Somatic Therapy & IFS in Seattle
Your body holds both your history and your capacity for transformation.
With a slow pace and kind heart, the body’s wisdom is revealed.
Returning to the Truth of the Body
Beyond the Narrative
True transformation is not a process of becoming something new; it is a return to the wisdom that is already present. While we often navigate life through the chatter of the mind, much of our history is held in the intricate rhythms of the nervous system. Somatic therapy is the practice of slowing down until the body’s natural intelligence can finally be felt.
The Process of Unburdening
By integrating Hakomi Somatic Psychotherapy and Internal Family Systems (IFS), we move toward the “bottom-up” truth of your experience. As thoughts, emotions, sensations, and impulses naturally arise, we become curious about what they are communicating rather than trying to change or analyze them. We do not aim to fix you; instead, we create the safety needed for long-held patterns of protection to soften. As they do, greater clarity, presence, and ease begin to emerge.
Frequently Asked Questions
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Hakomi is a somatic, "bottom-up" approach that uses mindfulness to study how we organize our experience. In session, we enter a quiet, mindful state together to pay attention to what is naturally arising. Through small, gentle experiments, we deepen our self-study of the present moment—noticing how the body holds our history and our beliefs. Hakomi sets the pace of our work, ensuring we stay grounded in the body's wisdom rather than getting lost in the narrative of the mind.
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Internal Family Systems (IFS) therapy invites you to explore the many "parts" within yourself—the protectors, the ones carrying pain, and those connected to joy and purpose. These parts are shaped not only by your life experiences but also by familial, cultural, and collective influences. Much like active imagination, IFS helps you access your personal inner world to shift the dynamics that profoundly influence your life. As you build a compassionate relationship with these parts, your core Self—the wise, calm center—emerges as a witness and guide, creating a sense of internal harmony and freedom from old patterns.
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I follow what organically presents itself in our sessions. While Hakomi sets the pace through a "bottom-up," mindful study of the body, IFS provides the tools to engage with the specific parts that arise. If a protector part becomes active in your body, we use the somatic presence of Hakomi to stay grounded while using the language of IFS to understand and support that part's role. This blend allows us to move through your ego’s defenses with curiosity, procuring new wisdom through your feeling state rather than just your "story."
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Traditional talk therapy and CBT often focus on the "top-down" approach—analyzing why we feel the way we do and trying to change our thoughts to change our feelings. Somatic work is a "bottom-up" process. It is less about analyzing the story and more about procuring new wisdom through the power of our feeling state. This often softens the ego’s defenses, increasing our capacity for curiosity rather than relying on our old stories to tell us what is happening in the moment.
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Yes, we talk—but it is not the standard conversational back-and-forth of traditional therapy. Somatic work is more akin to a shared meditation where we follow internal cues like thoughts, body sensations, and memories as they arise in the moment. Instead of simply talking about your concerns, we anchor into the body to experience the felt sense of resolution in real-time. By moving beyond the story and into the nervous system, we allow your defenses to soften, making space for a deeper, grounded integration that talk therapy alone often cannot reach.
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Many people find their way to somatic work after traditional talk therapy has run its course. You may have a deep intellectual understanding of your lived experience, yet find that your body still feels unresolved or "incongruent" with that knowledge. If you are ready to navigate a new understanding through the body's intelligence, this container may be right for you.
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Item descriptionYes. Whether we meet in person or online, the heart of this work is cultivating mindful awareness of your own experience. Because the body, emotions, imagination, and inner parts are always with you, many aspects of Hakomi and Internal Family Systems (IFS) translate naturally to telehealth. Together, we’ll choose the setting that best supports your process
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It begins with a complimentary consultation call. This is a space for us to explore your goals and determine if this modality is a potential fit for you.
