Somatic Therapy in San Francisco: A Way Back to Yourself

If you're searching for somatic therapy or somatic coaching in the San Francisco Bay Area, you're probably carrying something heavy. Maybe you’ve already done years of talk therapy. Maybe you can name your trauma in detail. You’re functioning, but something still feels off. Disconnected. Numb. Like you left part of yourself behind.

This work doesn’t just ask, “What happened?” It asks, “What’s happening right now, in your body?” And that’s often where real change begins.
Here’s what somatic therapy is, how it works, and what it can offer if you’re ready to feel more like yourself again.

What Is Somatic Coaching?
Somatic coaching is body-based work that helps you tune into the deeper patterns your nervous system is carrying. The ones that live under the surface. The ones that keep you stuck in cycles of shutdown, self-blame, panic, or avoidance.

This isn’t mindset work. It’s not about thinking differently. It’s about becoming aware of what your body is doing when you're overwhelmed, afraid, or trying to protect yourself—and learning new ways to respond.
In sessions, we pay close attention to physical sensation. Your breath. The tightness in your belly. The way your shoulders rise when you feel shame. The pull to disconnect. We move slowly, so your system can stay with the experience. Noticing. Tracking. Staying present.

This kind of attention rewires the system. It makes space for new choices. Over time, you start to feel more connected, more grounded, and more like yourself.

What Somatic Therapy Can Help With
Whether you're navigating a recent rupture or carrying trauma from years ago, this work meets you where you are.
Somatic therapy is especially helpful for:

• Trauma (developmental, chronic, or acute)
• PTSD and complex PTSD
• Anxiety, panic, and hypervigilance
• Emotional numbness and shutdown
• Shame and self-abandonment
• Disconnection from your body
• Grief and heartbreak
• Relational or intimacy struggles
• Chronic tension or stress
• Burnout or creative block

You don’t need to have a diagnosis. You don’t need to explain everything right away. You just need to be willing to get curious about what your body’s holding, and what it might be ready to let go of.

How Somatic Coaching Works
This isn’t a performance. You don’t need to come in with the “right” story. You don’t need to be articulate or self-aware. You just need to show up.

Together, we slow down. We track what’s happening in your system. That might mean noticing the urge to withdraw, the flutter in your chest, or the tears that show up out of nowhere. We stay with it. We support your body to feel safe, regulated, and more spacious. That’s where healing begins.

We might use breath, movement, sound, visualization, or gentle touch (with consent). You’ll practice new ways of relating to yourself and to sensation—not just in theory, but in real time.

This isn’t about fixing what’s broken. It’s about learning to be with yourself in a new way. A way that brings choice, compassion, and resilience online.

Types of Somatic Work You Might Encounter
There are many ways to practice somatic therapy. In my own work, I draw from several different traditions depending on what’s needed. These include:

• Somatic Experiencing (SE): A body-based approach developed by Peter Levine that supports nervous system regulation by helping the body complete threat responses.
• Sensorimotor Psychotherapy: Combines body awareness with attachment and cognitive work to process trauma and relational wounding
• EMDR: Uses bilateral stimulation to support trauma reprocessing.
• Strozzi Somatics and generative somatics.
• The Hakomi Method: A mindfulness-based modality focused on uncovering and transforming body-held beliefs.

I don’t follow a script. The work is collaborative and tailored. You bring your body and your truth. I bring my training, presence, and care.

What Somatic Coaching Can Offer
Imagine feeling calm in your own skin.
Imagine your body as an ally instead of a battleground.
Imagine knowing what you need—and trusting yourself to ask for it.
Here’s what clients often experience from this work:

• Feeling grounded and resourced
• Interrupting shame and self-judgment
• Releasing chronic tension
• Understanding your triggers and responding with choice
• Repairing your relationship with your body
• Making room for pleasure and rest
• Saying no without guilt
• Feeling safe enough to be seen

You don’t have to keep pushing through. You don’t have to keep holding your breath. There’s another way.

What to Expect in a Session
Somatic coaching starts with a real conversation. We’ll talk about what’s been going on, and what you’re hoping for. But the work itself happens below the level of explanation.
I’ll guide you through practices that help your body feel a little more safe, a little more steady. We build capacity, bit by bit. We learn what brings you out of survival mode. And we practice what it feels like to stay present, even when things are hard.
It’s slow work. Sometimes it’s quiet. But it’s deeply transformational.

Ready to Begin?
If something in you is saying yes, even quietly, I invite you to listen.
I offer somatic therapy and coaching in San Francisco, New York, and online. My work is queer and trans-affirming, trauma-informed, and rooted in consent and care.
You don’t have to carry it alone anymore. Let’s begin.
Confidential. No pressure. Just a chance to feel what’s possible.