Top 7 Differences Between Somatic Therapy and Somatic Coaching
It’s completely understandable that there is confusion among my clients around the work that I offer and what we strictly call “somatic therapy”. As discussed in previous blogs, there are important similarities and distinction between the work I offer and therapy. While I can’t speak to the somatic coaching and bodywork profession at large simply because the modalities used by each practitioner can be so unique, I’ve outline some of what I see as the basic distinctions you can expect to see working with me versus working with a therapist.
#1 The focus on how instead of why
The question of why we are the way we are is better answered in therapy. “Why” questions tend to get us in our heads and trying to “figure it out”. With coaching and bodywork, we don’t want to spend too much time intellectually processing - we want to focus on what’s happening in the body. This means focusing on the question “how”. For example, I might ask a client how they create anxiety in their body, not why they feel anxious. When we know how we contract, tighten, hold, brace, numb in our bodies, we create more choice around how we live in our bodies.
#2 Future-oriented instead of past-oriented
Coaching tends to focus on how you want to be different moving forward in your life. There are times when it’s important to revisit the past because it is inevitably what gets in the way of our capacity to make change in our lives, but we don’t dwell on past events or dedicate the majority of the time to processing the past unless it is clearly in service to our coaching goal.
#3 Establishing a goal
In coaching, we want to have something of a goal we are working toward. There is space for clients to come into the session with new material or to shift what they want to work on, but as a coach it’s my job to limit too much drift in what my client and I are working toward. Many clients want to come into a session and vent - this is normal and to be expected. We all want to be seen and listened to. However research shows that venting doesn’t actually help. Coaching is about increasing our capacity to take new actions in the world and in our lives. This requires a certain level of focus in the session in order to keep moving toward the changes we want to see.
#4 Coaching doesn’t diagnose or treat
Unlike a therapist, I don’t diagnose or pathologize my clients. Coaching isn’t about labeling what disorders you have - it’s about how your behavior either does or does not serve you. Similarly, I don’t offer “treatments”. Through coaching, it is possible to interrupt old behaviors and take new actions based on your values, but it’s not about making some part of you totally disappear. For example, you can quiet down that old self-narrative of “I’m not good enough” and learn not to let it run you, but that doesn’t mean it completely disappears. That simply isn’t realistic. Healing is something you have to do yourself - I am here to offer practices and bodywork and guidance to support you in your process. Remember that the body wants to heal; you have to learn how to get out of the way so it can do its job.
#5 Bodywork and standing practices
Perhaps one of the biggest distinctions is that I offer bodywork and standing somatic practices. These are essentially absent in therapy, and they comprise the majority of the work I do with clients. In general, the majority of our time in session will be dedicated to experiential practices and bodywork or breathwork, not talking.
#6 Offering assessments
As a trained somatic coach and experienced bodyworker, I can offer assessments about how you show up in the room based on what I see visually about your body. For example, if you stand and sit with your legs close together and your shoulders pulled in toward the midline, I can offer the assessment that you are making yourself small and contained. This can be helpful to work with somatically if you are wanting more connection in your life. Alternatively, if you hold your eyes and your jaw tight, I can offer the assessment that you look angry and it creates distance in the connection. This can be helpful for people who are wanting to learn how to show up more invitational in their relationships.
#7 Take home practices and behavioral change
I always offer multiple take home practices to clients, such as a sanding centering practice. Unlike traditional therapy, these take home practices form the bedrock of the coaching work we are doing together. Creating behavioral change require that we practice something new; insight about ourself isn’t enough. This is one of the more challenging pieces for clients, especially when they come into the session wanting to be fixed or have the practitioner do the work. Changing ourselves requires that we take new actions in our lives, and doing this requires that we practice.
Somatic coaching is available online and in person. Book a free phone consultation today!