Somatic Psychotherapy, developed by Wilhelm Reich, deals with the fact that we experience and hold our emotions in our body, not just our brains. As anxiety, fear, depression and other emotions go unexpressed or unattended to, problems develop. These problems manifest physically (tight jaw, stiff neck, digestive issues) and behaviorally (difficulty in relationships, poor self-esteem, substance abuse, work problems). 

 

This style of treatment considers your reasons for coming to therapy and how this relates to how you are in both your body and your life. This includes how you breathe, where tension is held in your muscles, where there is more or less energetic charge and flow; as well as how you think, feel, relate, and behave. More often than not, there is a relationship between your reasons for coming to therapy and how you are in your body and your life.

 

Discovering this relationship can bring up uncomfortable emotions and sensations. I will help you learn to tolerate them. Breathing, working on the eyes and facial muscles, as well as other somatic techniques, are helpful ways to make contact with emotions that have been held back. With time, patience, and courage, you will be able to tolerate more feelings, which will help you have more energy. All of this helps you to live, love, learn, and move through the world more fully and with a greater sense of being you.  

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My therapeutic style is frank, highly engaged, in-depth, and psychodynamic. It is my hope and aim that therapy with me will give you a new experience of relationship. This lays the foundation for you to feel your emotions more fully, know yourself with greater clarity, and express your unique "life-force" like never before.

 

As Ernest Wolf said, “The ultimate aim of the therapeutic process should be to strengthen the self so that the person is willing and able to plunge into the rough and tumble of everyday life, not without fear, but nevertheless undeterred.”