Yoga and Somatic Psychotherapy

“I do not view post-traumatic stress disorder as a pathology to be managed, suppressed, or adjusted to, but the result of a natural process gone awry. Healing trauma requires a direct experience of the living, feeling, knowing organism.”

  • Peter A Levine, Ph.D.

Yoga can be a wonderful option for addressing mental health issues, but there’s a tricky balance between the physical, postural side of yoga — i.e., what yoga teachers are so great at offering — and the therapeutic possibilities.

Plus size woman meditating on yoga mat.

I’m a Licensed Mental Health Counselor (LMHC), as well as a Registered Yoga Teacher (RYT-200). I’ve also studied somatic psychotherapy for the treatment of trauma, calming of stress, and attunement of the nervous system.

Yoga and Somatic Psychotherapy offer a lot, but sometimes what they offer isn’t readily available in a yoga studio or on an app.

By now, you might have tried the exercise form of yoga. You may have even tried meditation. But maybe it didn’t change your life in the way you’d hoped, or it didn’t stick. It’s possible — especially if you’re over 40 or fat/plus-sized — that the verbiage or assumptions of yoga teachers have even compounded your own pain. You may have your own trauma history, body image issues, or history of compulsive exercise and/or eating that make yoga classes fraught, and even distressing.

I offer psychotherapy from a yogic and/or somatic frame for those who intuit that their bodies need to be involved in the process of healing.

If you’d like to talk about integrating yoga, sound healing, guided meditation, and breath and body awareness into your healing process, shoot me a note to set up a free 20- to 30-minute consultation.