What is EMDR and Somatic Therapy? How They Help When Talking Isn’t Enough

Ever feel like you’ve talked a problem to death, but it still weighs on you? You’ve analyzed it, processed it, and know exactly what needs to change. Maybe you tell yourself, “I’m strong” or “I’m enough,” but deep down, it doesn’t feel true. If you’ve tried talk therapy, you might’ve found relief in sharing your story; but that knot in your stomach, the tension in your shoulders, or the heaviness in your chest still lingers. That’s not a failure on your part, and it doesn’t mean healing isn’t possible. It just means talking might not be enough on its own. Exploring something like somatic therapy in Columbus, OH could be the missing piece to help you move forward.

Sometimes, our experiences, especially traumatic ones, get stored not just in our minds but in our bodies. When this happens, we need therapeutic approaches that go beyond words to create deep, lasting change. Two powerful methods that do just that are Somatic Therapy and EMDR (Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing). These therapies offer a path to healing that integrates your mind, body, and emotions, helping you finally bridge the gap between knowing you’re okay and truly feeling it.

Understanding Somatic Therapy: Listening to Your Body’s Wisdom

So, what exactly is Somatic Therapy? At its core, "soma" is the Greek word for "body." Somatic Therapy is an approach that centers on the powerful connection between your mind and your physical body. It operates on the principle that our emotions, stress, and trauma are not just mental experiences; they live within our bodies, influencing our physical sensations, posture, and even our health.

When we go through difficult experiences, our bodies react. Maybe you feel a tightness in your chest when you’re anxious, a pit in your stomach when you’re scared, or a heavy weight on your shoulders when you’re overwhelmed. These aren't just random feelings; they are your body’s way of holding onto and processing what has happened. Somatic Therapy helps you learn to listen to these signals and work with them to release stored stress and trauma.

The Science Behind It: Your Nervous System at Work

To understand how Somatic Therapy works, it helps to know a little about your nervous system. Think of it as your body’s internal command center. It has two main modes that are important here: the sympathetic nervous system and the parasympathetic nervous system. The sympathetic nervous system is your "gas pedal." It’s responsible for the "fight, flight, or freeze" response. When you perceive a threat, whether it’s a real danger or an overwhelming email, this system floods your body with stress hormones like adrenaline and cortisol. Your heart rate increases, your muscles tense, and you become hyper-alert. This is a brilliant survival mechanism designed to help you handle immediate danger.

The parasympathetic nervous system is your "brake pedal." It’s responsible for the "rest and digest" state. It helps you calm down, relax, and recover after the stress has passed. In a healthy, regulated nervous system, these two parts work in harmony. You rev up to meet a challenge and then calm down once it's over. However, when we experience trauma or chronic stress, our nervous system can get stuck in the "on" position. We remain in a state of high alert, constantly scanning for threats, even when we are perfectly safe. It can feel like you’re living with your foot perpetually on the gas, leading to exhaustion, anxiety, and a feeling of being constantly on edge.

How Somatic Therapy Works in Practice

Somatic Therapy provides tools and strategies to help you learn how to consciously regulate your nervous system. It’s not about just talking about what happened; it's about paying attention to what is happening inside your body right now. A session with a somatic therapist might involve:

Body Awareness Exercises:

You might be gently guided to notice the physical sensations in your body. Where do you feel tension? Where do you feel warmth or tingling? The goal is not to judge these sensations but simply to notice them. This practice helps you become more aware of where emotions and trauma are physically showing up.

Learning Regulation Tools:

You’ll learn practical techniques to help you shift from a sympathetic (stressed) state to a parasympathetic (calm) state. This could involve specific breathing exercises, gentle movements, or mindfulness practices that signal safety to your body.

Releasing Stored Energy:

As you develop more body awareness, you can learn to work with physical sensations to help them release. Trauma and stress create a lot of pent-up energy in the body. Somatic exercises provide a safe way for that energy to move through and out of your system.

One thing clients often notice when starting Somatic Therapy in Columbus, OH, is that their physical sensations seem to get worse at first. This isn't because you're regressing; it's because you're finally paying attention. For so long, you may have been pushing these feelings down or ignoring them. Now, you’re allowing yourself to truly notice what’s there. This increased awareness is the first step toward a profound physical and emotional shift, leading to a sense of release and lightness.

Exploring EMDR: Rewiring Your Brain for Healing

While Somatic Therapy gently guides us through the body's wisdom, there's another powerful path that works directly with your mind to heal old wounds. It's called EMDR (Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing), and it's designed to help your brain finally process those traumatic memories that feel "stuck." Have you ever found yourself reliving a moment from the past, where the fear, sadness, or anger feels just as raw and intense as it did when it first happened? It's as if that memory is trapped, replaying itself and causing you pain every time it resurfaces.

This happens when our brains couldn't fully process the event at the time it occurred. Think of it like a file on a computer that's corrupted; your brain struggles to access it without everything crashing. EMDR therapy helps your brain reprocess these memories, not by erasing them, but by taking away their distressing emotional grip. It allows you to recall the event without feeling overwhelmed. The memory can finally settle into its rightful place, as something that happened in the past, rather than something that is still happening to you now.It's about finding that sense of release, that lightness, as those old burdens begin to lift.

How Does EMDR Work?

EMDR therapy works through a process called bilateral stimulation (BLS). This simply means we engage both sides of your brain, usually with guided eye movements or gentle tapping. As you hold the traumatic memory in your mind, the BLS helps your brain’s own healing system start working. It’s a lot like what your brain does naturally during REM sleep, when it processes the day's events and stores memories.

By activating this system while you’re awake and safely supported in therapy, EMDR helps your brain make new, healthier connections around the memory. Think of it as building a bridge between the part of your brain that knows you are safe now and the part that still feels the fear and pain of the past. Have you ever felt that disconnect, the feeling of "I know I'm okay, but I don't feel okay"? This is exactly what EMDR therapy helps resolve. It allows you to move from logically knowing you're safe to truly feeling it in your core.

The Power of Combining Somatic Therapy and EMDR Therapy

While Somatic Therapy and EMDR therapy are powerful on their own, using them together creates a deeply holistic path to healing. Do you ever feel like you've been talking about the past for years but still feel stuck? Many people find that combining these two approaches is the key that finally unlocks real, transformative change. Think of it this way: Somatic Therapy prepares you for the deep work of EMDR. It gives you the tools to feel safe and grounded in your own body, teaching you how to regulate your nervous system. This way, when you revisit difficult memories during EMDR, you can do so without feeling completely overwhelmed. It helps you become your own anchor in the present moment, even as your mind travels to the past.

Then, EMDR therapy comes in to help you target and reprocess the specific memories that keep your body on high alert. As EMDR helps reduce the emotional charge of these memories, you'll likely notice changes in your physical symptoms. The tension or hypervigilance you worked on in Somatic Therapy may begin to soften and fade. Together, they create a beautiful, comprehensive approach. Somatic Therapy addresses how trauma lives in your body, while EMDR addresses what the traumatic memories are in your mind. This synergy allows you to heal from the inside out and the outside in, helping you build a sense of wholeness that talk therapy alone often struggles to reach.

Who Can Benefit from These Therapies?

While anyone can benefit from this work, these approaches are especially supportive for women navigating the immense pressures of modern life. If you are looking for a Somatic Therapist in Columbus, OH, you may find that this work resonates deeply with your experience.

For Overwhelmed Moms

Being a mom is a beautiful, loving experience, but it also comes with a lot of responsibility and self-sacrifice. Have you noticed how the sleepless nights, endless to-do lists, and the pressure of being everything to everyone can take a toll? So many moms feel like they're constantly running on empty, their nervous systems permanently stuck in overdrive. Somatic Therapy and EMDR Therapy offer a path forward, helping you gently release the physical toll that caregiving often brings. Imagine letting go of that persistent tension in your shoulders or the ache in your back, those burdens you've carried for so long.

We can also work together to regulate those intense stress responses. This means that instead of feeling overwhelmed by frustration or anxiety when life gets chaotic, you can discover a calm, intentional way to respond. And perhaps most importantly, this work can help you reconnect with the wonderful person you are, beyond the demands of motherhood. It’s so easy to lose touch with your own needs and desires amidst everything you do for others. Remember, you truly deserve to feel whole, grounded, and joyful, not just for your family, but profoundly for yourself.

For High-Achieving Women

If you're a driven, ambitious woman, you know that intense pressure to excel, don't you? That constant push for perfection, the high expectations—both from others and from yourself—and that nagging fear of not being "good enough" can really take a toll. It often leads to chronic stress and, eventually, burnout. Many High-Achieving Women in Columbus, OH are incredibly skilled at pushing through, but often, this comes at the cost of their own well-being. Have you ever felt like you're sacrificing yourself just to keep going?

Here is how we can work together with Somatic Therapy and EMDR:

• We can explore the roots of your imposter syndrome, gently processing the experiences that made you feel you weren't worthy of your success.

• You can learn to release the stress and tension your body holds from always being "on" and striving for perfection.

• Together, we can help you reconnect with your inner strength, building a sense of self-worth that comes from within, not from what you achieve. This allows you to pursue your goals with a sense of ease and authenticity.

For the Woman Who is Both: The Overwhelmed, High-Achieving Mom

Perhaps you find yourself in both worlds, don't you? Juggling a demanding career or ambitious personal goals while navigating the realities—and often the overwhelm—of motherhood. Do these different roles sometimes feel like they're pulling you in opposite directions? It's completely understandable to feel guilty, like you're not quite 'enough' in either, leaving you utterly exhausted and depleted.

If this resonates with your experience, please know you are absolutely not alone. This is precisely where approaches like Somatic Therapy and EMDR can offer truly impactful support. These therapies are designed to gently address the unique complexities of your life, offering a safe and nurturing space for you to:

• Gently process those conflicting pressures that come from caregiving and striving for achievement.

• Find a way to release the heavy burden of guilt and self-judgment that can accompany trying to "do it all."

• Cultivate a deep, profound resilience within yourself, allowing you to truly thrive, not just survive, in every part of your beautiful, busy life.

Being a great mom and a fulfilled, successful woman isn’t an either-or choice. You can find a way to bring these parts of yourself together, stepping into both roles with more ease and joy. With the right support, you’ll learn how to honor your ambitions while fully embracing motherhood. Picture yourself feeling balanced and whole, no more tug-of-war, just a sense of calm and confidence in who you are.

What Does Your Next Step Look Like?

If you're reading this, you might be experiencing a blend of hope and curiosity, perhaps even a touch of uncertainty. Acknowledging your need for support is a powerful step, and it's perfectly natural to feel a little hesitant about what comes next. In our work together, we move at a pace that feels right for you, always ensuring you remain in control of your own journey. My role is to gently help you create a safe space where healing can begin, without ever pushing you into anything that feels overwhelming. When this approach resonates with you, it can be a sign from within that it’s time to explore a new path, a way to heal that extends beyond just conversation.

Embracing Your Path to Wholeness

Healing isn't about erasing your past, but about gently building a future where those experiences no longer hold you back. It's about rediscovering a deep sense of safety within yourself and reconnecting with the strong, resilient person you truly are. Please know, genuine and profound change is absolutely possible for you. Imagine a life where you feel calm, grounded, and filled with more joy. You truly don't have to carry this weight alone.

Choosing a path to healing that honors your entire self—mind, body, and spirit—can be the most transformative journey you embark on. There is immense strength in recognizing your needs and opening up to the possibility of support. What if this moment is your gentle invitation to embrace that possibility?

Ready to Find Healing Beyond Words with Somatic Therapy in Columbus, OH?

If you feel like you’ve tried everything and are still searching for relief, please know you are not alone. It takes incredible courage to acknowledge that talking isn't always enough and to seek a different way forward. You deserve to feel safe, whole, and at peace in your own body. At Merrianna Holdeman Counseling, we can explore how Somatic Therapy in Columbus, OH, can help you release what’s been holding you back and reconnect with your inner strength.

Ready to take the next step? Schedule your free 15-minute consultation to learn more about my approach as a therapist and how we can work together.

Let this be the moment you take a gentle step toward lasting change and true support.

Other Therapy Services at Merrianna Holdeman Counseling

If the idea of healing beyond words feels right, but you also sense there’s more underneath—like persistent anxiety, the weight of past events, or feeling scattered and overwhelmed—you’re not alone. So many of the overwhelmed moms and high-achieving women I work with also struggle with anxiety, trauma, and ADHD. These are patterns that can make it hard to feel calm, stay present, or move forward with confidence. That’s why at Merrianna Holdeman Counseling, I offer specialized services for women navigating the overlapping challenges of emotional overwhelm, high expectations, and constant self-pressure. If you’ve been wondering what it might feel like to have a space that’s not about performing or pushing, therapy can offer that. It’s a place to be real, honest, and supported.

About the Author

Merrianna Holdeman, LPCC, is a Licensed Professional Clinical Counselor who offers a compassionate and safe space for healing in Ohio. She works with women who feel weighed down by anxiety, trauma, and overwhelm, guiding them toward a life filled with more joy and hope. With warmth and a deeply held belief that everyone deserves to feel heard and understood, Merrianna meets clients where they are, without judgment. In therapy, she helps you retrace your steps to understand the origins of your thoughts and feelings, empowering you to move forward in the direction you choose. Her approach is tailored to you, integrating specialized training in Somatic Therapy and EMDR to support you with trauma, anxiety, or ADHD to help you find what truly works for you. Merrianna is dedicated to being present and attentive, creating a comfortable and safe environment where you can do the deep work to thrive.