Insight matters. Being able to name a pattern, understand where it came from, and speak honestly about what is happening can be deeply useful. And sometimes we understand a pattern very well and still find ourselves repeating it.
That is one reason I work somatically. Somatic therapy brings the body into the conversation. Alongside words, we pay attention to sensations, breath, posture, movement, impulses, emotions, and what happens in relationship in the room.
What talk therapy can offer
Talk-based work can help us make meaning of our history, recognize beliefs, understand family dynamics, and find language for experiences that once felt confusing or overwhelming. For many people, that cognitive understanding is an important part of healing.
What changes when the body is included
Our patterns do not only live in thoughts. They can show up as a tightening in the chest, holding the breath, collapsing the shoulders, bracing the jaw, going numb, moving away, pleasing, freezing, or pushing harder. These responses can happen before the thinking mind has caught up.
In somatic work, those moments become information. We can slow them down and become curious: What happens in your body when you want to say no? What happens when someone gets close? What happens when you feel anger, desire, grief, or the wish to be seen?
Movement, breath, and voice
Depending on what is present, a session may include movement, breath, sound, grounding, or voice. The point is not to perform an exercise correctly. It is to give the body another way to express and metabolize what has been held back, while staying connected to choice and present-moment awareness.
The relationship is part of the work
Somatic therapy can also make relational patterns more visible. You may notice an urge to agree with me, hide something, pull away, challenge me, or wait for me to know what you need. Rather than treating those moments as interruptions, we can explore them together. The therapeutic relationship becomes a place to practice boundaries, needs, authenticity, and connection.
Where Core Energetics fits
My approach is grounded in Core Energetics, a body-based relational practice that works with physical, emotional, mental, and spiritual levels. It includes conversation, but it is not limited to conversation. We work with the ways energy is held, defended, expressed, and brought into relationship.
If you are looking for Somatic Therapy and Core Energetics in Washington, DC, I offer individual and couples sessions and ongoing process groups in person and online.
