Marenka Cerny, MFT

To start with, somatic psychotherapy can look like traditional talk therapy. We sit in a comfortable room, and together unfold your story and agree upon what to pay attention to first. The first thing that is different are some of the questions of inquiry, which ask about internal states related to your thoughts. In my work with clients we might incorporate gestures, postures, movements, and bodywork, as appropriate. Typically there is a parallel somatic educational process to the unfolding of your experience. The body is brought into the psychotherapeutic process because thinking is not only an abstract function, it is a physical act. The brain is physically continuous with the rest of the body and is influenced by the constant stream of information received through your senses. And so we focus on the regulation of energy in relation to what matters most to you. This often involves your experiences of some or all of the following: grounded-ness, meaning and purpose, connectedness, will and power, communication and expression, and the processing of information.

In somatic psychotherapy understanding *the why of things* is important, but just knowing *why* isn't enough for change to follow. Somatic psychotherapy works with *how* things happen. It can be easy to recognize, 'I need to have a boundary with this person in this situation.' But insights come and go. *How* exactly do you make that change in yourself in a way that is effective and feels good? Before the change, you have to start with: what is it you are doing now? When you know how you do something, then you can learn how to undo it. The result of working somatically in psychotherapy is an increase in communication between parts - your brain, heart, breath, muscles, sensing, feeling and action. This in turn can lead to a more engaged and fulfilling life. You can read more about somatic psychotherapy in my article on Medium-dot-com, "Sustaining the Gaze Towards Interdependence: A Somatic Psychology Perspective" (4 parts) specifically, Part 3: "Six ways the human nervous system inhibits interdependence" (and ego development). I would look forward to hearing your feedback on Medium, since this in an interactive self-publishing site.