Somatic Therapy in Kirkland, WA

• Do you experience physical tension, tightness, or pain that doctors say has no medical cause?
• Have you tried talk therapy but still feel anxiety, trauma, or emotional blocks living in your body?
• Do you notice yourself holding your breath, clenching your jaw, or feeling disconnected from your physical self?
• Does your body react with panic, freeze, or shutdown even when your mind knows you’re safe?
• Are you tired of feeling like your nervous system is stuck in overdrive, especially during the Pacific Northwest’s long gray season?

If any of this resonates, you’re not alone. Many of my clients in Kirkland, Bellevue, and throughout the Eastside have discovered that their bodies hold the story of their experiences. And often that healing happens not just through talking, but through reconnecting with their physical selves.

Somatic therapy is a body-centered approach to healing that recognizes the profound connection between your body and mind. “Somatic” comes from the Greek word soma, meaning “the body.” Unlike traditional talk therapy, which focuses primarily on thoughts and emotions, somatic therapy integrates body awareness, physical sensation, and movement into the healing process.

Your body remembers everything... trauma, stress, joy, safety. When difficult experiences occur, especially traumatic ones, your body stores the memory in your muscles, nervous system, and tissues. You might notice this as:

• Chronic muscle tension or pain
• Difficulty breathing deeply
• Feeling numb or disconnected from your body
• Anxiety or panic that seems to come from nowhere
• Difficulty sitting still or feeling restless
• The sense that you’re “carrying” something heavy

Somatic therapy helps you access and release these stored experiences, allowing your nervous system to finally complete the stress response and return to a state of safety and calm.

The Body-Mind Connection

For many of my Eastside clients, especially those working in high-stress tech environments at Microsoft, Amazon, Google, or other demanding careers. Our body becomes a storage container for unprocessed stress. You might spend all day “in your head,” solving problems, meeting deadlines, and managing pressure, while your body quietly holds the toll.

Somatic therapy brings your awareness back into your body. Through gentle techniques and guided practices, we help your nervous system recognize that:

1. The threat is over - Your body can stop bracing for danger
2. You are safe now - Your nervous system can relax its guard
3. You have choices - You’re no longer frozen or stuck in old patterns

In our work together, I integrate somatic approaches with my training in energy work, intuition, and traditional psychotherapy. Some techniques include:

Somatic Experiencing (SE)
Developed by Dr. Peter Levine, this approach works with the body’s natural ability to self-regulate. We track physical sensations, release trapped energy from trauma, and help your nervous system find its way back to balance.

Sensorimotor Psychotherapy
This method combines talk therapy with body awareness, helping you notice how trauma and emotional patterns show up in your posture, movements, and physical habits. Together, we develop new, healthier patterns.

Body-Based Trauma Release
Trauma often gets “stuck” in the body, creating patterns of tension, pain, or shutdown. Through gentle techniques, we help your body complete the stress response it couldn’t finish at the time of the traumatic event.

Breathwork & Grounding
Your breath is a powerful tool for regulating your nervous system. I’ll teach you breathing techniques that calm anxiety, release tension, and help you feel more present in your body. This body work is different than anxiety therapy alone.

Mindful Movement & Body Awareness
Sometimes healing happens through gentle movement, shifting your posture, noticing where you hold tension, or experimenting with new ways of inhabiting your physical self.

Energy Medicine & Reiki
As someone trained in energy work, I integrate these modalities to help shift the energetic blocks that often accompany physical holding patterns. Your body’s energy system and physical body work together in the healing process.

If you work at one of the Eastside’s many tech companies, you know the toll of constant performance pressure, long hours, and the expectation to always be “on.” Your mind might be racing with code, deadlines, and problem-solving, while your body pays the price with:

• Tension headaches
• Jaw clenching (TMJ)
• Upper back and shoulder pain
• Digestive issues
• Sleep problems
• Feeling wired but exhausted

Somatic therapy helps you reconnect with your body’s signals before they become chronic health issues. You’ll learn to notice when stress is building and develop tools to release it in real-time.

Many people who move to Kirkland, Bellevue, or Redmond are surprised by how much the Pacific Northwest’s long gray season affects them physically. It’s not just your mood, your body responds to the lack of sunlight too:

• Lower energy and motivation
• Heavier, sluggish feeling
• Increased muscle tension
• Changes in sleep and appetite
• Feeling “stuck” or unmotivated to move

Somatic therapy during these months helps you stay connected to your body, maintain movement and vitality, and work with rather than against the seasonal shifts.

Trauma lives in the body. You might have processed traumatic events intellectually in talk therapy, understanding why things happened, but still find yourself:

• Jumping at unexpected sounds
• Feeling your heart race for “no reason”
• Freezing or shutting down in certain situations
• Avoiding people, places, or experiences that remind you of the trauma
• Feeling like you’re constantly on guard

Somatic therapy addresses trauma where it lives, in your nervous system. We don’t need to relive or retell the story in detail. Instead, we work with your body’s sensations, helping it recognize that the danger has passed and it’s safe to relax.

Anxiety isn’t just a thought pattern, it’s a full-body experience. Your heart races, your breath gets shallow, your muscles tense. Talk therapy can help you understand your anxiety, but somatic therapy helps you shift it at the nervous system level.

You’ll learn to:

• Recognize the early signs of anxiety in your body
• Use breath and movement to calm your nervous system
• Release chronic tension that feeds anxious thoughts
• Feel more grounded and present

What makes my approach unique is the integration of somatic therapy with energy medicine, intuition, and spiritual awareness. Your body is not just a physical vessel it’s also an energetic system. When we work somatically, we’re also working with:

• Your energy field - Clearing blocks and restoring flow
• Your intuition - Learning to trust your body’s wisdom
• Your spiritual connection - Recognizing your body as sacred

This holistic approach allows healing to happen on multiple levels simultaneously. Many clients tell me they experience shifts they couldn’t access through traditional therapy alone.

In your first somatic therapy session, we’ll:

1. Talk about your goals - What brings you here? What does your body need?
2. Explore your body awareness - Where do you feel sensation? Where do you feel numb?
3. Begin gentle somatic work - We might practice grounding, breathing, or noticing physical sensations
4. Go at your pace - Somatic work is not about pushing through; it’s about honoring what your body needs

Somatic therapy is a collaborative process. Some sessions might involve more talking, others more body-focused work. You’re always in control of the pace. We might:

• Practice tracking physical sensations
• Work with breath and movement
• Explore where trauma or stress lives in your body
• Integrate energy work or Reiki
• Develop personalized tools you can use outside of sessions

Yes, somatic therapy can be highly effective online! Through video sessions, I can guide you through body awareness practices, breathwork, movement, and visualization. You’ll be in the comfort of your own space, which many clients find even more conducive to relaxation and healing.

Somatic therapy is especially helpful if you:

• Have tried talk therapy but still feel “stuck”
• Experience trauma, PTSD, or complex trauma
• Struggle with anxiety or panic attacks
• Hold chronic tension, pain, or physical symptoms without clear medical cause
• Feel disconnected from your body or emotions
• Are a highly sensitive person (HSP) who feels overwhelmed by sensory input
• Work in high-stress environments (tech, healthcare, caregiving)
• Are navigating grief, loss, or major life transitions
• Want to integrate mind, body, and spirit in your healing. 

My practice is conveniently located in Kirkland, easily accessible from:

• Downtown Kirkland - Near Marina Park and the waterfront
• Juanita - Close to Juanita Beach Park
• Totem Lake - Easy I-405 access
• Bellevue - Short drive for downtown professionals
• Redmond - Accessible for Microsoft campus and surrounding areas
• Bothell, Woodinville, Sammamish, Issaquah - Serving the broader Eastside

I also offer online therapy throughout Washington State, Arizona, and Virginia.

Your body has been carrying so much. It’s time to help it release, heal, and return to a state of safety and calm.

Whether you’re in Kirkland dealing with tech industry burnout, navigating the Pacific Northwest’s seasonal challenges, or working through trauma that traditional therapy hasn’t fully resolved, somatic therapy offers a path to deeper, more lasting healing.

I would be honored to work with you.