Bodywork and Somatic Therapy

Psychological distress is not only held in the mind. Trauma, anxiety, and the accumulated effects of chronic stress leave traces in the body: in patterns of tension and holding, in the quality of breath, in a relationship to physical sensation that ranges from hypervigilance to dissociation. Bodywork within a therapeutic context addresses these somatic dimensions of psychological experience — not as an alternative to verbal or analytic work, but as a complement to it that reaches what words alone cannot.

The practice offers shiatsu and yoga as somatic modalities alongside the psychotherapy, art therapy, and hypnotherapy offering. Both are practised by qualified practitioners working within an integrated framework rather than as standalone wellness services. The somatic work is offered where it is clinically relevant and in coordination with the broader therapeutic picture.

Who somatic work is for

Bodywork approaches are particularly relevant for clients whose presenting difficulty has a significant somatic component: chronic physical tension, difficulty inhabiting the body comfortably, trauma presentations where the body carries material that verbal approaches have not been able to reach, and eating disorder presentations where the relationship to the body itself is part of what needs attention. They are also available as part of a general wellness and stress management programme for clients whose needs do not require clinical-level work.