Somatic therapy recognizes that metabolism is stored and expressed in the body — and that healing requires attention to bodily experience, not just thoughts.
The Somatic Perspective on Metabolism
Traditional talk therapy addresses metabolism primarily through cognition. Somatic approaches add the body's wisdom:
- Metabolism creates physical tension, postural patterns, and nervous system states that maintain it
- The body 'keeps the score' — especially when metabolism has trauma origins
- Bottom-up (body to mind) processing can access material unavailable to cognitive approaches
Somatic Therapy Approaches for Metabolism
Somatic Experiencing (SE): Developed by Peter Levine, tracks bodily sensations to resolve trauma and metabolism.
Sensorimotor Psychotherapy: Integrates somatic techniques with attachment theory for metabolism.
EMDR: Uses bilateral stimulation to process traumatic memories contributing to metabolism.
Body-oriented CBT: Adds somatic awareness to standard cognitive-behavioral work.
When Somatic Therapy Is Especially Helpful for Metabolism
Somatic approaches are particularly valuable when metabolism has trauma origins, when talk therapy has plateaued, or when physical symptoms are prominent.