Somatic Therapy vs Talk Therapy: What’s the Difference (and Which One Do You Need?)

You’ve talked it through. So why are you still stuck?

Traditional therapy helps many people understand their past and make sense of their emotions. But if you still feel anxious, frozen, or stuck in symptoms that don’t shift, there’s often more going on beneath the surface.

That’s where somatic therapy comes in.

What Is Talk Therapy?

Talk therapy (like CBT or psychodynamic therapy) focuses on:

• Exploring your thoughts and beliefs

• Processing emotional patterns

• Reflecting on past experiences

• Building mental coping tools

  
  

It’s typically guided by conversation and insight. And while this can be incredibly helpful, insight alone doesn’t always lead to deep change—especially when trauma is stored in the body, not just the mind.

What Is Somatic Therapy?

Somatic therapy also involves talking, but it’s centered on what’s happening in your body as you speak. Instead of analyzing, we slow down and listen to your body’s cues, while creating a safe space for your shadows to come to the surface.

This approach includes:

• Body tracking: noticing sensations like tightness, numbness, or shutdown

• Breathwork: using the breath to regulate your nervous system in real time

• Somatic movement: supporting the body in releasing held stress or trauma

• Co-regulation: being in safe connection while navigating emotions

By tuning into the body’s messages, we access the parts of your experience that words can’t always reach. Your nervous system often tells the truth before your mind can explain it—making this deeper, more lasting work.

Somatic therapy brings the conversation into the body, so healing becomes something you feel, not just something you talk about.

Which One Do You Need?

Talk therapy may be right if you:

• Want to explore thoughts, emotions, or past events

• Need tools for navigating relationships

• Prefer a structured, insight-driven approach

  
  

Somatic therapy may be right if you:

• Understand your patterns but still feel stuck

• Experience chronic tension, fatigue, or anxiety

• Want to work with trauma at the nervous system level

• Feel disconnected from your body or shut down emotionally

You Don’t Have to Choose

Somatic therapy doesn’t replace talk therapy, it complements it. It’s for when you’ve done the work intellectually… but your body hasn’t caught up.

If you're ready to move from insight to embodied change, book a session with me here.

We’ll use breathwork, movement, and nervous system support to help you feel more present, grounded, and safe in your body.

Because healing isn’t just about what you know-it’s about what you feel.