Frequently Asked Questions

Somatic integration coaching is a body-centered approach to personal transformation that works through your nervous system, not just your mind. It starts where most personal growth programs stop: with how you feel, move, and live in your body. We help you access the wisdom held in your body through movement, breathwork, and mindful awareness to create lasting change in how you show up in your life, relationships, and work. Unlike traditional talk-based approaches, this work includes what you feel and where you feel it—releasing patterns stored in your tissues and nervous system so you can move forward with more presence, capacity, and resilience.

Somatic coaching and therapy are different but deeply complementary approaches to transformation and healing. Therapy—led by licensed mental health professionals—focuses on diagnosing and treating mental health conditions, processing past experiences, and clinical treatment. Somatic coaching is future-focused, working with your present-moment experience to build new patterns, expand nervous system capacity, and align your actions with your values. Many of our clients work with both a therapist and a somatic coach, finding that the combination creates powerful, lasting change. We actively collaborate with therapists and mental health clinicians, and we require clients with known trauma or mental health diagnoses to have ongoing support from a licensed mental health professional, as this work is deep and can benefit from professional therapeutic partnership.

Each somatic integration session is co-created based on what's alive for you. We work through dialogue, guided movement, breathwork, and mindful somatic practices to help you tune into your body's sensations and wisdom. You'll learn to notice patterns, release tension, and complete stress responses that may be held in your system. Sessions may include standing practices, postural awareness, and somatic exercises you can use in your daily life. The work is always trauma-informed and moves at a pace that honors your nervous system's capacity.

Somatic bodywork integrates touch with awareness, dialogue, and nervous system regulation. Unlike massage that focuses primarily on releasing physical tension, somatic bodywork uses hands-on contact as a gateway to emotional, mental, and spiritual transformation. This can be offered as a standalone service or integrated into your somatic coaching sessions. We can guide bodywork practices virtually or provide hands-on work in person. You'll leave with embodied insights and practices that continue working long after our session ends.

Look for practitioners trained in established somatic lineages with rigorous, multi-year programs. At WildRise, I'm trained in the Strozzi lineage—founded by Dr. Richard Strozzi-Heckler and rooted in aikido, psychotherapy, bodywork, and systems thinking. This lineage has been shaped over decades by practitioners like Staci K. Haines, who brought critical focus to trauma healing, social justice, and collective care. Quality training includes extensive supervised practice, embodied learning, and deep work on the practitioner's own healing and patterns—not just intellectual study.

Training matters deeply because somatics has become trendy, and many unregulated schools and certifications have emerged that lack rigor, depth, or trauma-informed foundations. Some programs offer weekend certifications without adequate supervision or embodied practice requirements. Established lineages like Strozzi Institute ensure practitioners have done their own deep work and understand how to hold space safely for complex nervous system patterns, trauma responses, and transformation. When choosing a practitioner, ask about their training lineage, how long their program was, whether it included supervised practice, and what their own ongoing learning looks like.

Yes. Somatic approaches are particularly effective for healing trauma and anxiety because they work directly with your nervous system—where these experiences are held. We use techniques designed to calm and reprogram fight-flight-freeze responses, helping you release the hold that old experiences have on your body. Rather than just talking about what happened, we work with how it's living in your body now, creating new sustainable patterns. All work is consensual—you are always in charge and can accept or refuse any practice at any time. This ensures you maintain agency throughout your healing process.

This work is for those ready to move beyond insight and into real, embodied change. Our clients come from many walks of life but often share a readiness to shift patterns that no longer serve them and step into more of who they are. This includes people who feel stuck or for whom traditional coaching hasn't been fully effective, people navigating trauma and healing old wounds or conditioned tendencies, founders and leaders under pressure, and anyone reclaiming agency, clarity, and boundaries in their life or leadership. If you've done the mindset work, read the books, or tried to push through and still feel stuck, you're not alone—this work starts where others leave off, with your body, your breath, your lived experience.

Not at all. Somatic integration serves anyone navigating life transitions, seeking deeper self-awareness, wanting to shift limiting patterns, or looking to live with more presence and resilience. You might come because you're moving through a career change, navigating relationship challenges, feeling disconnected from your body, or simply wanting to cultivate more capacity for joy and aliveness. This work meets you wherever you are on your journey.

Trauma-informed means we prioritize nervous system safety and work at a pace that honors your body's capacity. We don't ask you to retell traumatic events unless you choose to. Instead, we notice what's happening in your body right now and work with sensation, breath, and movement to create new experiences of safety and regulation. We build resources first, go slowly, and trust that your body knows what it needs to heal. All practices are offered with full consent—you are in charge and can accept or refuse any practice at any time.

In your first session, we'll talk about what brings you here and what you're longing for. We'll also begin exploring your body's current experience—noticing breath, sensation, and how you're holding yourself. I'll introduce you to simple somatic practices and we'll start building a foundation of awareness and safety in your nervous system. Every session is responsive to what's present for you, so there's no rigid structure—just a grounded container for your becoming.

We use a variety of body-based practices designed to help you notice patterns, build capacity, and take new actions from a grounded place. These may include centering (a foundational practice for returning to your aligned, resourced self), somatic awareness (developing your internal ability to notice what's happening in your body), somatic shape (noticing how your body has adapted over time and practicing new shapes that align with how you want to live, lead, and relate), breath and grounding work (reconnecting to your breath as a tool for regulation and embodied power), Jo Practice (using a wooden staff or energetic equivalent to explore relationship, boundary, assertion, and flow), and declarations and embodied commitments (practicing alignment between what you declare and how you show up). Practices are adapted to your capacity and needs. We go at your pace.

Jo Practice uses a wooden staff (called a "jo") or an energetic equivalent to explore embodied qualities like grounding, boundary, flow, assertion, and relationship. Rooted in aikido—a martial art focused on blending with energy rather than opposing it—Jo Practice helps you feel and practice these qualities in your body, not just think about them. The movements train your nervous system to stay centered under pressure, hold boundaries with dignity, and move with intentionality. This practice is part of the Strozzi lineage and offers a powerful way to work with relational patterns, leadership presence, and embodied choice.

Both. We can work with hands-on physical touch for somatic bodywork or somatic integration coaching (in person or guided virtually for self-touch practices) or energetic touch, depending on what feels safe and aligned for you. All touch is fully consensual, trauma-informed, and offered only with your explicit permission. You choose what feels right for your body and your process.

Yes. Between sessions, you'll receive optional practices to deepen your learning. These may include breathwork, centering, body awareness, journaling, or movement-based exercises. Somatic change requires consistent practice—it's how new patterns become integrated into your nervous system. Think of it as returning to practice with commitment, curiosity, and care until change becomes part of you. The practices are designed to fit into your daily life and meet you where you are.

Most clients begin with weekly or biweekly sessions to build momentum and create sustainable change. As you develop your somatic practice and integrate new patterns, you may shift to monthly or as-needed sessions. The healing journey takes time—nervous system change is gradual and requires consistent practice. We'll find a rhythm that works for your nervous system, your life, and your goals.

For virtual sessions, you'll need a reliable internet connection and a device with video capabilities (computer, tablet, or phone). Choose a private space where you feel safe and won't be interrupted. Have room to move—you may be standing, lying down, or moving through the space. It's helpful to have a yoga mat, pillows, and blankets nearby. If you're working with Jo Practice, you'll need a wooden staff (jo) or energetic equivalent—we can provide guidance on low-cost DIY options. Wear comfortable clothing. We'll guide you through setting up your space in ways that support the depth of the work.

We do not accept insurance at this time. Some clients choose to submit documentation to their insurance company for potential out-of-network reimbursement if their plan includes coverage for coaching services, though this is uncommon. Think of this as an investment in your capacity, presence, and the quality of your life moving forward.

We require 48 hours advance notice to cancel or reschedule a session. Cancellations made with less than 48 hours notice will be charged 50% of the session fee. No-shows without notice will be charged the full session fee. We understand that emergencies and unexpected circumstances arise—these will be considered on a case-by-case basis. To reserve your session time, we collect a deposit at booking which will be applied toward your session fee.

Please do not come to an in-person session if you're feeling unwell. Your health and the health of our community matter. We're happy to reschedule to a time when you're feeling better, and we'll work with you to find the next available time that supports your healing journey. This grace extends to genuine illness—we trust you to honor what your body needs.

This work complements medical care but doesn't replace it. Many clients experience relief from chronic pain and physical symptoms through somatic work because we address the nervous system patterns and held tension that can underlie these experiences. When your body has been in a prolonged stress response, it can manifest as pain, digestive issues, tension, or fatigue. By releasing these patterns and building regulation, physical symptoms often shift. We don't claim to heal chronic pain, but we can support your body's capacity for relief and regulation.

Wear comfortable clothing that allows you to move and breathe easily. For in-person sessions with bodywork, loose-fitting clothes work best. For virtual sessions, just be comfortable—you might want to have a yoga mat, pillows, or blankets nearby for movement practices.

If you're feeling the call to work through your body rather than just your mind, if you're ready to release old patterns and step into new ways of being, if you're navigating a transition and need support that honors the whole of you—then this work may be calling you. The best way to know is to reach out. We can schedule a brief conversation to explore if we're a good fit for your journey.

Embody your becoming means living into the transformation that's already stirring within you—not as an idea, but as a felt experience in your body. It's about moving from who you've been into who you're becoming, with your whole system aligned. It's the practice of letting your body lead the way forward, trusting the wisdom that lives in your tissues, your breath, and your bones. It's liberation lived, not just understood.