What is somatic psychotherapy? A simple way to answer the question might be to say that it is psychotherapy in the age of neuroscience. It no longer makes sense to treat what happens in the mind as separate from embodied experience. Much of our experience is implicit rather than explicit, and somatic mindfulness allows us to access and process the implicit as embodied experience.
For instance: It has forever been a cliche that “experience changes us”. Now, we know that this is not just a metaphor. Experience actually changes our brain, as Nobel Prize winner Eric Kandel states: “The growth and maintenance of new synaptic terminals makes memory persist. Thus, if you remember anything of this book, it will be because your brain is slightly different after you have finished reading it.” — Eric Kandel: In Search of Memory: The Emergence of a New Science of Mind.
In practice, what does a somatic psychotherapist do? Somatic psychotherapy is a rich and vibrant field. There are many approaches to it. This podcast provides conversations with a wide range of practitioners, encompassing a wide range of perspectives. We focus on somatic psychology, relational therapies, mindfulness, and trauma therapies. See conversations about psychotherapy.