What is Somatic Therapy and how does it complement other treatments like IFS & DBT?

What Is Somatic Therapy?

Somatic therapy is an approach that helps you tune into the body as a pathway for healing. “Soma” means body — and in somatic therapy, we understand that the body stores emotional experiences, memories, and patterns of stress or trauma. Sometimes these show up as tension, chronic pain, fatigue, restlessness, or even numbness. Rather than focusing only on talking about experiences, somatic therapy helps you feel into them in a safe, supported way.

This might involve slowing down to notice your breathing, tracking subtle sensations, or gently exploring physical reactions that arise during emotional processing. By reconnecting with the body in this way, we can regulate the nervous system, release stored stress, and build a greater sense of safety and resilience from within.

Somatic therapy is especially helpful when:

* You feel disconnected from your body or emotions

* You’ve “talked through” something but still feel stuck

* You experience anxiety, dissociation, or chronic tension

* You want a more intuitive, embodied approach to healing

• You want to heal prolonged pain and suffering stuck in the body and nothing you are trying is working

• If you are confused about what your sensations are telling you- the physical, emotional, mental even spiritual may feel blended.

**How Somatic Therapy Complements DBT**

DBT (Dialectical Behavior Therapy) gives you practical skills to regulate emotions, tolerate distress, and be more present in the moment. Somatic work deepens these skills by helping you recognize how emotions show up physically and how the body responds to stress. For example:

* Learning grounding techniques becomes more powerful when you can physically feel your feet on the floor or your breath deep in your belly.

* Distress tolerance tools are easier to apply when you can identify rising body tension early and respond mindfully.

* Emotion regulation becomes more intuitive when you can notice a clenched jaw or tight chest and understand what that’s telling you.

Somatic awareness helps you catch emotional shifts earlier, ride out difficult moments more effectively, and bring DBT skills into real-life, embodied experience.

**How Somatic Therapy Complements IFS**

Internal Family Systems (IFS) explores the different “parts” within you — protective parts, wounded parts, and the wise, calm Self that can lead with compassion. Somatic work adds depth to IFS by helping you feel where those parts live in your body. For example:

* A protective “manager” part might show up as tight shoulders or a buzzing mind

* An “exile” part might feel like a heaviness in the chest or a knot in the stomach

* The Self often feels spacious, grounded, warm, and steady

By combining IFS with somatic awareness, you can build deeper trust with your parts and access healing on multiple levels — not just through understanding, but through felt experience. This integration makes IFS even more powerful and intuitive, especially when working through trauma, grief, or long-standing internal conflicts.

Somatic therapy isn’t about doing it “right” or needing to feel something specific. It’s about slowing down, getting curious, and gently reconnecting with the wisdom your body already holds — in service of deeper healing, regulation, and self-compassion.