--- title: "Somatic Therapy in Eugene, Oregon | Ubuntu Counseling" url: https://ubuntucounselingeugene.com/approach/somatic-therapy description: "Somatic work with Heather Swaney, MA, LPC: body awareness and regulation for trauma and anxiety, sensory-aware for autistic people. Eugene or telehealth." lang: en --- How I Work: https://ubuntucounselingeugene.com/approach # Somatic Work Your body often knows something is wrong before your words do. Somatic work starts there, with noticing before narrating. ## Noticing Before Narrating Talk therapy asks you to put experience into words. That matters, and it is not always where things begin. Stress, fear and old hurt often live in the body as tension, holding, bracing, numbness or restlessness. Sometimes the story is not available yet, and the body is. Somatic work pays attention to what is happening physically in the moment. Where do you feel that? What happens in your shoulders when you talk about work? What does your breath do when you mention your father? We notice first, and let the story come later, if it needs to come at all. ## Regulation, Not Relaxation The aim of somatic work is not to make you relaxed on command. It is to help your nervous system move between activation and rest more flexibly, so you are not stuck at full alert or stuck shut down. That is what regulation means here. We might practice finding a spot in your body that feels neutral or okay, and resting attention there. We might try orienting, letting your eyes slowly take in the room, which tells the oldest parts of the brain that you are safe right now. We might work with pressure, movement, posture or breath. Every exercise is an invitation. You can say no, and you can stop at any time. ## Somatic Work With Trauma Trauma can leave the body behaving as if the danger is still happening. A sound, a smell or a tone of voice can set off a full-body response before you have had a single thought. Talking about it can help, and it can also sometimes stir things up faster than you can settle them. Somatic work gives another route. By building your capacity to notice and settle sensations in small amounts, we widen the window in which you can be with hard material without being overwhelmed. This is slow, careful work, and it follows your pace. More lives on my trauma and PTSD page (https://ubuntucounselingeugene.com/services/trauma-and-ptsd). ## Somatic Work With Anxiety Anxiety is a full-body experience: the tight chest, the churning stomach, the hot face, the urge to leave. Learning to read those signals, and to respond to them with something other than alarm, can change how anxiety feels from the inside. Somatic skills also travel well. A slow exhale, pressing your feet into the floor, or noticing five things you can see are small enough to use in a meeting, a classroom or a car. You can read more on my anxiety therapy page (https://ubuntucounselingeugene.com/services/anxiety). ## Sensory Considerations for Autistic People Body-focused work has to be sensory-aware, especially for autistic people. Some common somatic exercises, like closing your eyes, focusing on breath, or noticing internal sensations, can be uncomfortable or even distressing for some autistic nervous systems. Interoception, the sense of what is happening inside your body, can be muted, intense or hard to name. So I adapt. We might use external anchors, like the weight of a blanket or the texture of a fidget, instead of internal ones. Eyes stay open if you prefer. Stimming is welcome; it is regulation, not something to stop. My autism therapy page (https://ubuntucounselingeugene.com/services/autism) says more about how I work with autistic kids and adults. ## The Room, and How This Translates to Telehealth The office is set up with bodies in mind. In my words: a low arousal environment with natural lighting and low noise, and fidget and low stim toys are provided. Alternative seating is available: couch, chair, spinning chair, big pillows and blankets. You are welcome to move, change seats, or sit on the floor. Nothing about the room is a test. If the spinning chair helps you think, use it. If you want the lights lower or the blinds adjusted, say so. Adjusting the space is part of the work, because noticing what your body needs, and asking for it, is a somatic skill in itself. The same principles carry over to telehealth for anyone located in Oregon. Before we start, we can set up your own space: dimmer light if you like, a blanket or pillow within reach, something to hold, your camera at an angle that feels comfortable. The body is present on video too, and noticing it works from your own couch. ## Questions About This Approach Will you touch me during somatic work? No. Somatic work here is about your own attention to your body, guided by conversation. There is no touch. What if I cannot feel much in my body? That is common and it is fine. We can start with external anchors, like pressure, texture or what you see in the room, and go from there. Can somatic work be done by telehealth? Yes. We set up your space together and the same noticing and regulation skills work on video for anyone located in Oregon. What Somatic Work Can Include - Noticing sensation before putting it into words - Orienting to the room and finding neutral spots in the body - Small doses of activation, followed by settling - External, sensory-friendly anchors when internal ones do not fit - Stimming and movement welcome - A low arousal room in Eugene, or your own space by telehealth Next Step ## Start With a Free 30-Minute Call A short conversation so I can hear what is going on and we can decide together whether this is the right room for it. Get in touch: https://ubuntucounselingeugene.com/contact (458) 215-1465: +14582151465 Related Reading ### Trauma and PTSD Therapy Care that respects your pace. https://ubuntucounselingeugene.com/services/trauma-and-ptsd ### Autism Therapy Neurodiversity-affirming support. https://ubuntucounselingeugene.com/services/autism ### The Office The low arousal room in Eugene. https://ubuntucounselingeugene.com/office ### Oregon Telehealth Sessions anywhere in Oregon. https://ubuntucounselingeugene.com/oregon-telehealth ## Structured data ```json [ [ { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@type": "MedicalWebPage", "name": "Somatic Work", "description": "Somatic work with Heather Swaney, MA, LPC: body awareness and regulation for trauma and anxiety, sensory-aware for autistic people. 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