Somatic Therapy Is Everywhere. Does the Science Back It Up?

The Trend: If you’re familiar with the wellness space, you’ve likely heard “somatic therapy” mentioned in podcast ads and therapist bios. It’s a group of body-oriented techniques focused on the mind-body connection, and it’s gaining traction as more people look for ways to process stress and trauma outside of talk therapy.

What People Are Saying: Supporters say it works by homing in on physical sensations (like muscle tension, posture, breathing patterns, and movement) to release stored emotional stress. Techniques range from breathwork and grounding exercises to guided movement and body scanning. While more therapists have been arguing the body holds onto these experiences that talk therapy just can’t reach, skeptics note it’s difficult to define somatic therapy, and say we still need rigorous research on it.

What to Know: Forms of somatic therapy date back to the 1970s, when researchers began studying how trauma lives in the body. A 2017 trial showed promising results for PTSD, but the overarching evidence hasn’t caught up to that of established therapies like cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT). If you’re still curious, look for a licensed practitioner with formal training. Not everyone using the now quite popular term has the credentials to back it up.