Somatic Therapy
in Eugene, OR
An approach that goes beyond the talk
Many of the people I work with in therapy have spent months or years talking through their struggles in conventional counseling only to still feel “stuck”—stuck in patterns of chronic anxiety, overwhelm, and dissociation; stuck in unfulfilling careers and relationships; or stuck in a laundry list of physical symptoms that generate feelings of discomfort and unease. They are left wondering if it’s even possible to overcome stress and trauma, and what will actually help.
If you’re here, you are seeking relief from trauma yet looking for different, effective, and certainly non-traumatizing options for treatment. As a therapist or “helper” in a caregiving role, you may be looking to go beyond talking about your experiences to instead access and heal those experiences in the safe, contained space of therapy where you can fully process what’s happened.
You may not have received the kind of relief you’ve sought out through therapy in the past, but working with a somatic therapist can change that.
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What is somatic therapy?
Somatic approaches to therapy support accessing the wisdom of the body in order to better understand what has gone awry so that deep, lasting healing can take place. My practice incorporates two types of somatic therapy: Somatic Experiencing® and NeuroAffective Touch.
These body-based approaches are particularly helpful for clients experiencing the effects of PTSD, complex-PTSD, and the results of persistent, incomplete trauma responses. While both modalities include talking, their primary functions are somatic healing; integrating fully clothed therapeutic touch (in some cases); and developing deeper awareness of and skills for how the mind and body are responding to stress and/or trauma.
What is Somatic Experiencing®?
Somatic Experiencing® (SE) is one of the leading best practices for healing trauma and increasing resiliency. It’s generally used for single-incident or “shock” trauma, but it can also have benefits for chronic or developmental trauma.
The SE® process helps you understand and work through your body’s trauma response in the present moment so that you no longer have to fall back into habitual patterns of fight, flight, freeze, or appease. Through this, the meaning associated with past experiences will shift, and the memory of those experiences will be less activating and fragmenting.
What is NeuroAffective Touch?
NeuroAffective Touch (NAT) is geared specifically towards mind-body integration and healing the effects of developmental trauma. This approach addresses trauma-based, unconscious emotional responses that cannot be reached through talk therapy or bodywork alone. Through attuned touch and inquiry, NAT repairs relational ruptures and nurtures a stable, more self-aware identity empowered by the beliefs that I exist, I am loved, and my needs are important.
This approach is effective because it repairs developmental trauma by providing the fundamental experiences of connection, support, and attunement that may have been missing from your life.
The value of touch in therapy
A foundational principle of somatic therapy is that you can’t think your way out of your trauma. Rather, the effects of trauma must be addressed through body-based practices.
Touch work may be part of the process to help regulate stress, release physical tension, and heal the effects of both single-incident and complex traumas. It’s also beneficial for repairing attachment wounds, chronic stress, and incomplete defensive responses or automatic patterns. Any touch incorporated will be introduced at a comfortable pace and in a non-traumatizing way.
As you receive the nurturing, healing touch of a therapist, you can have the chance to foster a deeper, more transformative somatic awareness that will allow you to track internal sensory experiences and support new, more adaptive, and less activating patterns of behavior.
My integrated approach to somatic therapy focuses on developing an embodied, bottom-up connection to a felt sense of trust and comfort that can help:
Generate new cognitive, behavioral, emotional, and relational options that can foster a more enriched life experience
Resolve nonverbal or preverbal distress around identity, regulation, and self-soothing
Build capacity to nurture trusting relationships with oneself, others, and the world
Identify, articulate, and express needs
Stop cycles of self-judgment, shame, and guilt
My training and experience in somatic work
I do not incorporate modalities into my practice that I wouldn’t use in my own personal healing.
While I have been familiar with somatic therapy methods for a while—having incorporated Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing (EMDR) into my own therapy and professional practice over 10 years ago—I was never fully satisfied with how EMDR addressed trauma. Once my own therapist began to incorporate aspects of Somatic Experiencing® into our work together in the early 2020s, I noticed how gently and effectively this method brought my body into the therapeutic work of healing.
I began my training in Somatic Experiencing® in 2023, paving the way to a new appreciation for somatic psychotherapy and therapeutic touch for trauma. In 2026, I pursued more advanced training in touch work through study at the NeuroAffective Touch Institute and under the guidance of Kathy Kain—a senior trainer with Somatic Experiencing® International and renowned expert in the application of touch work in psychotherapy and trauma recovery.
I believe we have a better understanding than ever before about what trauma is and how it is resolved, and with that comes transformative therapeutic interventions that work! As a seasoned clinician working with fellow therapists and trauma survivor myself, I can honestly say that somatic approaches like SE® and NAT have been among the most effective modalities in my personal and professional therapy journey.
Gentle, effective somatic therapy is available through Rebecca White Counseling
The distress you’re feeling is a normal response to what is probably a very abnormal experience. Using somatic approaches in therapy, we can help your mind and body access, shift, and complete the response you’re having.
Somatic Experiencing® and NeuroAffective Touch are well tested, safe, and customizable modalities that can bring significant long- and short-term relief. For more information or to schedule a session, contact me.
Somatic Therapy
in Eugene, OR Office
317 Goodpasture Island Rd Ste G,
Eugene, OR 97401