Holistic/somatic psychotherapy honors the connection between body, mind, and spirit. Most of us live a certain distance from our bodies. Through holistic/somatic psychotherapy, we begin to bridge the gap between our body and mind, and feel more integrated. Working holistically helps to cut through the mind's defenses, and arrive at layers of meaning and associations in a non-linear way.
Holistic/somatic psychotherapy is especially effective with managing and moving through areas of stuckness, whether that stuckness manifests as:
- depression
- anxiety
- trauma
- chronic somatic symptoms
Somatic psychotherapy integrates breath, experiential awareness exercises, meditation, mindfulness-based movement, such as yoga and authentic movement, with traditional techniques of talking and psycho-education in order to create change. The focus of the process remains on your internal experience in order to tap the inherent wisdom that resides in your bodymind.
In somatic psychotherapy we mindfully track our felt sensations in breath, movement and stillness to develop a greater understanding and appreciation of how we have organized ourselves around certain beliefs and habits. Through embodied awareness, we can unlock holding patterns which no longer serve us and create more choices for ourselves. We also have an opportunity to develop greater presence, openness and curiosity toward ourselves and the world around us.
To the degree that clients are interested in holistic approaches to therapy, sessions could integrate elements of:
Guided Meditation
Expressive arts
Dreamwork
Sandtray
"When you know how you are organizing your experience, you become free to organize it in new ways. When you change not just what you experience, but how you experience, you have transcended…you now have new options”
– Ron Kurtz
Our bodies are a gateway to our unconscious feelings and emotions.
Our bodies are the signatures of who we are as expressed through movement patterns, gesture, voice, and facial expressions.
It is through our bodies that we experience transformation, as change can only occur in the present.
Phone: (323) 878 - 5588
Sayun Scotton, MA, MFT
Phone: (323) 878 - 5588
Licensed Marriage and Family Therapist
