What Is Somatic Therapy?
Somatic therapy is a body-based approach to mental health and healing that works with the connection between physical sensation, the nervous system, and emotional experience. Where traditional talk therapy focuses primarily on thoughts and narrative, somatic therapy also attends to what the body is holding: patterns of tension, activation, and dysregulation that can persist even after cognitive insight has been reached.
It draws on principles from somatic psychology, trauma physiology, and nervous system science to help clients develop greater awareness of their bodily experience and build capacity for regulation over time.
Somatic therapy is commonly sought for trauma and PTSD, anxiety, chronic stress, burnout, and grief. It can also be a helpful complement to other therapeutic approaches, including EMDR and DBT.
How Our Practitioners Approach Somatic Therapy
At Whole Self Wellness, somatic therapy is woven into the work of several practitioners, each bringing their own training and lens to body-based care.
Alanna Jones, MSW, RSW integrates somatic approaches alongside her advanced EMDR training, including the N.E.S.T. protocol (Neuroaffective Embodied Self-System Therapy), which specifically combines EMDR, Ego State, and Somatic Therapies for complex trauma and early neglect. Additional modalities including Yoga and Dance inform her body-based practice.
Janelle Hebb, RMFT brings 10 years of experience and explicitly integrates somatics into her work alongside EMDR, mindfulness, and attachment-based therapy. Her focus on the mind-emotions-body connection makes somatic work central to how she supports trauma recovery and relational healing.
Tatiana Murray, MSW, RSW draws on over 15 years of clinical experience across hospitals, specialized clinics, and community settings. Currently completing a PhD in integrative and holistic health, Tatiana brings a grounded, body-centered lens to her work with trauma, anxiety, and complex mental health presentations.
Whole Self Wellness is a trauma-informed, body-positive, and LGBTQIA2S+, ENM, and kink-friendly practice. Meet our full team.
What to Expect from Somatic Therapy at Whole Self Wellness
Initial Sessions
Ongoing Sessions
Over Time
What Somatic Therapy Can Support
- Trauma and PTSD: Somatic approaches address the physiological dimensions of trauma that cognitive processing alone may not fully resolve.
- Anxiety and chronic stress: Clients typically report improved capacity to recognize early signs of activation and return to a regulated state more readily.
- Nervous system regulation: Over time, somatic work builds the body's tolerance for distress and its ability to return to equilibrium after activation.
Frequently Asked Questions About Somatic Therapy
Somatic experiencing is one specific, trademarked modality within the broader field of somatic therapy. Somatic therapy is a general term covering a range of body-based therapeutic approaches. At Whole Self Wellness, somatic techniques are integrated with other evidence-based practices including EMDR rather than delivered as a single protocol.
No. While somatic therapy is particularly well-suited for trauma and PTSD, it is also used effectively for anxiety, chronic stress, burnout, grief, and general nervous system support.
Yes. Telehealth sessions are available for clients across Manitoba and Ontario.
This varies considerably depending on what you're working through. Somatic work tends to be gradual and cumulative. Your therapist will discuss pacing and frequency with you during the initial sessions.
Yes. Whole Self Wellness is an explicitly trauma-informed, body-positive, and LGBTQIA2S+, ENM, and kink-friendly practice.
Book a Somatic Therapy Session in Winnipeg
Whole Self Wellness has multiple practitioners offering somatic and body-based therapy in Winnipeg. Sessions are available in-person and via telehealth across Manitoba and Ontario.
Book directly with Alanna Jones, MSW, RSW, or contact us to be connected with the right practitioner for your needs.
