“What’s the Difference Between Talk Therapy and Somatic Therapy?”
October 26, 2024
“What’s the Difference Between Talk Therapy and Somatic Therapy?”
This is a question I’m frequently asked, and a good one at that. If you have a personal trauma history, chances are good you’ve tried “talk therapy”—a common term for psychotherapy. Somewhere along the way you learned about somatics and how improves regulation in the nervous system. You feel like the trauma has become stuck in your body so the idea of a “body-based” approach resonates. But how is it different from the traditional therapy sessions you’ve tried before? Read on to find out.
What Is Psychotherapy?
There are many branches within the field of psychology and within those, hundreds of different kinds of therapies. It’s impossible within the scope of this blog entry to delineate the specific differences among them. Instead, I’ll give you a broad overview in general terms to highlight the way it distinguishes itself from somatics.
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- Psychotherapy is a licensed profession
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- It operates on the traditional medical model of health and illness
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- It interprets manifestations of trauma as symptoms
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- Trauma symptoms are a sign of mental illness
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- Illness is a problem needs to be fixed (remedied/cured)
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- Remedies and cures are called treatments
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- To receive treatment, you must first get a diagnosis
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- A diagnosis is procured through the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders
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- By and large, treatment involves a “mind over matter” approach. The more your mind understand your problems, the better your body will feel. Sometimes this is called a “top down” approach.
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- The authority and hope for cure lies in the mental health care professional’s competence, expertise and training.
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- The aim of psychotherapy is to improve mental health. The related areas of study are therefore the brain and mind.
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- Psychotherapy tends to operate more objectively.
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- Health insurance usually covers psychotherapy.
What Is Somatic Therapy?
Again, there are a myriad of somatic approaches so I will address the practice in generalities here as well. Also, keep in mind that in the state of Utah, there is no such thing as somatic “therapy” unless that term is being used as shorthand for somatic psychotherapy. Refer to my blog entry “What Is Somatic Therapy?” for more detailed information.
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- Somatics is not a licensed profession
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- It is considered the domain of complementary and alternative health care
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- It does not interpret manifestations of trauma as symptoms. Instead, it views the nervous system as regulated or dysregulated.
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- Because of that, it is not diagnostic. Rather than wanting to know “What’s wrong with you?”, a somatic perspective asks, “What happened to you?” The cause of dysregulation is recognized primarily as “nurture” versus “nature”.
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- By and large, sessions are based on a “bottom up” approach: once the nervous system throughout the body is regulated, the mind will be more at ease.
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- The emphasis in sessions is on your present-moment, embodied experience rather than your mental processes. In other words, “What are feeling about?” versus “What you are thinking about?”.
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- The authority and ability reside in you as the client. You may need outside support on your path to regulation. But the innate, psychobiological intelligence already exists in the blueprint of your nervous system. Somatic approaches strengthen your access to that.
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- Somatic approaches tend to focus on the mind and body. Somatics is viewed as more holistic than psychotherapy for that reason.
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- Combined, the mind and body generate the experience of spirituality, emotionality, soulfulness, mentality, psychology, physical health and social engagement (relationships). Therefore, somatics covers these areas of your personal experience, as well.
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- Somatics operates more subjectively. It utilizes protocol and standardized interventions (is at all) than psychotherapy. Your personal, present-moment experience is what’s of most value in a session.
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- Health insurance may or may not cover somatic health depending on the licensure of your provider.
Summary
Psychotherapy is an objective, standardized form of treatment within the traditional medical model. It sees physical and mental manifestations of trauma as an illness needing a remedy or cure. Treatments are administered by a licensed mental health care professional using a “top down” approach. Health insurance usually covers psychotherapy.
Somatics is a subjective, holistic approach within the field of complementary and alternative health care. It does not require licensure for the professional. Its primary aim is to improve regulation in the nervous system and does not use a diagnostic model to achieve that. Somatics covers spirituality, emotionality, psychology, physical health, soulfulness as well as social engagement (relationships). Health insurance may or may not cover services depending on the licensure of the provider.
Salt City Bodyworks Will Soon Be “Salt City Somatics”
Why the Name Change?
Why the name change? When I started my private practice in 2010, I was a recently licensed massage therapist. I only offered bodywork and massage therapy but I wasn’t educated or trained in somatics yet. I used the word “bodywork” in my title because it is a general term that encompasses traditional massage but other forms of body-centered therapies as well (e.g., craniosacral therapy, lymphatic drainage, Thai Yoga massage, etc.). That word reflected the range of services I offered at the time.
Enter Somatics
Then my focus started to change. I started a graduate program in somatic depth psychology at Pacifica Graduate Institute in 2012. From 2015-2021 I trained to become a Somatic Experiencing Practitioner and NARM Master Practitioner. During that time I gradually incorporated somatic sessions into my private practice. I still offered massage therapy and bodywork but less and less as time passed. Over the years, my attention and interest became increasingly focused on somatic work to the point that I eventually stopped offering massage and bodywork all together. The only services I currently offer are Somatic Sessions in person or via Zoom and Somatic Bodywork. Anymore, all the continuing education and training I engage in is only somatic. It was a natural transition, therefore, to go from using the word “Bodywork” in my business name to “Somatics”. That is the sole focus of the work I offer.
Does Anything Change Besides the Name?
No. I have only been offering somatic services for more than a year now. If you’ve been with me during that time, you won’t notice anything is different. However, if you have any questions or feel unsure about what the name change means, don’t hesitate to reach out.
Is A Somatic Approach Right for You?
If you’ve been considering a somatic approach to your health, now may be the time to find out if it’s right for you. Let’s connect! I offer 25 minute consultations via Zoom and would love to meet with you.
What Is Somatic Therapy?
I really love this question. Why? Because the answer will help you understand how to find the best somatic approach to meet your unique needs. It will also help guide you through all the options out there with a discerning eye. Read on to learn more.
“Therapy” is in a Licensed Domain
In it’s true meaning, therapy is “the treatment of disease or disorders, as by some remedial, rehabilitating, or curative process”. In the state of Utah, one must have a valid license to be able to “treat” a sickness or disorder. For example, only licensed health care providers (i.e., doctors, nurses, nurse practitioners, etc.) can treat disease. Only licensed mental health care professionals (i.e., psychotherapists, psychiatrists, psychiatric nurse practitioners) can treat mental illness. I think you get the point.
There are also forms of therapy that are not treatments but still require a license. My license in massage therapy is a good example. I am licensed to offer massage but it is not a treatment since 1) it is not intended to cure disease and 2) it is not administered by a licensed medical health care provider.
“Therapy” Has Become a General Term
It’s important to be clear on these technicalities to discern which kind of service you need and which kind of provider is qualified to offer it. It’s especially helpful because the term “therapy” is used so casually in contemporary language we can easily forget it’s a term designated for use within the a professionally licensed domain. For example, we often say “retail therapy’ when referring to shopping as a mood-booster. We do that because the word therapy has come to mean anything that helps us feel better.
So What is Somatic Therapy?
Somatic therapy is another example of using the word “therapy’ in a general way because somatic therapy does not actually exist. Wait, what? It’s true. There is no accredited school in the United States that offers education toward licensure in somatic therapy. Somatics is still an unregulated and unlicensed field. Anyone can say they are a somatic professional without having even looked up the definition of “somatic”. Really. More on that later.
For now, let’s summarize with this: when people use the term “somatic therapy” they are almost always referring to somatic psychotherapy. A licensed mental health care professional who has taken certified somatic trainings can claim to offer somatic psychotherapy as a “treatment”. Why? Because they have a license and have been trained to do so. If you are vetting someone for somatic support who claims to be a somatic therapist or to offer somatic therapy but does not have a valid license in healthcare (with actual somatic trainings to back it up), keep looking.
Hot tip: the word “therapist” means the provider has a state-regulated license (e.g., physical therapist, massage therapist, occupational therapist, etc.). The word “practitioner” means they don’t.
Somatic Trainings Are for A Wide Variety of Professionals
Somatic trainings often accept professionals from a wide variety of fields, including psychotherapy. Psychotherapists are probably best known for it because they commonly work with clients who have a trauma history. This is especially true because trauma has historically been viewed as a disease of the mind. Increasingly, however, it is understood that trauma dysregulates the nervous system which weaves its way throughout the entire body. That is why more and more, professionals outside the field of psychotherapy are taking somatic trainings. These are people working up close and personal with bodies and traumatized nervous systems—medical workers; addiction counselors; spiritual directors and clergy; teachers and public educators; yoga instructors and other bodyworkers, etc. Somatic trainings educate these professionals on the nervous system’s threat-safety responses so they can become trauma-informed and ultimately be more effective at what they do.
So, Different Kinds of Professionals Offer Somatic “Therapy”?
Not exactly. I know this may be confusing but hang with me for one more paragraph. The best summary of what somatic “therapy” is is when the given professional is explicitly working to improve the regulation (a.k.a. “performance” or “autonomic function”) in your nervous system. They are supporting your nervous system in enhancing its tone, capacity and resilience. In some ways, it’s like personal training for your nerves in the same way that traditional personal training is available for your muscles and bones.
Some professionals (e.g., teachers, dentists, nutrition counselors, etc.) who have completed somatic trainings do so to become “trauma-informed” because they work closely with people who have compromised nervous systems. But they are not offering somatic “therapy” as a way to help their clients improve regulation in their nervous system. They take somatic trainings to be trauma savvy and work more conscientiously with their given populations.
Does Salt City Bodyworks Offer Somatic Therapy?
No. That’s the short answer. Why? Because I am a psychologist but not a licensed clinical psychologist. Remember, there is no advanced degree toward licensure for somatic psychology. The graduate school I went to had a somatics program but licensure in the field was (and still is) non-existent.
So what do I offer then? I provide one-on-one somatic sessions to help you improve regulation in your nervous system as described above.
How do I claim to be qualified to offer somatic sessions? Apart from my master’s degree, I finished a three-year program to become a Somatic Experiencing Practitioner. I also completed an additional three years of training to become a Master Level NARM Professional. Both Somatic Experiencing and NARM are the most recognized somatic trainings on a global level. It’s not therapy because I do not treat trauma—I help your nervous system recover from it.
Are Somatic Sessions Right for Me?
I would love to explore that question with you! A somatic approach can be helpful for many different reasons. If you’re currently in psychotherapy, somatic work can improve strength in your nervous system so you get the most out of your sessions. You may be interested in trying somatics because you feel like you’ve exhausted the benefits of psychotherapy. As a stand-alone, it can strengthen your mind-body connection in general so you feel more present in your life. My other blog entries explore many facets of a somatic approach and reasons you may want to try it. You can also click here to schedule a 25 minute consultation if you’re ready. I look forward to connecting with you.
Summary
Somatics is still an unregulated field that does not offer or require licensure to practice. Anyone can say they are a somatic practitioner without one bit of education or training. Buyer beware.
Professionals from varied fields may take somatic trainings. They do so to serve the populations they work with in a trauma-informed way. Some of these professionals take it one step further and offer services to directly help their clients enhance regulation in their nervous systems. They often advertise the title of “somatic practitioner”.
If a provider is advertising somatic “therapy” in the state of Utah, they need to have a license in mental health care to back it up. In this case, somatic therapy is short for somatic psychotherapy.
Learn MoreWhat Does a Typical Session Look Like? Part 1
This is probably the most common question I get from new clients. Somatics is still an emerging field and is practiced in many different ways. It makes sense that you’d want to know what my approach is and what to expect from a session together.
The truth is there is no “typical” session since each one is tailored to your individual needs, capacity and desired results. Your nervous system has its own characteristics and history which are all taken into consideration as we customize our approach.
Having said that, what I’ve written below will describe how I work and the central philosophies that inform my perspectives. For a more comprehensive context, read my other posts “What Does Somatic Mean?” and “What Does Somatic Mean? Part Two”.
The First Session
Our first session together will mostly involve deep listening on my part so I understand what you want from our time together.
I may ask you some of the following questions:
• “What do you hope to get out of somatics that you haven’t been able to experience with other healing modalities?”
• “How would your life be different day-to-day if somatics works for you the way you hope it will?”
• “How do you want to feel as a result of taking a somatic approach to your well-being?”
• “If you could wave a magic wand, what changes would you make to your life?”
• “Even if it’s not realistic, what would you hope to gain as a result of our work together?”
Discovering the answers to these questions will create the framework for our work. It sets the “north star”, so to speak. Every session thereafter will unfold within the context of your goals and intentions.
Subsequent Sessions
If you are coming to see me, it’s likely something is off in your mind-body connection. You’re tired from having to use techniques and practices to calm yourself. You wish you didn’t have to work so hard to manage triggers. You just want your nervous system to operate smoothly in the background so you can get on with living. You want your mind and body to work smoothly without having to try so hard.
The good news is that’s also the kind of relationship your mind and body want to have. They are biologically wired to work together seamlessly. More good news: that know-how is already in you. In other words, your nervous system comes with its own operational intelligence. A mechanical blueporint, if you will. That being the case, our job is to discover what is getting in the way of your mind-body doing what it already knows how to do. This forms the philosophical foundation to my work.
Why is That Important To Know?
For two reasons. First, it means that we will be looking to you for your answers and not the other way around. I don’t see myself as the authority you consult for the answers. You need to know this up front to decide whether or not we’re a match. If you’re in an urgent situation and need answers or solutions fast, I am not the somatic professional best-suited to support you.
Second, in order to uncover the answers in your mind-body, we will need to get to know its own unique language (more on this later). In each session we will engage in deep listening to learn where the disconnects are.
As they come to light, a reorganization in your nervous system happens. The gaps in are bridged and your system moves towards greater connection and efficiency. This happens organically and spontaneously. They don’t come about by me telling you to move, breathe, tap, stretch, think or effort in any particular way. The mind-body’s know-how is responsible.
When these moments occur, you might observe, “I feel more solid”, “I notice I’m more settled now”, “I feel lighter”, “I’m more like myself” or “I’m not as worried”. Your life haven’t suddenly changed but when your mind and body are integrated, you are more resourced to handle life.
So how do we get there? Read on in Part 2 to find out.
Summary
While there is no “typical” session, I work in reliable ways that are informed by my knowledge of the nervous system and certain philosophical principles. I believe your mind and body innately know how work together. The know-how is in you. Our work involves listening to your mind-body and learning its language so we know what it’s telling you. By following its instructions, we can discover where the disconnects are to support spontaneous reorganization toward wholeness. You will know in real time when this is happening by how you feel: lighter, less afraid, more solid and settled.
How I Got Into Somatics
Most “helping professionals” come into their careers by searching for answers to their own issues. I’m no exception. I grew up in a religious culture that put me at odds with my body. So when I had my first massage, a new world opened to me. I connected to my physical self through touch in a way that felt safe, healthy, and nourishing. From then on I was hooked. I enrolled in massage therapy school but through life’s twists and turns, I didn’t actually get licensed for ten more years.
Massage Therapy
As a massage therapist, it wasn’t long before I became aware of the different kinds of pain my clients experienced in their bodies. Some of it was straight forward. I could link it to things like repetitive use, postural misalignment or injury rehabilitation. Quite often, however, my clients had physical pain with no apparent cause. Moreover, they reported feeling the pain in their muscles yet it remained elusive to pinpoint. I believed their experiences were real, so then where was this pain coming from?
I didn’t know it then, but that question ultimately led me into the field of somatic (or “body”) psychology. Its focus is on how psychological, emotional or spiritual experience manifests in the physical body. A common example that showed up on my massage table were tight shoulders from chronic stress.
Somatic Psychology
I started Pacifica Graduate Institute’s graduate program in somatic psychology in the fall of 2012. I chose this unique program because I wouldn’t come out on the other side as a licensed mental health care professional. This was perfect for me. I didn’t want to become a psychotherapist—I wanted to be a somatic practitioner. That meant I could keep the emphasis of my work on the body, not the mind. I knew I was taking a chance because (as is true today) there is no licensure tract to become a somatic therapist. There would be no guaranteed work placement come graduation. I followed my heart anyway and graduated in 2014.
To make a long story short, it was during my studies that I figured out the most likely source of my massage clients’ pain: accumulated stress and unresolved trauma. Both cause dysregulation in the autonomic nervous system. Dysregulation generates all sorts of physical issues—chronic muscle tension being just one.
Somatic Trauma Healing
After grad school, I decided to get more specific training in somatic trauma healing. In 2017 I became a Somatic Experiencing Practitioner and in 2019, a professional in the NeuroAffective Relational Model (NARM). My private practice slowly grew from offering only massage therapy to what I do today: somatic trauma healing. To learn more or to find out if a somatic approach is right for you, click here to schedule a consultation.
What is Somatic Bodywork?
The purpose of somatic bodywork is to address the impact of trauma using the added element of physical touch. The appointment proceeds in a similar style as a “non-touch” Somatic Support session except with two main differences. First, as the client you are comfortably dressed while lying on the massage table as opposed to being seated in a chair. Second, as the somatic practitioner, I use still (non-moving) touch with light pressure to facilitate the trauma healing process.
Using touch in this way can be helpful for three main reasons.
1) It brings mindful awareness to the areas of your body impacted by trauma. These may be places that carry a surplus of energy (i.e., chronic tension, lack of mobility, constriction, pain, etc.). There may also be a notable lack of energy that you experience as diminished mind-body connection, sluggishness, decreased physical sensation, “stuckness”, impaired mechanical function, etc.
2) It can provide you with an added sense of safety and connection. Many people choose somatic bodywork over a dialogue-based somatic session for this very reason. “I’m very responsive to touch” or “Touch is my first language” are comments I often hear from clients for whom this is a good fit.
3) I have developed palpation skills over years of education and training as a touch professional. This allows the me to perceive activity in your nervous system through the tactile experience of vibration, temperature, texture, contraction and expansion. It also provides another way of connecting to the rhythms of breath, heart rate, muscle tension—other indicators of nervous system activity.
Using touch does not necessarily make the session more or less effective than Somatic Experiencing® and/or NARM alone. It just makes it more customized to your preferences and needs, especially if you respond to touch with an increased experienced of safety.
Somatic Bodywork is not massage therapy. Somatic Bodywork is not psychotherapy. Jenny Winkel is not a licensed mental health care professional. If you have any questions as to whether or not Somatic Bodywork may be right for you, scheduling a consultation may be a good place to start.
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