Integrative Somatic Therapy is a holistic, body-centered healing approach that acknowledges the deep connection between the body, mind, and emotions. Unlike traditional talk-based therapies, which primarily focus on cognitive and emotional processing, this therapy works directly with the body’s sensations, breath, movement, and energy to support healing and transformation. The premise behind Integrative Somatic Therapy is that stress, trauma, and emotional experiences are not only stored in the mind but also imprinted within the body’s nervous system, muscles, and tissues. When left unprocessed, these stored experiences can manifest as emotional blockages, tension, chronic stress, or feelings of disconnection. By tuning into the body’s natural intelligence and engaging in breathwork, movement, mindfulness, guided visualization, and therapeutic touch, individuals can release stored emotional patterns, regulate their nervous system, and cultivate a deeper sense of emotional balance and inner harmony. This approach is particularly supportive for those experiencing anxiety, stress, past emotional wounds, nervous system dysregulation, or feelings of being stuck. The therapy provides a gentle yet powerful way to reconnect with oneself, build emotional resilience, and embrace a more present, embodied, and peaceful state of being. Integrative Somatic Therapy creates a safe and supportive space for deep self-exploration and healing, helping individuals regain a sense of wholeness, empowerment, and emotional freedom through a compassionate, body-focused process.
Integrative Somatic Therapy works by guiding individuals into deeper awareness of their bodies to uncover and release emotional patterns, stored stress, and energetic blockages in a natural and holistic way. Rather than relying solely on conversation, this therapy helps individuals access the wisdom stored in their physical body, allowing for deep emotional shifts and lasting healing.
Each session is tailored to the individual’s needs and involves a combination of gentle, body-based techniques designed to promote relaxation, emotional balance, and self-awareness. These techniques may include:
Breath is a powerful tool for grounding, calming the nervous system, and releasing emotional tension. By guiding clients through conscious, deep breathing exercises, this practice helps to shift emotional energy and promote relaxation.
Sessions may include guided meditations and visualizations to help access deeper layers of the subconscious mind and emotional body. These techniques encourage self-exploration, emotional release, and inner clarity.
Physical movement plays an important role in shifting stuck energy and promoting a sense of freedom in the body. Through subtle, mindful movements, clients can release muscular tension, realign their posture, and enhance their connection to bodily sensations.
Feeling safe within the body is a key aspect of healing. Integrative Somatic Therapy incorporates safety statements, grounding techniques, and reparenting practices to help individuals build a deeper sense of emotional security and self-trust.
For some clients, gentle therapeutic touch can be beneficial in releasing tension, soothing the nervous system, and restoring balance. This may include light touch, hand placement, or energetic work, always practiced with clear consent and professional boundaries.
Through body awareness techniques, clients can gently access, process, and release long-held emotions that may have been suppressed due to past experiences. This helps to create a sense of emotional freedom and inner lightness.
Integrative Somatic Therapy encourages self-acceptance, emotional resilience, and inner peace through mindfulness-based practices. Clients are guided to develop greater self-awareness, patience, and compassion towards themselves.
The body has an innate ability to heal itself when given the right conditions. This therapy helps individuals to listen to their bodies, honor their emotions, and develop a deeper trust in their own inner guidance.
Integrative Somatic Therapy is a deeply nurturing, non-invasive, and intuitive healing practice designed to support individuals in feeling safe, connected, and emotionally balanced. Whether working through stress, past experiences, or simply seeking greater self-awareness, this holistic approach provides a transformative space for healing, growth, and self-discovery.
By addressing both the body and mind, clients can experience profound shifts in their emotional well-being, physical relaxation, and overall sense of self—helping them to move forward with greater clarity, confidence, and peace.
If you’re looking for a holistic, body-centered approach to emotional healing and self-awareness, Integrative Somatic Therapy offers a natural and empowering path towards balance, relaxation, and inner freedom.
Integrative Somatic Therapy is a holistic, body-centered healing approach that supports emotional well-being and nervous system regulation through gentle, mindful practices. Each session is tailored to the individual’s needs, creating a safe and supportive space to explore emotional patterns, release stored tension, and foster deep self-awareness.
A session is a collaborative process where we work together to tune into the body’s wisdom and allow space for healing. Rather than focusing solely on talking about challenges, we engage in experiential practices that help access emotions, sensations, and subconscious patterns stored in the body.
Each session begins with a gentle check-in, where we explore what’s coming up for you emotionally, physically, or energetically. We may discuss any stress, emotional blocks, past experiences, or sensations in the body that feel relevant. From here, we set an intention for the session, aligning our focus with your healing journey.
Breathwork is a core component of somatic healing, helping to regulate the nervous system and shift into a state of relaxation and presence. Conscious breathing techniques encourage deep embodiment, emotional release, and reconnection with the self.
Somatic therapy encourages tuning into bodily sensations as a gateway to deeper healing. Through gentle mindfulness techniques, we bring awareness to physical tension, emotional discomfort, or areas that feel numb or disconnected. This process fosters a compassionate connection with the body, allowing emotions to surface safely.
Guided visualizations help access deep-seated emotional patterns, inner child wounds, and subconscious memories stored in the body. Through symbolic imagery and intuitive exploration, we create space for insight, release, and healing in a way that feels safe and natural.
Throughout the session, we integrate grounding techniques and safety affirmations to support emotional regulation. These can include:
These techniques help anchor the nervous system and reinforce a sense of stability, self-trust, and emotional resilience.
For some individuals, light, intentional touch can support deeper relaxation, emotional processing, and nervous system regulation. This may involve:
All forms of touch are optional, always discussed in advance, and offered with full consent and respect for boundaries.
As the session draws to a close, we take time to reflect on insights, sensations, and emotional shifts. You may receive gentle suggestions for self-care, journaling prompts, or grounding practices to continue supporting your healing outside the session.
We ensure that you leave the session feeling regulated, present, and supported, rather than overwhelmed.
Each Integrative Somatic Therapy session is uniquely tailored to your needs, offering a gentle and non-judgmental space for self-exploration and healing. There is no forcing or retraumatization—only a deep listening to the body’s wisdom and an invitation to reconnect with your inner self.
This process supports emotional resilience, deeper self-awareness, and a sense of inner peace, allowing you to navigate life with greater ease and empowerment.
What Is the Difference Between Somatic Therapy and Traditional Talk Therapy?
While both Somatic Therapy and Traditional Talk Therapy aim to promote emotional healing, they differ significantly in their approaches and techniques. Understanding these differences can help you determine which therapeutic method may be best suited to your needs.
Mind-Body Connection vs. Cognitive Focus
Healing Through Body Awareness
Techniques Used
Treatment of Trauma
Integration of Physical and Emotional Healing
Both approaches have their strengths, but if you are seeking a holistic method that addresses both mind and body, Somatic Therapy might be the right choice for you. At Blissful Evolution, we offer personalized somatic healing sessions that work to bring balance to both your emotional and physical well-being.
Integrative Somatic Therapy and Somatic Healing offer a holistic, body-centered approach to emotional well-being, helping individuals process and release stored tension, stress, and trauma in a gentle and supportive way. Unlike traditional talk therapy, this mind-body healing modality works with bodily sensations, breathwork, movement, and mindfulness techniques to create deep, lasting transformation.
Somatic healing is rooted in the understanding that the body holds onto past experiences, emotions, and traumas, and that by engaging with the body’s wisdom, we can facilitate nervous system regulation, emotional balance, and personal empowerment. Whether you are looking to overcome stress, release emotional blockages, or cultivate a deeper connection with yourself, Integrative Somatic Therapy provides a natural and intuitive way to support your healing journey.
Many individuals store unprocessed emotions and past traumas in the body, leading to chronic stress, anxiety, and tension. Somatic therapy helps to gently access and release these suppressed emotions, allowing you to process experiences in a safe and grounded way.
Chronic stress and trauma can lead to dysregulation in the nervous system, causing heightened states of fight, flight, freeze, or shutdown. Somatic healing techniques such as breathwork, guided visualization, and grounding exercises help to restore balance, relaxation, and emotional stability.
Somatic therapy encourages a deep awareness of bodily sensations, emotional states, and subconscious patterns. This heightened self-awareness fosters a greater connection to your intuition, allowing for more aligned and empowered decision-making in daily life.
Emotional stress often manifests as physical tension, pain, or discomfort in areas such as the neck, shoulders, back, or gut. Somatic therapy uses gentle movement, breath awareness, and relaxation techniques to release stored tension and encourage natural ease and flow in the body.
Many individuals who have experienced emotional wounds, past trauma, or childhood conditioning struggle with a lack of safety within themselves. Somatic healing fosters self-compassion, grounding, and emotional security, helping you to feel safe, centered, and in control of your responses.
By shifting focus from overthinking and mental chatter to bodily sensations and breath, somatic healing helps to reduce anxiety symptoms, promoting a sense of calm, relaxation, and present-moment awareness.
Unresolved experiences from childhood can lead to repetitive emotional cycles, self-sabotaging behaviours, and limiting beliefs. Somatic therapy helps to gently access, reparent, and heal the wounded inner child, creating space for emotional growth, self-love, and empowerment.
Somatic healing supports individuals in recognizing where they give away their energy or struggle with boundaries. By fostering a deeper connection to bodily signals, clients become more attuned to when to say yes, when to say no, and how to honor their own needs without guilt.
Many individuals struggle with self-criticism, shame, and emotional disconnection. Somatic therapy provides a space to nurture self-compassion, acceptance, and emotional healing, allowing for a greater sense of peace, confidence, and self-worth.
For those on a spiritual or self-development journey, somatic healing can act as a transformative tool to unlock intuition, energy flow, and deeper self-understanding. This approach allows for a holistic expansion of mind, body, and spirit, supporting individuals in living a more authentic and aligned life.
Integrative Somatic Therapy and Somatic Healing are beneficial for those seeking a body-based approach to emotional healing. Whether you are dealing with stress, past trauma, emotional wounds, nervous system imbalances, or simply want to feel more connected to yourself, this practice provides a gentle and effective pathway toward wholeness and transformation.
Through breathwork, movement, visualization, and mindfulness, individuals are guided towards emotional balance, deep relaxation, and a profound sense of self-awareness.
If you are ready to explore a more embodied, intuitive, and holistic way of healing, somatic therapy may be the right path for you.
Aspect | Integrative Somatic Therapy | Somatic Experiencing (SE) |
---|---|---|
Approach | A holistic, body-mind approach that integrates various healing modalities, including breathwork, visualization, movement, and therapeutic touch to support emotional regulation and well-being. | A trauma-focused therapeutic method that works primarily with nervous system regulation to discharge stored survival energy from past trauma. |
Focus | Addresses emotional blockages, stored tension, stress, and trauma while also emphasizing self-awareness, embodiment, and personal growth. | Focuses primarily on nervous system dysregulation and the body’s innate ability to heal trauma through gradual release of survival responses. |
Techniques Used | Combines breathwork, guided meditation, body scanning, somatic movement, visualization, intention setting, therapeutic touch, and reparenting techniques. | Uses pendulation, titration, resourcing, and slow tracking of bodily sensations to help process traumatic memories safely. |
Underlying Philosophy | Recognizes that emotional distress and past experiences are stored in the body and can be accessed through intentional somatic practices to release tension and cultivate resilience. | Based on biological survival responses, Somatic Experiencing identifies how trauma gets “stuck” in the nervous system and aims to restore self-regulation. |
Sessions Involve | A collaborative and intuitive process that involves discussion, body-based exercises, and a blend of somatic therapy, mindfulness, and holistic healing techniques. | A gradual, therapist-guided approach that tracks subtle bodily sensations to slowly release stored trauma in a controlled and safe manner. |
Use of Therapeutic Touch | May involve light, intentional therapeutic touch to support grounding, emotional safety, and body awareness. Touch is always discussed and consent-based. | Primarily a non-touch therapy, although some SE practitioners may use supportive touch in specific cases to help regulate the nervous system. |
Emphasis on Self-Healing | Empowers individuals to connect with their body’s wisdom, identify emotional patterns, and develop personal healing tools beyond the session. | Works on resetting the nervous system, often requiring a longer-term therapeutic relationship for deep trauma processing. |
Who It’s For? | Ideal for those seeking emotional release, stress relief, inner child healing, self-awareness, and mind-body integration. Suitable for personal growth, emotional resilience, and releasing deep-seated patterns. | Recommended for individuals recovering from PTSD, chronic trauma, shock trauma, or nervous system dysregulation caused by past overwhelming events. |
Scope of Practice | A holistic healing approach accredited by the International Practitioners of Holistic Medicine (IPHM). It is not psychotherapy or a substitute for medical treatment. | A clinically recognized trauma therapy developed by Dr. Peter Levine, often used by psychotherapists, counselors, and trauma specialists. |
Accreditation & Regulation | Holistic, non-medical practice accredited by holistic organizations such as IPHM. Not governed by psychotherapy bodies like IACP, BACP, or APA. | Regulated by Somatic Experiencing International (SEI), with practitioners requiring official SE training and certification. |
Best For | – Emotional release & stress management – Exploring mind-body connection – Addressing childhood wounds (inner child work) – Restoring a sense of balance & safety | – Recovering from acute trauma/PTSD – Nervous system dysregulation – Chronic stress & anxiety related to past trauma – Releasing fight/flight/freeze patterns |
Both approaches support the body’s ability to heal, but Integrative Somatic Therapy is broader and more holistic, while Somatic Experiencing is trauma-specific and clinical in nature.
Both Integrative Somatic Therapy and Somatic Experiencing focus on healing through the mind-body connection, but they differ in approach, philosophy, and techniques. Below is a breakdown of how they compare:
If you’re looking for a gentle, holistic approach that incorporates mindfulness, energy healing, and body awareness, Integrative Somatic Therapy may be a better fit. If you’re dealing with deep trauma or PTSD and need a structured trauma-release process, Somatic Experiencing could be beneficial.
The Integrative Somatic Therapy service offered here is purely holistic and accredited by the International Practitioners of Holistic Medicine (IPHM). It is not a substitute for psychotherapy, counseling, or medical treatment. If you require medical or psychological care, please consult a licensed professional.
Integrative Somatic Therapy is a holistic mind-body healing approach that helps individuals release stored emotions, tension, and trauma through techniques such as breathwork, guided meditation, body awareness, and therapeutic touch. It focuses on nervous system regulation, emotional processing, and self-awareness to promote well-being.
Unlike traditional talk therapy, which focuses on verbal processing, Integrative Somatic Therapy incorporates body-centered practices to help clients access emotions and trauma stored in the body. It uses breathwork, visualization, movement, and hands-on techniques to facilitate deep healing that goes beyond cognitive understanding.
While both approaches involve somatic healing and body awareness, Somatic Experiencing is primarily focused on trauma resolution and nervous system regulation, whereas Integrative Somatic Therapy blends various holistic healing methods, including energy work, guided meditation, and therapeutic movement to support emotional and spiritual well-being.
This therapy can be beneficial for individuals experiencing:
Each session typically includes:
Sessions typically last 60 to 90 minutes, with pricing varying based on session length.
I currently offer in-person sessions in Dublin, Naas, and Newbridge, Ireland, with limited availability in other locations. Online somatic therapy sessions are also available for those unable to attend in person.
Yes, I offer online Integrative Somatic Therapy sessions, which work well for clients who prefer remote healing. These sessions use guided meditation, body awareness practices, and self-regulation techniques to create deep transformation from the comfort of your home.
You can book a session online through my website, contact me via email or phone or the booking form on the website.
Yes, this therapy can support trauma healing, but it is not a substitute for professional psychotherapy or psychiatric treatment. It helps individuals regulate their nervous system, release stored emotional pain, and cultivate resilience.
Yes, since emotional trauma and stress can manifest as physical tension, pain, and somatic symptoms, body-centered therapy can help release deep-seated patterns of holding and discomfort.
This therapy supports emotional regulation and nervous system balance, which can help with stress, anxiety, and feelings of overwhelm. However, it should be seen as a complementary practice, not a replacement for professional mental health care.
Currently, my practice is focused on adults, but some somatic techniques can be adapted for younger individuals. If you’re looking for somatic therapy for children or teens in Ireland, I can provide recommendations for specialists in this area.
Yes, some sessions incorporate energy-based techniques such as Reiki, breathwork, and intuitive healing to support emotional release and balance.
Breathwork is a key tool in somatic healing, helping clients regulate their nervous system, release emotional blockages, and access deeper states of awareness. It can be combined with meditation and visualization for enhanced effects.
Yes, many clients combine somatic therapy with traditional talk therapy or counseling for a more comprehensive healing approach. While talk therapy addresses cognitive and emotional processing, somatic therapy works with the body’s wisdom for deep transformation.
While both involve physical relaxation and body awareness, somatic therapy is not massage therapy. It focuses on emotional processing, nervous system regulation, and body-based healing techniques rather than muscle manipulation.
Yes, I am an accredited holistic practitioner under the International Practitioners of Holistic Medicine (IPHM), offering body-centered therapy in Dublin, Naas, and Newbridge.
Somatic therapy is gaining recognition in Ireland, especially among those seeking holistic and alternative approaches to emotional well-being. While not yet regulated by mainstream mental health bodies, it is used in complementary therapy circles and by those exploring nervous system healing and trauma-informed care.
Currently, holistic therapies are not covered by Irish health insurance providers. However, some insurance plans may partially cover complementary therapy—please check with your provider for details.
Wear comfortable, loose-fitting clothing that allows for ease of movement and relaxation.
Some sessions may include gentle, therapeutic touch, but this is always discussed beforehand, and client comfort and boundaries are respected at all times.
The number of sessions depends on your individual needs. Some clients benefit from a single session, while others choose ongoing sessions for deeper healing.
Yes, it is possible to experience emotional releases during a session. The process is gentle and supportive, ensuring a safe space for clients to process whatever arises.
Absolutely! You can book a single session to see if Integrative Somatic Therapy is the right fit for you before deciding on further sessions.
Integrative Somatic Therapy is a gentle yet powerful holistic approach to emotional healing, nervous system regulation, and personal transformation. If you are considering this therapy in Ireland, feel free to reach out for more details or book an appointment today. If you have any further questions about Integrative Somatic Therapy in Dublin, Naas, or Newbridge, feel free to get in touch via email or phone.
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