Somatic Therapy in Chicago

Meet Our Somatic Therapists

Are you struggling with fear, sadness, or anger that feels like it’s trapped in your body?

  • Do you have trouble sleeping and feel like your mind is racing?

  • Is it difficult for you to feel good in your body?

  • Have you wondered if unresolved trauma from your past may be lingering in your body, affecting how you feel right now?

Our mind works in conjunction with our body, and sometimes traditional talk therapy isn’t enough to really get us to where we’d like to be with our healing. As women or femme-raised folks, we can especially benefit from connecting to our body’s experience. Often, simply noticing and bringing more attention to the body during a therapy session can have a big impact on the way we feel. Our Somatic Therapists at Balanced Awakening have several unique ways of bringing the body to the session, and making the mind-body connection in the brain to facilitate healing.  

What is Somatic Therapy?

Somatic therapy incorporates the body in some way in the context of talk therapy. It emphasizes the importance of the body in understanding and addressing psychological issues and emotional well-being. Somatic therapy can look like becoming aware of what is happening in your body as you talk about something emotionally or mentally distressing. Or it can sometimes be engaging in movement, breath work, yoga, or another body focused technique to help access the connection between the brain and the body. Somatic therapy can address pain, emotional distress, and muscle tension that can show up in your body.

How does Somatic Therapy work in practice?

Somatic therapy can be tailored to your unique needs! Here are some examples of what it might look like in practice:

  • Your therapist asking you to check in with your body and say what you notice.

  • Doing some light movement in session guided by your therapist.

  • Taking some time to do some breathwork during a therapy session.

  • EMDR incorporated into sessions.

  • Brainspotting, which involves adjusting your focus with your eyes to access feelings and memories stored in the body.

  • Grounding meditation exercises and basic grounding techniques like noticing what part of your body is making contact with the chair, etc.

  • The incorporation of EFT or “Tapping” in sessions.

  • Yoga poses that are gentle and may even be done seated.

  • Talking with your therapist about an experience you had receiving massage, bodywork, or acupuncture and processing emotions that may have arisen in your body from the experience.

Benefits of Somatic Therapy

There are so many potential benefits of working with a somatic therapist! Here are some:

  • A reduction in pain or tension in your body.

  • Feeling more present or at ease in your body.

  • Having a greater range of movement.

  • Ability to access and release blocks that may be holding you back from feeling your best.

  • The ability to be more present in your relationships - including partner, children, etc.

  • Seeing quicker gains in therapy than you would without the incorporation of the body.

Cultural origins of Somatic Therapy

Somatic Therapy has roots in African, Asian, and Indian traditions, as many indigenous cultures recognized the connection between the mind, body, and spirit. Native American healing ceremonies, Ayurvedic medicine and Yoga from India, and traditional Chinese medicine, have emphasized the role of the body in healing emotional and psychological distress. Also, eastern philosophies, such as Buddhism and Taoism, have influenced somatic therapy by promoting mindfulness, meditation, and body-awareness practices as essential tools for emotional well-being. African healing traditions have utilized dance, movement, and drumming as a way to expression, communication, and healing. Somatic therapy is lucky to draw influence from all of these cultural practices and more.

Somatic Therapy at Balanced Awakening

Many of our therapists offer Somatic Therapy as part of their work with women in individual therapy. To highlight a few:

Somatic therapy is offered as part of individual therapy that takes place either in-person or virtually. We are here to help you feel better in your body and mind : ). Contact us if you have questions or book online with a somatic therapist of your choice. 

Balanced Awakening Lakeview
4043 N Ravenswood Ave, Ste 301 & 302
Chicago, IL 60613
 
Balanced Awakening Andersonville
5215 N Ravenswood Ave, Ste 201 & 208
Chicago, IL 60640
 
Balanced Awakening Loop
25 E Washington St, Ste 1505
Chicago, IL 60602
 

Somatic Therapy Videos

Somatic Therapy FAQs

  • The term “somatic” comes from the Greek word “soma,” which means “the body”. In the context of somatic therapy, somatic refers to anything related to the body or an embodied experience.

  • Pretty much anything that you’re going through emotionally, or in your life, can benefit from including the body in the experience.

  • In the first two sessions, your therapist will ask you questions about your life currently, your history, and where you hope to be in the future. From there, you and your therapist will discuss goals for somatic therapy and come up with a plan. Sessions might incorporate yoga, stretching, breath work, EMDR, Trainspotting, and and other somatic therapy techniques.

  • Yes! But with some exceptions. There are 3 situations where, legally and ethically (whether we want to or not) we would have to break your confidentiality. These include if we learn of any potential child or elder abuse from you, we determine that you are at risk of harming yourself or someone else, or we receive a court order for your medical records. Also, some of our providers are under supervision and regularly consult with their supervisor about their client sessions. Supervisors have the same obligation to client confidentiality.

  • Our somatic therapy rate for the first two sessions is $235. After that, 55 minute sessions are $210. Most of our somatic therapists accept BCBS PPO and Aetna insurance.

  • Maybe! It depends on the training and background of your somatic therapist and your preferences as a client. Usually if yoga is incorporated, it is only for part of a session, in order to leave time for verbal processing of your experience.

  • Yes! We offer virtual somatic therapy sessions as well as in-person. Sometimes it’s easier for clients to engage in somatic therapy virtually. We’ve also thought about ways to specifically incorporate somatic techniques when sessions are held virtually.

  • Somatic therapy can help in so many ways! Usually longer-term benefits of somatic therapy are better sleep, feeling more grounded in your body, less emotional distress, increased feelings of satisfaction and pleasure in life, reduction in anxiety or depression, more stability in relationships, and more.

Somatic Therapy Blog Posts

The Journey to Health and Healing
Exercises and Examples of Somatic Experiencing Therapy
Exercises and Examples of Somatic Experiencing Therapy