What Is The Difference Between Somatic Therapy And Somatic Bodywork?

While the distinctions among somatic bodywork, somatic coaching, massage, and therapy have been discussed throughout this blog, this post in particular aims to focus on the main aspects that make somatic bodywork distinct from therapy.

To begin, let’s review several key differences before focusing on what is perhaps the biggest (and least often discussed) distinguishing factor.

Somatic therapy rarely includes any bodywork 

Most somatic-based therapies are conversational in nature. Although therapy often includes experiential work in which the client is asked to feel their body and perhaps move about or lie down at times, it typically does not include hands-on connective tissue work designed to release the holding patterns of the body’s musculature. The bodywork I offer is done fully clothed on a massage table, in which I move about to different areas of the body helping the tissue to loosen, soften, let go. At times I guide my clients into a particular breath pattern or into making sounds. The primary aim is to help the client release held contractions and support the client in connecting more deeply with their felt sensations and with themselves. With virtual bodywork, much of the practice is the same, however I am guiding the client to use their own hands.

Therapy rarely integrates practices

Although there are exceptions to this rule, therapy often stops short of requesting clients to integrate their learnings into daily practices that support the changes they want for themselves. Because behavioral change occurs through practice, not through insight, this can make all the difference in terms of supporting clients in their transformation. Indeed, most bodyworkers do not use coaching (co-designing practices with clients) and most therapists (as well as most coaches) do not support clients through bodywork. Combining the power of coaching with the effectiveness of bodywork has always been one my biggest offerings as a practitioner. 

Bodywork can relieve both physical pain and anxiety

While there are somatic therapies which support clients with both physical pain and emotional pain, the hands-on nature of bodywork makes it ideal for working with all of the dimensions and complications of pain and stress. Without the use of hands-on tissue work, it can be very hard to feel how we hold tension in our body. We can think about it and explore it through conversation, but there is nothing like touch to bring us into a felt sense of how and where contraction lives in our bodies. Equally important, the work I do guiding clients to make sounds has greatly helped multiple clients with chronic back pain and chronic headaches, which are often manifestations of physical tightness. Contractions (tightness) are directly connected to our emotional and psychological well-being: it is hard to shift our mood or shift our thinking without first shifting how we hold tension in our body.

Somatic bodywork is focused on practitioner presence

And now we arrive at perhaps the most important distinction between somatic bodywork and any type of somatic therapy: somatic bodywork is based on how grounded and centered the practitioner is, not a particular technique the practitioner employs. This is an easily overlooked aspect of somatic work and yet it is critical to the effectiveness of the work. Somatic therapies tend to focus on a particular “technique” to encourage a somatic opening or a new awareness; how the practitioner is during the process is often considered a less important aspect of the process. The exact opposite is the case with somatic bodywork: any tension held by the practitioner will transfer to the client. This means that as a somatic bodyworker, I am mostly focused on staying relaxed in my body, feeling my feet, noticing my breath and how I speak, and staying attuned to my mood and my intention in what I speak and how I move. Whether or not the client is consciously aware of how I am in my soma or not, they will notice and respond to it. Deep in our biology, our nervous system is designed to be attuned to the nervous systems of nearby animals. Building trust, the ability to be vulnerable and hold space for others, and the ability to lead others, all require that the practitioner be as centered and grounded as possible. I believe it is safe to say that the felt presence of the practitioner is more important than any technique, method, or strategy used in the session.

Schedule a somatic bodywork session today to learn more about what is possible for your future.