Somatic Therapy in Washington
Online therapy in Washington State to help you feel safe, grounded, and connected in your body
You've done the research. You understand, intellectually, why you feel anxious, stuck, or on edge. But that understanding hasn't reached your body yet — and your body is still braced for something that may have happened years ago. Somatic therapy works where talk therapy alone often can't. It brings healing into the nervous system itself, helping you move out of survival patterns and into something that actually feels like safety — not just the idea of it.
At Freesia Therapy Collective, our therapists offer trauma-informed somatic care for clients across Washington State, all online. Whether you're navigating trauma, anxiety, intergenerational stress, identity transitions, or a body that simply won't calm down, we're here to help you find your way back to yourself.
What Is Somatic Therapy?
Somatic therapy is a body-centered approach to mental health that recognizes what neuroscience has long confirmed: trauma and chronic stress don't just live in our thoughts — they live in our bodies. Tight shoulders. A constricted chest. The instinct to go small, go numb, or disappear. These aren't personality quirks. They're the nervous system's attempt to protect you.
Unlike traditional talk therapy, somatic work brings deliberate attention to physical sensations, nervous system states, and the emotional information stored in the body. Therapists trained in somatic approaches learn to track these signals alongside what you're saying — and to help you do the same.
Somatic therapy encompasses a range of modalities, including:
- Somatic Experiencing (SE) — developed to treat trauma by gently titrating contact with difficult sensations until the nervous system can complete its natural stress response
- Internal Family Systems (IFS) with body-based tracking — exploring the parts of you that hold pain, protection, or shame through both thought and felt sense
- Mindfulness-based somatic awareness — learning to observe what's happening in the body without being overwhelmed by it
- Breathwork and nervous system regulation — practical tools to interrupt the freeze/fight/flight cycle and restore a sense of groundedness
- Narrative Therapy integrated with body work — deconstructing inherited stories while noticing where they live physically, not just mentally
Who Is Somatic Therapy For?
Somatic therapy tends to be particularly meaningful for people whose distress has a physical dimension — or whose intellectual understanding of their situation has outpaced how they actually feel.
You might benefit from somatic therapy if you:
- Know why you feel anxious or triggered but can't seem to shift it
- Carry tension, chronic pain, or fatigue that doesn't have a clear medical explanation
- Experience dissociation, numbness, or a sense of being disconnected from your own body
- Struggle with freeze or shutdown responses — going blank, shutting down, or feeling trapped
- Are processing trauma, including childhood, relational, ancestral, or complex (C-PTSD) trauma
- Find that anxiety lives in your body more than your mind — racing heart, shallow breath, gut tension
- Are navigating a significant identity shift, spiritual transition, or sense of being between who you were and who you're becoming
- Are a person of color, LGBTQIA+ individual, or cycle-breaker carrying stress that's rooted in systemic or intergenerational experiences
Somatic work is also a powerful complement to other therapeutic approaches. Many clients come to us having already done years of talk therapy — and find that body-based work helps them integrate what they've learned in a way that finally sticks.
Our Approach to Somatic Therapy
At Freesia Therapy Collective, our somatic therapists bring genuine clinical depth alongside personal attunement. We're not offering a one-size-fits-all script. We're tracking you — your history, your patterns, your nervous system — and adjusting accordingly.
Our work is grounded in a trauma-informed, consent-based framework. That means we move at your pace, check in regularly about what's landing, and never push you toward material you're not ready to approach.
Depending on your needs, your work with us might incorporate:
- Somatic awareness and sensation tracking
- Breathwork, grounding, and resourcing techniques
- Parts work through Internal Family Systems (IFS)
- Nervous system education — understanding why your body responds the way it does
- Narrative Therapy to deconstruct inherited or oppressive stories
- Jungian and archetypal frameworks for clients navigating identity or spiritual depth
- Integration of ancestral and intergenerational trauma patterns
- LGBTQIA+-affirming and culturally responsive somatic care
We also hold a strong dual-diagnosis lens: for clients where anxiety, depression, or substance use intersects with trauma and nervous system dysregulation, somatic approaches are often part of an integrated treatment picture.
Why Choose Freesia for Somatic Therapy in Washington?
Licensed Clinicians With Specialized Training
Many of our therapists hold licensure at multiple levels and bring experience across community mental health, crisis intervention, psychiatric settings, and private practice. This isn't generalist therapy with a somatic label. Our clinicians who specialize in this work have pursued formal training in body-based modalities and bring real depth to what can be delicate, nuanced work.
An Affirming, Equity-Centered Practice
We are an LGBTQIA+-affirming practice, and our somatic therapists bring a culturally responsive, equity-focused lens to their work. For clients whose nervous systems carry the weight of racial stress, identity-based trauma, or intergenerational harm, this isn't an afterthought — it's central to the work.
Nicole Grimaldo, LSWAIC, offers Spanish-language services (¡habla español!) and brings nearly a decade of experience in behavioral health, psychiatric crisis care, and complex trauma alongside specialized training in somatic therapy, DBT, addiction psychology, and human sexuality.
Telehealth Across All of Washington
Freesia Therapy Collective is 100% telehealth, serving clients throughout Washington State. Whether you're in Seattle, Spokane, Tacoma, Vancouver, or a rural area with limited local options, you can access the same quality of somatic care from wherever you have a quiet space and a reliable connection.
A Practice That Fits You to the Right Therapist
We offer a free 20-minute consultation before you commit to anything. We want you to find the right fit — and we take that seriously.
What Can I Expect From Somatic Therapy at Freesia?
- Free consultation — A brief call to share what's bringing you in and ask questions. We'll help identify which of our clinicians might be the best match.
- Intake session — Your therapist takes time to understand your full picture: history, current symptoms, what your body tends to do under stress, and what you're hoping for.
- Collaborative, paced treatment — Sessions are typically weekly or bi-weekly. Somatic work moves at a pace that's safe and grounding, not flooding.
- Integration between sessions — Your therapist may offer simple practices to carry into your daily life — breath awareness, orienting exercises, grounding tools — that support the work between sessions.
- Progress and adjustment — We pay attention to what's working. If something isn't landing, we adapt.
Most clients begin noticing shifts within the first few months, though deeper nervous system patterning — especially with complex or developmental trauma — takes time. What matters is that you're moving, not just coping.
Our Therapists Specializing in Somatic Therapy:
Latest Posts Related to Somatic Therapy:
A Super-Warm Welcome to Nicole Grimaldo, LSWAIC
A New Voice for Healing at Freesia Therapy Collective! We are so excited to welcome […]
Frequently Asked Questions
Yes, and effectively so. Online somatic therapy does look a little different from in-person — therapists work with what they can see and what you can report — but the core practices translate well to telehealth. Many clients actually find it easier to do grounding and body-awareness work from the comfort and privacy of their own space.
In most cases, yes. Somatic therapy is typically billed under standard mental health CPT codes, and many insurance plans cover it. We verify benefits before your first session and help you understand your coverage. We’re currently in-network with Premera, Regence, Blue Cross, and Blue Shield, and others.
Yes — body-based approaches are among the most evidence-supported methods for trauma treatment. Trauma is stored in the nervous system, not just in memory or narrative. Approaches like Somatic Experiencing, IFS, and mindfulness-based body tracking help clients process trauma at the physiological level, which can produce shifts that talking alone doesn’t reach.
That’s completely fine — and actually quite common. Many clients come to somatic therapy having only done traditional talk therapy before. Your therapist will introduce body-based practices gradually, with your input and consent at every step. There’s no expectation that you’ll immediately know how to “do” somatic work. The whole point is to learn together.
Talk therapy primarily works with thoughts, beliefs, and emotions at a cognitive level. Somatic therapy adds direct attention to the body — physical sensations, nervous system responses, posture, breath, and the felt experience of emotions. For many people, especially those with trauma histories, this is where lasting change actually happens. The two approaches complement each other, and many of our therapists integrate both.