Soma — from the Greek sōma, meaning “body”.

Somatic meditation-based therapy is based on a simple idea: our mind and body are not separate, and healing can involve working with both.

I offer a holistic and integrative approach that has its roots in psychoanalytic and psychodynamic psychotherapy, while bringing in something that more traditional talking therapies can sometimes miss — the experience of the body.

Our bodies are constantly communicating with us, through sensations, tension, emotions, impulses and the way our nervous system responds to the world around us. Yet many of us have become disconnected from these signals or have learned to ignore them.

Through somatic work and meditation, I help you become more aware of what is happening within you and develop a different relationship with your body and nervous system. Sometimes simply learning how to feel more grounded and regulated can make a significant difference. At other times, this creates the safety and inner space needed for deeper processing, understanding and change.

My approach has developed through different therapeutic, somatic and contemplative practices I have trained in. Rather than following one technique, I draw on these approaches to help you connect with your own inner resources — what I sometimes think of as the Healing Self: the part of us that already carries a capacity for growth, integration and change.

Working with imagination

Imagination is another important part of my work.

We often think of imagination as something unreal or separate from everyday life. Yet it can give us access to aspects of our inner experience that are difficult to reach through words alone. Jung recognised this through his work with active imagination, using images, symbols and inner dialogue as ways of engaging with the unconscious. Imagery and altered states of awareness have also been part of healing traditions across many cultures for centuries.

In our work, we may use visualisation, active imagination or parts work to explore what emerges. This can involve working with difficult experiences from the past, meeting different parts of yourself, exploring emotions through images and bodily sensations, or imagining new possibilities for how you might live and relate to yourself.

The aim is not to escape into imagination, but to use it as another way of listening to and working with your inner experience — and then bringing what emerges back into your everyday life.

A safe and grounded process

Although I work creatively and holistically, I am first and foremost a clinically trained psychotherapist. I pay particular attention to working safely and in a trauma-informed way. We do not need to force difficult material to emerge or push the nervous system beyond what feels manageable. The work develops at your pace.

Before beginning our work together, I will invite you to a 90-minute initial assessment session. This gives us time to explore what brings you to therapy, what you would like to work on and your previous experiences of therapy or other practices. We can then think together about whether somatic meditation-based therapy feels like the right approach for you and what our work might look like.