You may already understand your patterns intellectually. You know why you get activated. You can name your triggers. You've read the articles, done the reflecting, had the insight.
And your body still reacts anyway — a tight chest before a difficult conversation, a racing heart when nothing is actually wrong, a sudden urge to shut down or disappear, exhaustion that doesn't match how "small" the day was.
That's because a lot of what we carry doesn't live in the thinking part of the brain. It lives in the nervous system — in patterns of activation and shutdown that developed to keep you safe, and that don't always update just because your circumstances have changed.
Somatic and nervous-system-informed therapy works with the body directly, alongside the mind, to help you build a different relationship with stress, overwhelm, and regulation.
Virtual somatic therapy is available across Ontario, with Charlie also seeing clients in British Columbia, Alberta, and Saskatchewan, and Bonny offering in-person sessions in Markham.
What Is Somatic Therapy?
Understanding Your Nervous System
Somatic Therapy & Trauma
Somatic Therapy & Anxiety
Somatic Therapy, ADHD & Neurodivergence
Somatic Therapy & Burnout
Somatic Therapy & Chronic Stress or Pain
Somatic Therapy & Dissociation
You Might Be Looking for Somatic Therapy If You...
You might:
- Understand your patterns intellectually but still react the same way physically
- Notice tension, a racing heart, or a tight chest without an obvious present-day reason
- Feel like your body is "stuck" in a state of alert, even when things are calm
- Shut down, freeze, or go numb when overwhelmed rather than visibly reacting
- Struggle to relax, even in situations that are objectively safe
- Feel disconnected from your body, or unsure what you're feeling until it's intense
- Notice chronic tension, fatigue, or physical symptoms tied to stress
- Have tried talk therapy and gained insight without feeling different in your body
- Experience big emotional or physical reactions to things that seem "small" to other people
- Feel like you're either wired and can't slow down, or shut down and can't get moving
You don't need a trauma history to benefit from this work. Nervous systems can become dysregulated through chronic stress, burnout, neurodivergence, illness, or simply years of pushing through without a chance to reset.
What Is Somatic Therapy?
Somatic therapy is an approach that works with the body — sensations, breath, posture, movement, physical tension — as a direct part of the therapeutic process, not just a side note to what you're talking about.
Instead of only asking "what do you think about this?" somatic work also asks "what happens in your body when you think about this?" Rather than treating the mind and body as separate systems, it treats them as connected — because that's how they actually function.
This doesn't mean somatic therapy replaces talking. Most somatic-informed work still involves conversation. It simply adds another layer: paying attention to what your body is doing while you talk, and using that information as part of the process.
Understanding Your Nervous System
Your nervous system has a job: to constantly scan for safety or danger and adjust your body accordingly, usually without you consciously deciding anything.
When it senses danger — real or perceived — it can shift you into fight or flight, showing up as a racing heart, tension, urgency, irritability, or restlessness. When danger feels inescapable, it can shift you into freeze or shutdown, showing up as numbness, fatigue, disconnection, or difficulty thinking clearly. And in states of safety, it allows you to access connection, rest, curiosity, and digestion — the states most of us are actually trying to get back to.
For many people, these settings get calibrated early, and by experiences that had nothing to do with present-day life. A nervous system that adapted to an unpredictable or unsafe environment may keep scanning for danger long after the environment has changed. Somatic therapy helps you understand which state you tend to default to, why, and how to build more flexibility between them.
Somatic Therapy & Trauma
Trauma isn't only stored as memory — it's often stored physically, in patterns of tension, activation, or shutdown that persist even when the danger has passed. That's part of why insight alone doesn't always change how something feels in the body.
Somatic approaches can help you notice activation earlier, build tolerance for difficult sensations, and process experiences in a way that includes the body's response, not just the narrative around it.
Somatic Therapy & Anxiety
Anxiety frequently shows up in the body before it shows up in conscious thought — a tight chest, shallow breathing, a racing heart, or restlessness that arrives before you've named what you're anxious about.
Somatic work can help you catch these signals earlier, understand what your body may be responding to, and develop tools for regulating activation directly, rather than relying only on managing anxious thoughts after the fact.
Somatic Therapy, ADHD & Neurodivergence
Neurodivergent nervous systems often regulate differently — sensory input, transitions, unpredictability, or masking can all create a level of chronic activation that isn't always visible from the outside.
Charlie works with clients whose ADHD or neurodivergence intersects with chronic stress, burnout, or dysregulation, using somatic and nervous-system-informed approaches that don't assume every brain and body regulate the same way.
Somatic Therapy & Burnout
Many people reach burnout after years of pushing through — running on adrenaline, ignoring physical signals, treating exhaustion as something to manage rather than something to listen to.
By the time burnout is undeniable, your nervous system may have been dysregulated for a long time. Somatic therapy can help you notice the early signs of overextension, rebuild a felt sense of rest, and develop a sustainable relationship with stress instead of just pushing through it again.
Somatic Therapy & Chronic Stress or Pain
Chronic stress doesn't only affect mood — it can show up physically as tension, fatigue, digestive issues, headaches, or pain that persists without a clear medical explanation. The nervous system and the body are deeply connected, and prolonged activation can affect both.
Charlie works with clients navigating chronic pain and health-related stress, incorporating somatic and nervous-system approaches alongside other therapeutic work.
Physical symptoms can also have medical causes. New, severe, or unexplained symptoms should be discussed with an appropriate healthcare provider.
Somatic Therapy & Dissociation
Some people respond to overwhelm not with visible anxiety, but by disconnecting — feeling unreal, numb, distant from their body, or like they're observing life rather than participating in it.
Somatic therapy can help build a gentler, more gradual connection back to bodily sensation and the present moment, at a pace your system can actually tolerate. This work often moves slowly and intentionally, especially for clients with a history of dissociation.
How Théla Approaches Somatic & Nervous System Therapy
This work is rarely used in isolation — it's typically integrated into broader therapy depending on what you're working through. Depending on your needs, that may include:
Polyvagal-Informed Work — understanding your nervous system's states and building more flexibility between them.
Trauma-Informed Therapy — addressing how past experiences continue to shape present-day physical and emotional responses.
EMDR — processing distressing memories that carry a strong bodily and emotional charge.
IFS & Parts Work — understanding protective responses, including physical ones, as parts of you trying to help.
Attachment-Based Therapy — exploring how early relational experiences shaped your nervous system's baseline sense of safety.
Mindfulness & Grounding — building present-moment awareness of physical sensation without needing to immediately fix or interpret it.
The goal isn't to eliminate every stress response. It's to build a nervous system with more range — one that can mobilize when it needs to and settle when it's safe to.
Meet Your Somatic Therapists
Charlie, RP: Somatic Therapy • Trauma & PTSD • Neurodivergence • Burnout
Charlie integrates somatic, nervous-system, and polyvagal-informed work with trauma-informed and neurodivergent-affirming care — particularly suited to clients whose ADHD, neurodivergence, or trauma history intersects with chronic activation, shutdown, burnout, or health-related stress.
Charlie offers virtual somatic therapy in Ontario, British Columbia, Alberta, and Saskatchewan.
Bonny, MA, EdD (Cand.): Somatic Therapy • Complex Trauma • BPD • Attachment
Bonny integrates somatic and nervous-system-informed approaches with complex trauma work, particularly for clients navigating dissociation, emotional dysregulation, attachment wounds, or BPD — where a more gradual, body-inclusive pace is often essential.
Bonny provides therapy in English, Cantonese, and Mandarin, with in-person sessions available in Markham and virtual sessions across Ontario.
Frequently Asked Questions About Somatic & Nervous System Therapy
Somatic therapy is an approach that works with the body — sensations, breath, tension, and physical responses — as a direct part of the therapeutic process, alongside talking about your experiences.
No. Nervous system dysregulation can develop through chronic stress, burnout, neurodivergence, illness, or ongoing pressure, not only through trauma.
Not exactly. Most somatic-informed sessions still involve conversation, but they also include attention to what's happening in your body as you talk, and use that as part of the process.
Yes. Charlie offers virtual somatic therapy in Ontario, British Columbia, Alberta, and Saskatchewan. Bonny offers virtual sessions across Ontario, and in-person sessions in Markham.
Not necessarily. Somatic work can range from simply noticing physical sensations while talking to more active practices, depending on what fits you and what your therapist recommends.
It can be a helpful part of addressing stress-related physical symptoms, though new, severe, or unexplained symptoms should also be evaluated by a healthcare provider.
It's typically integrated with other approaches — such as trauma-informed therapy, EMDR, IFS, or attachment-based therapy — rather than used in isolation.
Your Body Isn't the Problem. It's Trying to Help.
Nervous system responses that feel disproportionate or exhausting usually made sense at some point — they developed to protect you. The work isn't about overriding your body. It's about helping your nervous system learn that it has more options than it currently believes.
