Somatic Therapy in
Kitchener-Waterloo
When your body holds what words can't reach.
Sometimes the mind understands what happened, but the body hasn't caught up. You've done the thinking, the reflecting, maybe even years of talk therapy. And still, something feels stuck.
What is somatic therapy
A body-centered approach to healing that recognizes where our experiences truly live.
Somatic therapy is a body-centered approach to healing that recognizes a simple truth: our experiences don't just live in our minds. They live in our muscles, our breath, our posture, our gut. The word "somatic" comes from the Greek word for body, and this form of therapy takes the body seriously as a source of wisdom and a site of healing.
Where traditional talk therapy focuses primarily on thoughts, beliefs, and narrative, somatic therapy pays attention to sensation, movement, and the nervous system. It asks questions like: Where do you feel that in your body? What happens in your chest when you talk about this? What would it feel like to slow down right here?
Somatic therapy draws on several evidence-informed approaches, including somatic experiencing, sensorimotor psychotherapy, and polyvagal theory. These frameworks help us understand how stress and trauma get held in the body, and more importantly, how they can be gently released.
"This isn't about ignoring the mind. It's about including the body in the conversation."
How somatic therapy works
The body holds what the mind cannot yet process.
Your nervous system is always working to keep you safe. When something overwhelming happens, whether a single event or an ongoing experience, your body responds. Heart rate increases. Muscles tighten. Breath becomes shallow. These are survival responses, and they're intelligent.
The problem is that sometimes these responses get stuck. Long after the threat has passed, your body continues to act as though danger is near. You might feel chronically tense, easily startled, exhausted for no clear reason, or emotionally numb. This isn't a character flaw. It's your nervous system doing what it learned to do.
Somatic therapy works by helping your nervous system complete what it started. We slow down. We pay attention to what's happening in your body right now. And then, with care and curiosity, we work with those sensations rather than around them.
This process helps your body learn that the danger has passed. That it's safe to relax. That you can feel without becoming overwhelmed.
For a deeper understanding of how your nervous system responds to stress, you might find the Nervous System Guide helpful.
Signs somatic therapy might help you
You don't need a specific diagnosis to benefit from somatic therapy. But there are some common patterns that suggest body-based work might be a good fit.
Chronic physical tension
You carry tension in specific places. Tight shoulders. A clenched jaw. A knot in your stomach that never quite goes away. You've tried stretching, massage, even medication, but it keeps coming back.
Disconnection from your body
You feel like you're watching your life from a slight distance. You have trouble knowing what you feel, physically or emotionally, until it becomes overwhelming.
Hypervigilance or flatness
You startle easily, feel on edge, or have trouble settling down at night. Or the opposite: you feel flat, foggy, like you're moving through the world with the volume turned down.
Unresolved past experiences
You've been through something difficult, and talk therapy has helped you understand it but hasn't fully resolved how it lives in your body.
Physical anxiety symptoms
Your anxiety feels more physical than mental. Racing heart. Shallow breath. A sense of dread that doesn't match what's actually happening.
Healing from trauma
You want an approach that doesn't require you to retell your story over and over. You're looking for a way to process that feels gentler on your system.
Any of these might be an invitation to explore somatic work. See also: Anxiety Therapy and Trauma Therapy
Somatic therapy vs talk therapy
Talk therapy and somatic therapy aren't opposites. They're different tools, and they work well together.
Talk Therapy
In talk therapy, the primary vehicle for change is language. You tell your story, explore your patterns, and develop insight into why you think and feel the way you do. This is valuable work. Understanding yourself matters.
But sometimes insight isn't enough. You might understand exactly why you react a certain way and still find yourself reacting that way.
Somatic Therapy
This is often because the pattern lives deeper than thought. It lives in your body, in your nervous system, in responses that happen faster than conscious awareness.
Somatic therapy works at this level. Instead of only talking about an experience, we might notice how your body responds when you talk about it. Instead of analyzing a pattern, we might feel into it.
Many people find that combining both approaches gives them access to change that neither could offer alone. The mind and body aren't separate. Healing doesn't have to be either.
What to expect in a session
If you're used to traditional talk therapy, somatic work might feel different at first. Sessions still involve conversation, but there's more attention to what's happening in your body as we talk.
I might ask you to pause and notice a sensation. To describe what you're feeling in your chest or stomach. To slow down when something important comes up, rather than pushing through it.
Sometimes we work with small movements, breath, or posture. Sometimes we simply stay with a sensation long enough for it to shift on its own. The pace is slower than you might expect. This is intentional. Nervous system work happens in the pauses, not the rush.
You won't be asked to relive traumatic experiences. You won't be pushed to feel more than you're ready to feel. Somatic therapy is not about catharsis or intensity. It's about helping your body find safety, slowly and sustainably.
Some sessions might feel quiet. Others might bring up unexpected emotion. Both are normal. The goal isn't to perform healing, but to let it unfold at your body's pace.
Leanne's Approach to
Somatic Therapy
Listening to the Body's Wisdom
Registered Psychotherapist
Leanne's Approach to
Somatic Therapy
Listening to the Body's Wisdom
I came to somatic work because I saw, again and again, how much the body holds.
Clients who had done years of therapy and still felt anxious. People who understood their patterns perfectly but couldn't seem to change them. The missing piece, so often, was the body.
My approach is trauma-informed, which means I prioritize safety, pacing, and choice. I won't push you faster than your system can handle. I won't ask you to do anything that feels wrong. Your body has wisdom, and part of my job is to help you listen to it.
I integrate somatic approaches with other modalities depending on what you need. Sometimes that means weaving body awareness into a conversation about relationships or grief. Sometimes it means spending an entire session on a single sensation. We find the rhythm that works for you.
I offer somatic therapy as part of individual therapy for adults in Ontario. Whether you're in Kitchener, Waterloo, Cambridge, or elsewhere in the province, we can work together online or in person.
If you're someone who tends to live in your head, or someone who feels disconnected from your body, this work can feel unfamiliar at first. That's okay. We go slowly. We stay curious. And over time, the body often begins to feel less like a stranger and more like home.
Practical details
Online and in-person
I see clients in person in Kitchener-Waterloo and online throughout Ontario. Somatic therapy works well in both formats. Virtual sessions allow us to do meaningful body-based work while you're in your own space, which some clients actually prefer.
Fees and insurance
Session fees and payment information are available on the fees page. Psychotherapy is covered by many extended health insurance plans in Ontario under Registered Psychotherapist (RP). I provide receipts you can submit for reimbursement.
First session
The first session is a chance for us to meet, understand what's bringing you to therapy, and see if we're a good fit. You don't need to prepare anything specific. Come as you are.
If you'd like to learn more before booking, the Nervous System Guide offers a gentle introduction.
Frequently Asked Questions
Questions about somatic therapy are welcome. Here are a few common ones.
No. Somatic therapy doesn't require you to retell or relive traumatic experiences. We can work with how your body holds stress without needing the full narrative. Some clients never share the details of what happened, and that's completely okay.
That's actually a common reason people seek out somatic therapy. Feeling disconnected, numb, or out of touch with physical sensations is often a protective response. We start gently, building body awareness slowly without forcing anything.
Psychotherapy with a Registered Psychotherapist is covered by many extended health plans. I provide receipts that you can submit to your insurance company. Check your plan's coverage for psychotherapy to confirm.
Somatic therapy is psychotherapy. While we pay attention to the body, the focus is on emotional and psychological healing, not physical manipulation. You stay fully clothed, and I don't do hands-on bodywork.
Yes. Anxiety often has a strong physical component, and somatic therapy can help regulate the nervous system responses that drive anxious feelings. It's not about stopping anxiety through willpower, but helping your body learn to settle.
This varies widely. Some people find relief in a few months. Others choose to continue longer as they work through deeper patterns. We'll check in regularly about what's working and what you need.
Skepticism is welcome. You don't need to believe anything in particular for somatic therapy to work. We can start with whatever feels accessible to you, even if that's mostly talking at first, and let the body-based elements emerge naturally.
Yes. Many clients find that online sessions work well for somatic therapy, sometimes even better than in-person because they're in their own comfortable space. We can do effective nervous system work through a screen.
A quieter kind of healing
You've probably tried thinking your way through this. Analyzing, understanding, pushing through. And maybe that's helped, to a point. But if your body is still holding on, still tight, still braced, still waiting for something that never comes, there might be another way forward.
Somatic therapy is slow work. Quiet work. It asks you to pay attention differently, to trust that your body knows something your mind hasn't figured out yet.
If that sounds like what you're looking for, I'd be glad to talk.