had to fight...
and slowly became a place that felt like home again.
That's why I teach this work with so much passion.
Not because it's trendy.
Not because it's the newest therapy approach.
Because I've experienced how profoundly it can change the way someone experiences themselves.
My hope isn't that you memorize dozens of regulation techniques.
It's that together we discover the handful of skills your unique nervous system responds to best—the ones you'll continue reaching for long after therapy ends.
Ready to discover how to work with your body?
Looking for a more immersive healing experience?
Examples of Somatic Skills (You Don't Need to Learn Them All)
One of the biggest misconceptions about somatic therapy is that you have to learn dozens of nervous system regulation techniques before they become helpful.
The truth is...
You don't.
There are hundreds of somatic skills, and trying to learn all of them at once can actually become overwhelming.
My goal isn't to teach you every regulation strategy that exists.
It's to help you discover the handful of skills that your unique nervous system responds to best.
Because healing isn't about collecting more techniques.
It's about knowing which ones help you feel more grounded, supported, connected, or safe when you need them most.
Some of the somatic skills we may explore include:
✓ Orienting
✓ Grounding
✓ Voo Breathing
✓ Butterfly Hug
✓ Bilateral Stimulation
✓ Gentle Movement
✓ Breathwork
✓ Progressive Muscle Relaxation
✓ Temperature Shifts
✓ Self-Holding
✓ Neck and Jaw Release
✓ Eye Rest and Visual Orienting
✓ Ear Massage
✓ Back Support
✓ Mindful Walking
✓ Sensory Awareness
✓ Safe Place Exercises
The goal isn't to master every skill.
It's to build your nervous system toolkit.
Not Every Nervous System Needs the Same Thing
One of the most valuable things you'll learn in somatic therapy isn't simply how to regulate your nervous system.
It's learning what your nervous system is asking for.
Some somatic skills help create a felt sense of safety.
Others help create a felt sense of support.
Those are two different experiences.
Sometimes your nervous system needs evidence that you're safe now.
Sometimes it needs the experience of being supported while moving through something difficult.
Learning to recognize the difference can change the way you relate to yourself.
As we work together, we'll begin noticing what state your nervous system is in, what it tends to do under stress, and which somatic skills help it shift most effectively.
Because healing isn't about forcing yourself to calm down.
It's about learning the language your body has been speaking all along.
This is important.
Not every nervous system responds to the same regulation skills.
The goal isn't to copy someone else's morning routine.
The goal is to discover the combination of practices that helps your body feel safer, more supported, and more connected.
There is no "perfect" nervous system.
Only one that's learning.
We Build Your Personalized Nervous System Plan Together
One of the questions I hear most often is:
"How am I supposed to remember when to use these?"
That's exactly what we figure out together.
As we discover the somatic skills that work best for your nervous system, we'll also create a personalized plan for when, where, and how to use them.
Maybe orienting becomes part of your morning routine.
Maybe Voo breathing helps before presentations.
Maybe grounding becomes something you practice before bed.
Maybe self-holding helps after difficult conversations.
Maybe walking becomes the skill you reach for when your thoughts begin racing.
The goal isn't to use every skill every day.
The goal is to leave therapy with confidence.
Confidence that when your nervous system begins moving into survival mode...
You'll know what to reach for.
Over time, these practices stop feeling like therapy homework.
They become part of the way you care for yourself.
Let’s build your personalized treatment path
Looking for a more immersive experience to build these skills?
What Does Somatic Therapy Feel Like?
One of the questions I hear most often is:
"What does somatic therapy actually feel like?"
The honest answer?
It feels different for everyone.
For some people, it feels like finally taking a full breath after holding it for years.
For others, it feels like their shoulders dropping without realizing how much tension they were carrying.
Some people notice they recover from stress more quickly.
Others realize they aren't constantly scanning for danger anymore.
Some notice they can sit with emotions without feeling consumed by them.
Others simply begin feeling more connected to themselves.
Healing through the body is often subtle.
It isn't usually one dramatic breakthrough.
It's hundreds of small moments where your nervous system quietly begins responding differently than it did before.
Over time...
Those small moments become a different way of living.
Because healing isn't about never feeling stress again.
It's about no longer feeling trapped inside it.
This is important.
Somatic therapy isn't about becoming better at relaxing.
It's about becoming better at listening.
Your body has been communicating with you long before it ever had words.
Together, we'll learn how to listen.
Why Somatic Therapy Can Feel Different Before It Feels Better
I'll often tell clients something they don't expect to hear.
Sometimes healing feels a little messier before it feels easier.
Not because you're getting worse.
Because your nervous system is learning something new.
One of my favorite ways to explain this is by thinking about a grocery store scale.
Imagine placing a heavy bag of apples on the scale.
That weight becomes the scale's normal.
Now imagine taking the apples away.
The scale doesn't instantly become still.
The needle moves back and forth for a little while before settling again.
Our nervous systems can respond in a similar way.
As they begin letting go of long-held patterns of protection, they often spend time recalibrating.
That doesn't mean you're broken.
It doesn't mean therapy isn't working.
It often means your nervous system is learning where its new baseline is.
Over time, those shifts become smaller.
Recovery becomes quicker.
Your nervous system begins trusting that it doesn't have to work quite so hard anymore.
A Somatic Skill You Can Try Right Now
Hand on Heart
Sometimes the most meaningful messages we send our nervous system are incredibly gentle.
One of my favorite places to begin is simply placing one hand over your heart.
Notice the warmth of your hand.
Notice the gentle pressure.
Allow your breathing to remain natural.
You don't have to force yourself to relax.
Just notice what changes.
Gentle pressure over the chest activates pressure-sensitive receptors in the skin and underlying tissues that communicate with the brain through the nervous system. Combined with slow, mindful awareness, this type of touch can support feelings of comfort, connection, and safety while encouraging your body to shift toward a more regulated state.
For many people, this simple practice becomes a quiet reminder:
"I'm here."
"I'm supported."
"I'm safe enough in this moment."
The goal isn't to make anxiety disappear.
The goal is to give your nervous system another experience to learn from.
Did You Know?
Research suggests that gentle self-touch combined with slow breathing may help reduce physiological signs of stress while supporting parasympathetic nervous system activity—the branch of the nervous system involved in rest, recovery, and restoration.
Curious to learn more somatic skills like this? Every nervous system is different.
In therapy, we'll discover which practices help your body feel safest, most supported, and most connected.
Your Trusted Somatic Therapy Guide
Somatic therapy is one of the most meaningful parts of the work I do.
Not because it's trendy.
Not because it's another therapy technique.
Because I've experienced firsthand how profoundly it can change the relationship someone has with their own body.
Clients and colleagues have often reflected on my ability to create a calm, grounded environment where people feel deeply supported, understood, and never rushed.
That matters.
Because healing happens best when your nervous system feels safe enough to become curious—not perfect.
My approach is collaborative, gentle, and deeply personalized.
I don't believe there's one "right" somatic skill.
I believe there's a right combination of skills for your nervous system.
Together we'll explore what helps your body feel more supported, more connected, and more like home.
Along the way, we'll integrate somatic therapy with EMDR, Acceptance and Commitment Therapy (ACT), parts work, mindfulness, and other evidence-based approaches to create a treatment plan that fits you—not the other way around.
Want to learn more about my story and approach?
Is Somatic Therapy Right for You?
Somatic therapy may be a wonderful fit if you've ever found yourself saying...
✓ "I know why I feel this way, but I still can't seem to change it."
✓ "My body always feels tense."
✓ "I can't seem to relax, even when nothing is wrong."
✓ "I feel disconnected from myself."
✓ "I overthink everything."
✓ "My emotions feel overwhelming."
✓ "I want practical tools I can actually use outside of therapy."
✓ "I've done therapy before, but something still feels stuck."
✓ "I want to feel at home in my body again."
You don't have to identify with every statement.
Sometimes one is enough.
Interested in combining somatic therapy with EMDR?
Frequently Asked Questions
Does somatic therapy replace talk therapy?
Not at all.
Somatic therapy works beautifully alongside traditional talk therapy. Understanding your story is important. Somatic therapy helps your body begin believing what your mind may already know.
Will I have to do yoga?
No.
While gentle movement can sometimes be helpful, somatic therapy is much broader than yoga. Every session is individualized, and we'll choose approaches that feel supportive and appropriate for you.
What if I've never done somatic therapy before?
Perfect.
You don't need any previous experience.
We'll move at your pace and introduce new skills gradually.
Will I have to close my eyes?
No.
Many somatic skills are practiced with your eyes open.
Feeling in control of the experience is an important part of nervous system healing.
Is somatic therapy evidence-based?
Yes.
Somatic approaches continue to be supported by a growing body of research examining nervous system regulation, trauma recovery, mindfulness, and the relationship between the brain and body. My approach integrates somatic skills with evidence-based therapies including EMDR, ACT, CBT, and parts work.
Curious whether your insurance may reimburse you for somatic therapy?
Even if I'm not in-network with your insurance plan, you may still have out-of-network benefits available.
I've partnered with Mentaya to help make checking your benefits simple.
Use the secure tool below to see whether you may qualify for reimbursement before getting started.
I accept Aetna and Blue Cross Blue Shield.
Your body has been protecting you for a long time
Maybe it's time to help it realize it doesn't have to work so hard anymore.
Healing isn't about becoming someone new.
It's about rebuilding trust with the body that has carried you through so much.
If you're ready to learn the language of your nervous system, I'd be honored to walk alongside you.