Somatic Trauma Therapy With Shay
Trauma can make people feel numb and afraid. It can affect your relationships with friends, family, and other loved ones. It can keep you from engaging with your work, your passions, and your daily life. It can make you question everything.
Somatic Trauma therapy in San Diego is specifically designed to help you explore, process, and understand your past experiences to heal and overcome. If you’re looking for someone who can help you make sense of what happened, trauma-focused therapy can be the relief you’re looking for.
About Trauma Therapy
Consultation Required?
Yes
Theory:
Trauma can effect the mind, body, and brain—healing must be holistic
Average Treatment Duration:
4 months - 1 year
Focus:
Making sense of your thoughts, experiences, and feelings
Applicable Conditions
Trauma
Anxiety
Depression
Early childhood abuse and neglect
Attachment disruptions
Why Try Somatic Trauma Therapy in San Diego?
Clarity
Each session begins with setting an intention. This brings clarity to every conversation.
Understanding
Shay’s number one priority is to make clients feel understood and listened to.
Safety
Shay starts each session by creating a calm environment where clients can feel safe.
Safety
Shay starts each session by creating a calm environment where clients can feel safe.
What to Expect
The Somatic Trauma Therapy Process
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Step One
Your first session will be a short, one-on-one consultation with Shay. She can help you identify what pieces of your past are keeping you from moving forward and help you create a plan for your journey to healing, including what therapy models would suit your needs the best.
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Step Two
Therapy sessions look different for each client. And each client’s session may look different each week. As much as therapy is focused on healing, it’s also focused on care and compassion. Trauma therapy with Shay will only go as in-depth as you are comfortable with.
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Step Three
When it comes to trauma therapy, almost no journey is linear. Some clients will continue their sessions for a few months, and some for years. Some clients will meet once a week, some will meet more. It’s all about finding what sets you on the right path to overcome your past.
Meet Shay
Hi, I’m Shay 👋 I work with the mind, body, and brain, bringing a variety of skills that allow you to work with trauma in the way you need. Whether it is EMDR, Compassionate Inquiry, somatic therapy, brainspotting, neurofeedback, IFS, or other trauma-informed practices, we will work so you can find relief without it feeling scary or too hard.
When therapy is working, you will notice you start to feel more present and begin shifting how you see yourself. With regular practice, you may even feel relief from the burden of the past. You don’t have to feel like you’re stuck sleepwalking. Together, let’s move your life forward.
Frequently Asked Questions
- What is somatic trauma therapy?
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Somatic trauma therapy is a body-centered approach to healing trauma that focuses on how traumatic experiences are stored in the body, not just the mind. Unlike traditional talk therapy, which primarily engages cognitive processes, somatic therapy works with the nervous system to release stored trauma through physical sensations, movement, breathwork, and awareness.
**How Somatic Trauma Therapy Works**
– **Mind-Body Connection:** Recognizes that trauma is not just psychological but also physiological, affecting the nervous system, muscles, and even organ function.
– **Regulating the Nervous System:** Helps shift the body out of fight, flight, freeze, or fawn responses by using grounding exercises, breathwork, and movement.
– **Releasing Stored Trauma:** Trauma often gets “stuck” in the body, leading to chronic tension, pain, or emotional distress. Somatic techniques help process and discharge this stored energy.
– **Bottom-Up Processing:** Rather than starting with thoughts and emotions (as in traditional therapy), somatic therapy begins with bodily sensations and works upward to cognitive awareness.**Techniques Used in Somatic Trauma Therapy**
– **Body Awareness:** Tracking physical sensations to understand where trauma is held.
– **Breathwork:** Using the breath to calm the nervous system and release tension.
– **Grounding Exercises:** Practices that help reconnect with the present moment and feel safe in the body.
– **Titration:** Gently processing trauma in small, manageable pieces to avoid overwhelm.
– **Pendulation:** Moving between moments of tension and relaxation to help regulate emotional responses.
– **Touch and Movement Therapy:** In some cases, guided movement or gentle therapeutic touch is used to help release trauma from the body.**Who Can Benefit?**
Somatic trauma therapy is particularly effective for those experiencing:
– PTSD and complex trauma
– Anxiety and chronic stress
– Dissociation or feeling disconnected from the body
– Chronic pain or tension linked to emotional trauma
– People-pleasing and fawning trauma responsesThis approach aligns well with therapies like **EMDR, Somatic Experiencing, Compassionate Inquiry, Brainspotting, IFS (Internal Family Systems), and Neurofeedback**, making it a powerful tool for deep, lasting healing.
Somatic Trauma therapy in San Diego with Shay is a practice that may include a number of different therapy techniques and models, including, IFS, EMDR, compassionate inquiry, and more.
- How do I know if I need trauma therapy?
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Trauma can look different in everyone. If you’re unsure about whether you are the right candidate, visit the resources page for self-screening tools and more information.
- How long will I need therapy?
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This is one of the most common questions people ask before starting somatic therapy, and the answer is:
Every somatic trauma therapy journey is different, but most patients meet weekly for a few months to a year. You are welcome to meet with Shay to do somatic therapy for as long as you feel comfortable and cared for.
Healing with somatic therapy is a deeply individual process, influenced by factors like your history, goals, and how ready your nervous system feels to process trauma.
That said, somatic therapy often shortens the length of time in therapy compared to traditional talk therapy. Why? Because trauma isn’t just held in the mind—it’s stored in the body. When we work directly with the nervous system through somatic techniques, we bypass endless analysis and get to the root of the issue more efficiently.
But while somatic therapy can be faster, it’s also about “going slow to go fast.” Rushing through trauma work can overwhelm the system, so we move at a pace that feels safe and sustainable. Some people experience relief in just a few sessions, while others with complex trauma may need more time to fully integrate healing.
Ultimately, somatic therapy isn’t about checking off a timeline—it’s about feeling more free, connected, and at ease in your own body. And that’s a journey worth taking at your own pace.
Find Your Way Back to Yourself With a Somatic Trauma Therapist
If you’re battling trauma or anxiety, you deserve compassionate support from someone who truly sees you. Book your 15-minute consultation with Shay today.