Somatic Therapy in Vancouver
A Queer-Affirming, Neurodivergent-Affirming Approach to Somatic Work
"Times are urgent. We must slow down." –Bayo Akomolafe
What Is Somatics?
Many of us have learned to move through life in a state of ongoing effort. Staying organized, attentive, productive, emotionally available, or prepared for what might happen next can become so habitual that activation itself begins to feel normal. Often, by the time someone notices exhaustion, disconnection, or overwhelm, the nervous system has been carrying a great deal for a very long time.
In somatic therapy, the goal is not to force relaxation or to “fix” the body. Instead, we begin by creating conditions where more settling, choice, and responsiveness can gradually emerge. As the system no longer has to work quite so hard to brace, manage, or anticipate, many people begin to experience moments of greater steadiness, spaciousness, and connection to themselves.
This process is often subtle. Rather than dramatic catharsis, it may look like discovering the ability to pause, to feel more present in a relationship, to notice emotion without becoming overwhelmed by it, or to experience rest without immediately needing to mobilize again.
Over time, therapy can become a place where new patterns of relating to stress, emotion, and embodiment slowly become possible.
Somatic Therapy Can Help You:
• Feel safer and more grounded in your body
• Shift anxiety, shutdown, or hyper-vigilance
• Understand your triggers and build resilience
• Reconnect with sensation, pleasure, and presence
• Increase capacity for intimacy and authenticity
A Somatic Approach for Neurodivergent People
Somatic therapy can be especially supportive for neurodivergent people whose nervous systems are shaped by sensory sensitivity, chronic overwhelm, shutdown, or numbness. Rather than asking you to manage or override these responses, this work begins by understanding them as intelligent adaptations to environments that may have been too much, too fast, or not enough.
Working at the pace of your nervous system, we focus on building capacity for sensation and emotion without pushing or forcing change. Over time, this can support greater self-awareness and earlier recognition of activation, allowing you to respond choicefully rather than collapse or overload. The aim is not to fix who you are, but to support ways of living and relating that actually fit your nervous system.
Read more about somatics for neurodivergence here.
My Approach to Somatic Therapy
My approach to somatic therapy is informed by training in Somatic Experiencing and Alchemical Alignment, a biodynamic approach that draws from somatic trauma work and pre- and perinatal psychology.
At the heart of this work is a deep respect for the body's innate intelligence and its capacity to move toward greater regulation, connection, and integration when given the right conditions.
Our work may involve noticing subtle sensations, impulses, emotions, or shifts in awareness. Rather than directing these experiences toward a predetermined outcome, we make space for them to unfold at their own pace.
I bring particular attention to the relational field: how safety, presence, and attunement can support experiences that may have been overwhelming or unsupported earlier in life. Sometimes the most meaningful shifts emerge through slowing down, allowing, and discovering what becomes possible when we don't have to push for change.
This approach can be especially supportive for people navigating complex trauma, chronic patterns of activation or shutdown, and experiences that are difficult to access through words alone.
FAQ
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Somatic therapy includes the body as part of the therapeutic process. Alongside thoughts, emotions, and personal history, we also pay attention to the ways experience may be carried physically through tension, activation, numbness, breath, movement, impulse, or sensation.
Many people move through life in a state of ongoing effort or anticipation without fully realizing how much their nervous system has been holding. Somatic therapy can support a gradual return to a greater sense of steadiness, presence, and connection with oneself.
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Somatic therapy is often much gentler and more conversational than people expect.
At times, sessions may look similar to traditional talk therapy. At other moments, we may slow down and notice what is happening in the body in real time. This could include observing breath, emotion, tension, impulses, gestures, or shifts in energy and sensation as they arise.
The focus is not on forcing intense emotional release. Often the work is subtle and unfolds gradually over time.
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No. People come to somatic therapy for many reasons, including relationship difficulties, stress, grief, identity exploration, creative blocks, burnout, emotional sensitivity, or a desire to feel more connected and present in their lives.
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I do not currently offer hands-on touch as part of therapy sessions. Somatic work can still be deep and effective without physical contact.
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Not at all. Many people come to therapy feeling disconnected from their body, unsure what they are “supposed” to notice, or finding that body sensations are not especially accessible. Often, this makes sense given their history and how they have learned to move through the world.
Somatic therapy does not require you to constantly focus on physical sensation. Part of the work is simply becoming interested in what is actually present and available in the moment.
Sometimes that may include body sensations, tension, breath, or movement. Other times, the most available information may be emotion, imagery, thought, relational experience, energy, or even the absence of sensation altogether. All of this can be part of the process.
Rather than trying to force a particular experience, we work with whatever is genuinely here and accessible at a pace that feels manageable and collaborative.
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Many people seek out somatic therapy because they feel caught in patterns of chronic tension, hypervigilance, people-pleasing, emotional overwhelm, numbness, or collapse.
These patterns are often deeply intelligent adaptations rather than personal failures. Therapy can help create conditions where the nervous system no longer has to work quite so hard to brace, anticipate, or stay mobilized all the time.