Q & A
Everything you need to know about
Integrative Somatic Psychotherapy
- Trauma Healing and more…
You asked…
I have put together answers to the most frequently asked questions that may help you get started, deepening your understanding of Integrative Somatic Psychology, Trauma Therapy and how we can work together.
If you don’t find your answers here, please reach out to me directly and I will be happy to help
Answers to your
Questions
Understanding Trauma &
The Nervous System
？How does trauma affect the nervous system?
✎ Trauma rewires the nervous system into survival mode—causing fight, flight, freeze, or fawn responses long after the event. Understanding this helps you work with your body, not against it.
？How can I tell if my nervous system is dysregulated?
✎ Symptoms like chronic anxiety, hypervigilance, exhaustion, emotional numbness, dissociation, trouble sleeping, difficulty relaxing, unexplained body tension, pain or gut issues, or feeling “stuck” all point to nervous system dysregulation.
？What role does the parasympathetic nervous system play in trauma recovery?
✎ The parasympathetic nervous system (PNS) is responsible for rest, digestion, and repair mode, which is key to healing. When trauma dysregulates the nervous system, the PNS can struggle to activate, leaving people stuck in fight-or-flight (hyperarousal) or freeze (shutdown) states. Somatic therapy helps restore parasympathetic balance, helping people shift out of survival states back into safety.
Somatic Therapy &
Healing Trauma Responses
？What is somatic therapy, and how does it differ from traditional talk therapy?
✎ Unlike talk therapy, somatic therapy works directly with the body, helping you process trauma without needing to rehash painful stories.
？What can I expect during a somatic therapy session?
✎ A mix of gentle movement, body awareness, breathwork, and guided exercises to help you regulate, release, and reconnect with yourself. A session typically involves:
✅ Grounding techniques to establish safety
✅ Guided awareness of bodily sensations, emotions, and breath
✅ Slow, mindful movements or gentle self-touch (if applicable)
✅ Tracking nervous system states and learning self-regulation tools
✅ Completing stuck trauma responses (e.g., shaking, sighing, deep breathing…)
Sessions are collaborative, meaning the therapist helps you stay within a manageable window of tolerance to avoid retraumatization.
？Is it necessary to talk about my traumatic experiences during somatic therapy?
✎ No! You don’t have to “relive” trauma to heal it. Somatic therapy allows your body to complete trauma responses and release stored survival energy without words.
？How does somatic therapy facilitate the completion of trauma responses?
✎ Trauma gets “stuck” when survival responses (fight, flight, freeze, fawn, collape or shutdown) don’t get to complete. Somatic therapy helps finish these cycles so the body can return to safety.
？How does somatic therapy address dissociation or feeling disconnected from the body?
✎ Dissociation is a survival response. Somatic therapy gently rebuilds connection by reintroducing small, safe bodily sensations—helping you return to your body without fear (using micro-movements, rebuilding safety so that you can inhabit your body gradually).
？Can somatic therapy help with PTSD and complex PTSD?
✎ Yes! Somatic therapy is one of the most effective approaches for healing PTSD and C-PTSD by directly working with nervous system dysregulation, stored trauma responses, emotional flashbacks and attachment wounds.
Nervous System Regulation
& Emotional Healing
？What techniques are used in somatic therapy to regulate the nervous system?
✎ Tools like grounding, orienting, pendulation, breathwork, and micro-movements help bring the body back into balance.
？What should I do if I feel overwhelmed during a somatic therapy session?
✎ Your therapist helps slow things down, titrate, and regulate. If overwhelm arises, techniques like grounding, movement, or deepening breath bring you back to safety. Monika teaches you these nervous system regulation tools in sessions so that you feel more confident and prepared to carry your healing outside the sessions as and when triggers arise.
？How does somatic therapy help in releasing repressed emotions?
✎ Using body awareness to track where emotions are stuck, Allowing safe expression of suppressed emotions and Encouraging small movements, sound, or breath to discharge stored energy.
Rebuilding Safety, Self-Trust
& Relationships
？How does somatic therapy improve self-trust and emotional resilience?
✎ Trauma makes us distrust our bodies and instincts. Somatic therapy helps you rebuild that trust, making it easier to feel safe, set boundaries, and express yourself.
？Can somatic therapy improve my relationships and social interactions?
✎ Absolutely! Somatic healing releases old relational patterns, attachment wounds, and survival instincts—allowing for healthier, more connected relationships.
？How does somatic therapy help in building resilience against future stressors?
✎ By rewiring your nervous system, you develop greater stress tolerance, emotional balance, and the ability to self-regulate under pressure.
？Can somatic therapy assist in healing from relational or attachment trauma?
✎ Absolutely. Relational trauma affects the nervous system’s capacity for trust, safety, and connection. Somatic therapy helps by:
💛 Rebuilding a sense of felt safety in relationships
💛 Releasing unconscious freeze or fawn survival responses
💛 Strengthening self-trust and boundaries
Your Somatic
Session Experience
？How can I prepare for my first somatic therapy session?
✎ No special preparation is needed, but here’s what helps:
🔹 Wear comfortable clothing to allow movement
🔹 Set an intention – What do you want to explore or heal?
🔹 Be open to nonverbal healing – You don’t need to “figure it out” mentally
🔹 Come as you are – Every session meets you where you are, without pressure
？What should I do if I feel overwhelmed during a somatic therapy session?
✎ Your therapist Monika will guide you to slow down, titrate, and stay within your window of tolerance, using techniques such as Orienting, Grounding, Pendulation and others.
？How many somatic therapy sessions are typically needed to see improvement?
✎ The number of sessions varies based on individual needs, but many people notice changes within a few sessions. Those with complex trauma or deep nervous system dysregulation may benefit from ongoing work over several months. Progress depends on consistency, self-regulation practices, and the depth of healing needed.
？Are there self-help practices to support nervous system regulation between sessions?
✎ Yes! Some powerful daily practices include: Vagus nerve activation, Breathwork, Shaking or intuitive movement to release stored tension, Orienting to safety, Grounding techniques Monika will explore these with you in a session.
？What are some common signs of progress in somatic therapy?
✎ Feeling safer in your body, Less intense emotional triggers, Improved ability to set boundaries and Greater access to joy and spontaneity. Having worked with people with chronic pain or gut issues, these have also either significantly improved or vanished altogether for my clients (e.g. back pain).
？Are there any risks or side effects associated with somatic therapy?
✎ As this is an experiential type of therapy, we will explore what feels and doesn’t feel good to you, so you are always in control. Sometimes individuals may experience temporary discomfort or emotional flooding when beginning to work on traumatic experiences. A trauma-informed therapist will pace the work to avoid overwhelm and ensure a gentle, titrated healing process. Monika also has powerful tools to help you manage triggers between sessions to bring yourself back to calm regulated state.
Other Questions
Often asked
？How does somatic therapy address chronic pain related to trauma?
✎ Unprocessed trauma can cause tension, inflammation, and chronic pain by keeping the nervous system stuck in survival mode. Somatic therapy helps by: Releasing stored stress patterns in muscles and fascia, Rewiring pain responses through neuroplasticity and Teaching relaxation and self-regulation tools to reduce physical symptoms.
？Can somatic therapy help with symptoms like anxiety and depression?
✎ Yes! Anxiety and depression are often linked to nervous system dysregulation and unprocessed trauma. Somatic therapy helps by:
Regulating the nervous system to reduce hypervigilance and shutdown states, Releasing stored survival stress in the body, and Reconnecting you with sensations of safety and presence.
？What is the difference between Somatic Experiencing and other forms of somatic therapy?
✎ Somatic Experiencing (SE) focuses on completing stuck trauma responses by tracking bodily sensations, while other approaches like Sensorimotor Psychotherapy (SP) integrate movement and developmental repair, and Body-Centered EMDR combines somatic tracking with eye movements.
？Can somatic therapy be beneficial for individuals without a specific trauma history?
✎ Yes! Somatic therapy is not just for trauma healing—it also: Improves emotional resilience, Reduces chronic stress, Helps with self-awareness & personal growth and Deepens mind-body connection
What is Integrative
Somatic Psychotherapy
？What is Integrative Somatic Psychotherapy?
✎ Integrative Somatic Psychotherapy is a body-based approach to trauma healing that combines somatic therapy, neuroscience, attachment theory, and trauma-informed psychotherapy to support deep healing. It focuses on how trauma is stored in the nervous system and helps regulate emotions by working directly with the body's sensations, breath, and movement.
？How is Integrative Somatic Psychoherapy (ISP) different from traditional talk therapy?
✎ Unlike traditional talk therapy, which primarily focuses on cognitive processing and verbal expression, somatic therapy works with the nervous system and body-based memories that words alone cannot access. By integrating body awareness, movement, breathwork, and trauma-processing techniques, somatic therapy helps release trauma stored in the body, leading to deeper, more lasting healing.
？Who can benefit from Integrative Somatic Psychotherapy?
✎ Anyone struggling with trauma, PTSD, CPTSD, anxiety, chronic stress, dissociation, emotional numbness, chronic pain, relationship issues, or nervous system dysregulation can benefit. It’s particularly effective for those who feel stuck, disconnected, or unable to heal fully through traditional therapy alone.
？How does Integrative Somatic Psychotherapy help heal trauma?
✎ By guiding you to tune into bodily sensations, breath, movement, and nervous system patterns, integrative somatic psychotherapy helps release stored trauma in a safe, gradual, and regulated way. It supports the body in completing unprocessed survival responses, restoring safety, and rebuilding self-trust.
？What happens in a Somatic Therapy session?
✎ A session may include:
Body Awareness & Tracking: Guiding you to notice physical sensations, emotions, and breath patterns
Nervous System Regulation: Teaching techniques to calm, ground, and restore safety
Processing Trauma in a Safe Way: Using movement, breath, EMDR, IFS, or other techniques to help release stored survival responses
Building Self-Trust: Helping you reconnect to your body’s wisdom and signals
？What techniques are used in Integrative Somatic Psychotherapy?
✎ A variety of body-based and neuroscience-backed techniques are used, including:
✔ Somatic Awareness & Tracking (noticing bodily sensations and responses)
✔ Nervous System Regulation (polyvagal-informed techniques to restore safety)
✔ Trauma Release Work (shaking, movement, breathwork to release stored survival responses)
✔ EMDR & Parts Work (IFS) (processing trauma through body-mind integration)
✔ Touch-Based Somatic Therapy (if appropriate, to support nervous system co-regulation)
？How do I know if Integrative Somatic Psychotherapy is right for me?
✎ If you’ve tried talk therapy (traditional counselling) but still feel stuck, disconnected, or dysregulated, somatic therapy may be the missing piece. It is ideal if you:
✔ Struggle with CPTSD, PTSD, or nervous system dysregulation
✔ Feel disconnected from your body or emotions
✔ Experience chronic stress, anxiety, or depression
✔ Want a deeper, body-based approach to healing
How to choose the Right
Modality for your Healing Journey
Healing is not a one-size-fits-all process—it's deeply personal and ever-evolving. I work in an experiential, intuitive manner, drawing from a range of evidence-based modalities, including EMDR, IFS, Somatic Experiencing, Integrative Somatic Psychotherapy, PSYCH-K, Breathwork, Polyvagal Theory, Spiritual practices and more. Together, we explore what resonates most with you, tailoring each session to your unique needs. Some modalities may feel more aligned at different stages of your healing, and that’s completely natural. Whether you need deep trauma processing, nervous system regulation, or inner parts work, we’ll find the right approach to support your journey toward lasting transformation. Here are some key insights into the transformative power of each modality.
✨If you want to release traumatic memories stored in the nervous system, use EMDR.
✎ Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing (EMDR) rewires how the brain processes trauma, helping you desensitize distressing memories and reprocess them safely so they no longer feel overwhelming.
✨If you want to heal deep emotional wounds and internal conflicts, use IFS.
✎ Internal Family Systems (IFS) helps you befriend and integrate the wounded parts of yourself, transforming self-sabotage, inner criticism, and emotional pain into inner harmony and self-leadership.
✨If you want to process trauma through the body and release survival energy, use Somatic Experiencing.
✎ Somatic Experiencing (SE) teaches you to complete unfinished trauma responses (fight, flight, freeze, fawn, collapse), restoring nervous system balance and helping you feel safe in your body again.
✨If you want to rewire subconscious beliefs that are keeping you stuck, use PSYCH-K.
✎ PSYCH-K is a powerful tool for rapid subconscious reprogramming, shifting limiting beliefs into empowering ones so you can experience deep transformation at the root level.
✨If you want to regulate your nervous system and build resilience, use Polyvagal Theory-based practices.
Understanding Polyvagal Theory helps you map your nervous system states, learn when you're dysregulated, and use tailored techniques to move from survival mode into safety and connection.
✨If you want a holistic, mind-body approach to trauma healing, use Integrative Somatic Psychotherapy.
✎ Integrative Somatic Psychotherapy blends EMDR, IFS, Somatic Experiencing, Polyvagal Theory, and subconscious healing to create deep, lasting change—helping you heal trauma from the inside out.
Each modality works in its own way, but together, they create a powerful path toward nervous system healing, emotional liberation, and self-transformation. 💛
Integrative Somatic Psychotherapy is a gentle yet powerful science-backed approach to healing trauma, regulating the nervous system, and reclaiming your sense of safety, ease, and connection. Whether you’re healing deep wounds, overcoming anxiety, depression or simply wanting to feel more embodied, somatic therapy offers real, lasting transformation from the inside out.
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To live by choice,
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To listen to
my inner voice,
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