Somatic Therapy in Portland, Oregon
Heal through the body.
Regulate your nervous system. Feel safe again.
When stress, trauma, anxiety, or depression live in the body, insight alone often isn’t enough to create lasting change. You may understand why you feel the way you do — yet still feel stuck in patterns of overwhelm, shutdown, tension, or emotional reactivity. Somatic therapy is especially effective for trauma and PTSD, domestic violence recovery, sexual assault, and chronic illness or disability .
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At Health Allies Counseling, we use somatic therapy to help adults gently reconnect with their bodies, regulate their nervous systems, and release stored stress and trauma — at a pace that feels safe, grounded, and empowering. We welcome clients in person in our offices in SE Portland and throughout Oregon via telehealth, including Portland, Eugene, Salem, Bend, and rural communities statewide.
How will somatic therapy help me?
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What is somatic therapy?
Somatic therapy is a body-based approach to mental health that recognizes how experiences — especially stress and trauma — are stored in the nervous system, muscles, breath, and physiology.
Rather than focusing only on thoughts or narratives, somatic therapy helps you:
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Notice physical sensations
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Track nervous system responses
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Build body awareness and safety
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Release stored tension or survival energy
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Restore a sense of control and regulation
Somatic therapy works with the body’s natural healing capacity — helping you move out of survival mode and into greater calm, presence, and connection.
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What symptoms is somatic therapy good for?
Somatic therapy can be especially effective for people experiencing:
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Anxiety or panic
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Chronic stress or burnout
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Depression or emotional numbness
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Trauma or complex trauma
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Overwhelm or shutdown
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Dissociation or feeling disconnected from the body
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Chronic tension or pain related to stress
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Difficulty relaxing or sleeping
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Feeling “on edge” or hypervigilant
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You don’t need to relive or retell traumatic experiences for somatic therapy to work. The focus is on what’s happening now in your body — and how to support it toward regulation and safety.
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Is somatic therapy right for you?
Somatic therapy may be a good fit if you:
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Feel your anxiety or depression mostly in your body
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Get overwhelmed or shut down easily
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Feel disconnected from your body or emotions
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Have tried talk therapy but still feel stuck
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Want tools to calm your nervous system
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Prefer a gentle, non-verbal approach
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Want to feel safer, steadier, and more present
Somatic therapy is often integrated with other approaches like CBT, EMDR, Brainspotting, or IFS — depending on your needs and goals.
Does this sound like you?
Find a therapist
that can help you with these concerns now