Somatic Therapy in Michigan: Online, Body-Based Healing for Adults
What Is Somatic Therapy?
Somatic therapy is a body-based, experiential form of psychotherapy that helps you work directly with the physical patterns, sensations, emotions, and survival responses that live in your nervous system—not just your thoughts about them.
Instead of approaching healing purely through insight or logic, somatic therapy brings attention to the places inside you that tighten, collapse, numb out, or brace against your own experiences. These patterns aren’t “maladaptive.” They’re adaptive responses from a nervous system that has been working overtime.
Somatic therapy helps your body finally complete the emotional processes it never had the safety or support to finish.
A bottom-up approach to healing
Somatic therapy works “bottom-up,” meaning we begin with the body’s lived experience—breath, pressure, temperature, tension, softening, movement impulses—and let those guide the emotional process. This is different from “top-down” approaches that rely mostly on thinking, analyzing, or talking your way through something.
In a bottom-up process, the body leads. The mind follows. The system reorganizes from the inside out.
Why the body holds what the mind can’t process
When something overwhelming happens—whether relational, emotional, or traumatic—the body often absorbs the impact. Muscles tighten, breath shortens, the chest constricts, the gut clenches, the shoulders lift, or everything suddenly goes flat and distant.
The body stores what couldn’t be safely expressed. Somatic therapy is where those stored experiences finally have room to soften, move, and complete.
How Somatic Therapy Works In Simple Terms
Somatic therapy helps your system shift out of “survival mode” and into emotional presence. We slow down just enough to notice what’s happening inside you—not in a forced or uncomfortable way, but in a way that feels grounded and doable.
And when we do it together, your system begins to feel less alone with what it carries.
Emotions as energy that the body tries to complete
Emotions are inherently physiological.
They are waves of energy the body expects to move:
- fear wants protection or proximity
- sadness wants contact and release
- anger wants boundary and clarity
- joy wants expansion
When these movements are interrupted—by trauma, shame, instability, or simply not having anyone to be with you—your emotional energy gets stuck in the body as tension, numbness, or looping anxiety.
Somatic therapy helps complete the movement that was cut off.
When experiences get stuck in the nervous system
Fight responses stay locked as chronic tension.
Flight responses become anxiety or restlessness.
Freeze and collapse become numbness, shutdown, or “I don’t know what I feel.”
These are not flaws.
They are brilliant adaptations.
Why only talk therapy or insight often are not enough
You can understand yourself perfectly and still feel blocked.
Insight does not automatically create integration.
Somatic therapy bridges the gap between knowing and actually feeling different.
What Somatic Therapy Helps With
Anxiety, fear, and pressure
Anxiety is often the body’s way of holding back emotions that feel too big or unfamiliar. Somatic therapy helps regulate what’s underneath the anxiety so your system can settle.
Emotional numbness or shutdown
Numbness isn’t the absence of emotion—it’s the presence of overwhelm. Somatic work helps you reconnect gently and safely to what has gone offline.
PTSD and relational wounds
Somatic therapy supports trauma healing by helping your nervous system complete protective responses that were never allowed to finish.
Adult ADHD-related overwhelm
Many adults with ADHD experience chronic activation, shutdown, or “body overload.” Somatic therapy helps regulate the stress patterns that intensify ADHD symptoms.
Stress patterns that repeat even when you “know better”
Somatic work addresses the physiological roots of patterns—not just the stories around them—so change feels possible from the inside.
My Approach to Somatic Therapy
Trauma-informed, neurobiologically grounded
I work with the nervous system gently and collaboratively, honoring the protective intelligence behind every reaction. Nothing is rushed. Nothing is forced. Your system sets the pace.
AEDP-informed emotional processing (credit acknowledged)
My work is strongly influenced by AEDP (Accelerated Experiential Dynamic Psychotherapy), which emphasizes working with emotions as they arise in the body, fostering safety, connection, and co-regulation. I do not claim AEDP as my original model; rather, I integrate its wisdom in a way that fits you and your system.
A collaborative, gentle pace—not forced catharsis
Somatic therapy is not about emotional overwhelm or intense catharsis.
It’s about helping your system unwind, one manageable piece at a time.
Tracking the nervous system with curiosity, not pressure
We focus on small internal shifts—softening, warmth, tension, breath changes—that signal your body is moving toward safety and integration.
What Somatic Therapy Sessions Look Like (Online)
Even though we meet virtually, somatic therapy translates beautifully to telehealth. You don’t need special equipment or to sit in any specific position.
I guide you through small, doable steps:
Small, doable body cues—never overwhelming
We might explore:
- a tightness in your chest
- a knot in your stomach
- a sense of heaviness in the shoulders
- a place that feels distant or numb
- a part of you that wants to move but can’t
And we do this without pushing your system past what it can tolerate.
Slowing down to feel what’s actually happening inside
When you slow down with support, your system often reveals emotions you could never access alone.
Noticing patterns, release, and new emotional movement
Over time, you may notice warmth, tears, breath, energy moving, or parts of you softening that have been braced for years. These are signs your system is reorganizing.
Why Somatic Therapy Helps When You Feel “Stuck”
Your system is trying to protect you—not sabotage you
Every shutdown, every anxious loop, every numb moment is the body trying to keep you safe.
Numbness, anxiety, and shutdown are adaptive states
Your body learned these states because they worked. Somatic therapy helps you develop new pathways—without blaming or fighting the old ones.
Healing happens when those states feel safe enough to shift
Your system doesn’t change because it’s pushed. It changes because it feels supported.
Somatic Therapy Through Michigan Telehealth
Accessible body-based work from your home
Somatic therapy is fully effective online. Many clients even prefer meeting from their own environment, where their nervous system already feels safer.
Creating a grounded, confidential space online
I guide you through orienting, grounding, and slowing your internal pace so that your body can participate in the process—not just your mind.
Who I Work With
Adults 18+ who want deeper healing
I work with adults who want more than coping strategies—people ready for real, experiential transformation.
People who have “tried everything else”
Somatic therapy is often the missing piece for people who have insight but still feel stuck.
Fees, Insurance, and What to Expect
Session length, pricing, and self-pay clarity
My practice is self-pay only, allowing us to focus on your healing—not insurance rules. I offer:
- 60-minute intake sessions
- 60-minute ongoing sessions
Superbills for out-of-network reimbursement
You may request monthly superbills for possible reimbursement depending on your plan.
FAQs About Somatic Therapy
Is somatic therapy safe if I’ve experienced trauma?
Yes. Somatic therapy is designed for trauma healing. We go slowly, at a pace your system chooses, so nothing is pushed or retraumatizing.
How does somatic therapy work online?
Telehealth somatic therapy works through gentle guided attention, grounding, and noticing your internal experience. You don’t need special equipment—just a private space.
Do I need to be “good at” sensing my body?
Not at all. Many people begin without any connection to their body. We build that capacity together, slowly and safely.