Integrative Somatic Therapy and Parts Therapy for Trauma Healing
Why Somatic Therapy?
Somatic therapy is a powerful approach that bridges the gap left by traditional talk therapy. While conventional methods focus on cognitive processes and conscious thoughts, they often miss the body’s role in storing and responding to unprocessed experiences. Somatic therapy works by engaging the body directly, which is essential for uncovering implicit memories—those deeply embedded, non-verbal memories held in the body and nervous system. These memories can trigger reactions and patterns we might not fully understand or be consciously aware of.
When trauma or stress becomes "stuck" in the body, it can lead to symptoms like muscle tension, headaches, insomnia, anxiety, or feelings of disconnection. By tuning into the body’s movement, breath, and sensations, somatic therapy helps us access and release these unprocessed memories, guiding the body to complete its natural healing responses. This approach can reveal and address hidden triggers, allowing for deeper healing and resilience.
In my work, I integrate somatic techniques with traditional methods, believing that a complete approach to healing must encompass the mind and body together. With this combined focus, somatic therapy provides a holistic path that empowers you to understand and respond to your body’s signals, ultimately promoting lasting change and well-being.
Integrative Somatic Therapy and Parts Therapy for Healing and Wholeness
Integrative Somatic Therapy and Parts Therapy draw on a combination of body-based and mind-based approaches to address trauma and deep emotional pain. With insights from experts like Richard Schwartz, the founder of Internal Family Systems (IFS), and Janina Fisher, known for her work with trauma and dissociation, this therapeutic approach is designed to provide a compassionate, personalised path to healing. My work is grounded in the belief that the body—through movement, breath, and sensation—plays a crucial role in the healing process.
Each person’s journey to recovery is unique, and a combination of top-down (mind-focused) and bottom-up (body-focused) techniques enables me to meet clients where they are. This integrative method ensures that we address both the mind and body, fostering a holistic healing experience that restores balance, emotional resilience, and self-understanding.
Integrative & Somatic Therapy: A Path to Reconnect with Your Body
Integrative Somatic Therapy focuses on helping individuals listen to their bodies, release stored tension, and foster self-awareness. The work emphasises learning to identify and respond to physical sensations, allowing clients to process emotions that may have been suppressed or ignored.
Through somatic therapy, you’ll gain tools for becoming more attuned to your body’s signals, ultimately promoting healing and overall well-being.
Who Is Somatic Therapy For?
Somatic therapy can benefit anyone who has experienced a disruption in the body-mind connection, particularly in their ability to adapt, thrive, and flourish. Some common symptoms that indicate a need for somatic healing include:
Physical Symptoms: Headaches, dizziness, muscle tension, digestive issues, and tightness around the breath, all of which can signal the body holding onto unprocessed stress or trauma.
Emotional Symptoms: Feelings of numbness, fear, anxiety, panic, overwhelm, shame, and anger that may feel out of control or inaccessible.
Psychological Symptoms: Mental rumination, low self-worth, dissociation, memory difficulties, negative self-talk, depression, and self-blame, often resulting from unresolved experiences.
Relational and Social Symptoms: Patterns of isolation, loneliness, and relational reenactments, particularly in attachment and trust-building, can emerge from past traumas affecting present connections.
These symptoms highlight the interconnectedness of body and mind, showing how unprocessed experiences can create both physical and emotional barriers to living fully. Somatic therapy provides tools for reconnecting with and regulating your body, guiding you to navigate these challenges with greater resilience and self-compassion.
Parts Therapy: Working with Internal Parts for Healing
Parts Therapy, or Internal Family Systems (IFS), pioneered by Richard Schwartz, is based on the understanding that our psyche is composed of different “parts” or subpersonalities. These parts often carry specific memories, beliefs, and emotions tied to past experiences. In cases of trauma or dissociative identity disorder (DID), these parts may become fragmented, creating internal conflict or feelings of disconnection.
Parts therapy helps clients identify and connect with these parts, providing a space for each part to be heard, acknowledged, and understood. This process is particularly powerful for those with dissociative symptoms, allowing for self-compassionate exploration of each part’s role in survival and emotional protection.
Janina Fisher’s work further underscores the importance of working with trauma parts by emphasizing techniques to create stability, manage activation, and help clients reconnect with their inner experiences. Through integrative parts therapy, clients can safely explore and process traumatic memories, bringing their internal parts into harmony and achieving greater self-integration.
How These Sessions Can Help You Heal
Integrative Somatic Therapy and Parts Therapy support clients in healing from the effects of trauma and reconnecting with themselves on a deeper level. Here are some of the ways these sessions can foster healing:
Restoring the Body as a Safe Place: Through somatic techniques, clients learn to reconnect with their body, establishing it as a place of safety and stability.
Processing Unresolved Emotions: Both somatic and parts therapy facilitate the release of emotions that may have been held in the body for years, allowing for emotional relief and new insights.
Completing Stress Responses: Trauma often interrupts the body’s natural stress response. Somatic therapy provides a way to complete these stress cycles, which can release tension and restore a sense of control.
Healing the Relationship with Self and Others: Parts therapy allows clients to address internal conflict and reframe past experiences, supporting healthier relationships with themselves and others.
In these sessions, you will be provided with tools and techniques to help you become more aware of and regulate your body and state of being. Together, we’ll build internal and external resources, allowing you to engage with your internal parts compassionately, explore your body more deeply, and take the time and space needed to process past traumas.
Start Your Healing Journey with Integrative Somatic and Parts Therapy
If you’ve been experiencing physical, emotional, psychological, or relational symptoms that are limiting your quality of life, integrative somatic therapy and parts therapy can provide a pathway to relief and resilience. With a compassionate and experienced guide, you’ll learn to listen to your body, engage with your inner parts, and cultivate a renewed sense of safety and self-worth.
Your healing journey is unique, and I am here to support you every step of the way. Reach out to schedule a consultation and discover how these transformative therapies can help you reconnect, restore, and thrive.
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Anxiety is our mind's way of keeping us safe, a survival instinct that triggers the "fight-or-flight" response even when no immediate danger is present. Traditional therapy often focuses on addressing anxious thoughts, helping us reshape our mental patterns. However, somatic psychotherapy and parts therapy go deeper, working directly with the nervous system to uncover why we remain in survival mode. By understanding and regulating these underlying responses, we can release the grip of anxiety, breaking free from cycles that keep us stuck and moving toward a life of balance and true freedom.
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High-conflict divorce can be incredibly destabilising, often triggering symptoms of PTSD as individuals process what they've endured. The intensity of the divorce process can reawaken survival-mode responses, forcing people to navigate a flood of painful memories, self-doubt, and anxiety. Many find they’ve tolerated negative and damaging behaviours for so long that they struggle to recognise their own boundaries and self-worth.
During and after a high-conflict divorce, it’s common to feel depleted, disconnected, and unsure of how to rebuild. Therapy—particularly somatic psychotherapy and parts therapy—provides a pathway to gently settle the nervous system, rediscover a sense of inner calm, and begin the healing process. These approaches allow individuals to reconnect with themselves, identify and release unresolved pain, and find a place to resource and recover, ultimately helping them reclaim their strength and rebuild their lives with clarity and self-compassion.
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Stress is often the resurfacing of old triggers—reactions from past experiences that the body and mind have stored as survival mechanisms. These defence systems work at a do-or-die rate, carrying an intense, often unconscious charge that keeps us pushing forward. While we may feel that we're just dealing with current demands, the nervous system is actually responding to layers of past triggers, compounding stress and driving us toward burnout. Somatic psychotherapy and parts therapy help to uncover these hidden triggers, allowing the nervous system to release stored tension and helping us create a balanced, sustainable way to engage with life.
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Codependency is a pattern rooted in "submit" and "avoidance" modes, where we prioritise others’ needs at the expense of our own, often out of a deep-seated fear of disconnection or rejection. It’s a way of keeping safe by adapting to others, avoiding our true selves, and seeking validation outside of us. Traditional therapy can help us recognise these behaviours, but somatic psychotherapy and parts therapy go further—working with the nervous system to understand why we default to these patterns in the first place. Through this deeper work, we can break free from codependency, reconnect with our authentic selves, and cultivate healthier, balanced relationships.
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Complex grief and loss are often at the core of many survival strategies, deeply embedded emotions that shape how we navigate the world. These feelings, left unprocessed, become stored in the body, guarded by intricate defence systems designed to protect us from further pain. Traditional approaches may address the surface feelings of grief, but somatic psychotherapy and parts therapy dive deeper, helping to uncover and release the impact of this emotional weight on our nervous system. By working directly with these held patterns, we can gently soften defences, heal the root of our survival strategies, and open the door to authentic healing and resilience.
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Depression often stems from stored, unprocessed pain and emotions that once felt overwhelming. Over time, we build defences and survival strategies to avoid facing this deep inner pain, creating patterns to protect ourselves from what once felt unbearable. However, these defences can’t hold forever—eventually, they burn out, leaving us feeling empty, exhausted, and experiencing a sense of collapse. This is where depression takes hold. Somatic psychotherapy and parts therapy work with the nervous system to gently access and process these buried emotions, allowing us to release the weight of unhealed wounds and gradually rebuild a life grounded in resilience and self-compassion.
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Mood disorders are often rooted in repressed emotions—feelings that have been deeply buried to avoid discomfort or pain. While medication can provide essential support, it can sometimes block the receptors needed to fully process and release these underlying emotions, creating a cycle of highs and lows as the body and mind attempt to cope. Somatic psychotherapy and parts therapy go beyond symptom management, working directly with the nervous system to safely uncover, feel, and integrate these repressed emotions. This deeper approach can help smooth the emotional rollercoaster, allowing for a more balanced and grounded experience of self.
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Narcissistic abuse can be so subtle that many don’t realise the damage it has done to their self-esteem until they step away from it. Often, strong, resilient people believe they can handle it, thinking they’re immune to its effects. But narcissistic abuse doesn’t just impact the present—it erodes the younger, vulnerable parts within us, unearthing unfinished childhood wounds that are still seeking healing. These deep-rooted needs and unresolved pain become hidden targets, leaving us feeling depleted and disconnected. Therapy, especially approaches like somatic psychotherapy and parts therapy, helps us reconnect with and heal these wounded parts, restoring self-worth and reclaiming our authentic selves.
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In CPTSD and PTSD, trauma—whether from significant events or seemingly smaller experiences—leaves an imprint on the body at a cellular level, often stored deep within our nervous system. This impact goes beyond memories; it creates splits and fragmentation within our personality or sense of identity as a way to protect us from overwhelming pain. These fragments, formed as survival strategies, can cause us to feel disconnected from ourselves, as if parts of our identity are locked away. Through somatic psychotherapy and parts therapy, we can gently work with these stored traumas, reintegrating these fragmented parts to bring a sense of wholeness, safety, and healing back into our lives.
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Self-esteem and confidence are deeply influenced by our earliest experiences and emotional imprints, often shaped by how safe, valued, and accepted we felt in our formative years. When these needs aren’t fully met, layers of self-doubt and insecurity can build, sometimes leading us to rely on external validation to feel worthy. These patterns of low self-worth become stored in the body and reinforced by defence mechanisms, making it hard to break free. Somatic psychotherapy and parts therapy work directly with these underlying beliefs and bodily imprints, allowing us to release old self-judgments and reconnect with an authentic, unshakable sense of confidence from within.
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Trauma is an imprint left by experiences that overwhelmed our ability to cope, often stored deeply within the body and nervous system. These imprints aren’t just memories; they become protective patterns that influence our thoughts, emotions, and behaviours, even years after the event. Trauma responses are triggered by reminders of past experiences, often outside of our conscious awareness, causing us to relive the original pain or fear. Over time, these survival strategies become woven into our identity, creating barriers to fully experiencing life. Somatic psychotherapy and parts therapy work gently to release these stored memories, helping the body and mind heal from within, reintegrating fragmented parts, and allowing us to feel safe and whole again.
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Fertility issues can carry a profound emotional weight, often triggering feelings of inadequacy, grief, and frustration that can become stored within the body and nervous system. These experiences can activate survival responses—like self-blame, despair, or emotional shutdown—as a way to cope with the ongoing stress and uncertainty. This can create a cycle where both mind and body remain in a heightened state of tension, impacting overall wellbeing. Somatic psychotherapy and parts therapy work to release these deeply held emotions, supporting both the nervous system and the psyche to process the complex layers of grief and expectation, ultimately fostering a space for healing and self-compassion.
Don’t Sit On The Fence - Contact Us Today.
If you are ready to move beyond the surface and experience deep, personalised therapy, Emily Andrews is here to support you every step of the way. Contact us today to schedule a discovery call and take the first step towards transformative change.
How Emily Can Help
Your entire history—every experience, memory, and influence—shapes how you see yourself and the world. This hidden driver often keeps high-achievers stuck in repeating cycles, despite success or growth. But these patterns are not flaws; they are powerful parts of our story, holding potential for deep transformation.
Our Identity Healing Method is designed to move you beyond survival mode, integrating mind and body to turn past pain into a catalyst for growth. By truly embodying this work, you unlock a new, freeing relationship with your past—one that fuels, rather than limits, your potential. The journey leads to authentic resilience, grounded in presence and lasting freedom..
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Counselling provides a safe, transformative space to explore and heal the complex layers behind issues like anxiety, trauma, burnout, and self-esteem. Through compassionate guidance, counselling helps uncover deeply rooted patterns and defence mechanisms, empowering you to process past wounds, release stored emotions, and reconnect with your authentic self. By working with both mind and body, it supports lasting change, fostering resilience, self-awareness, and emotional balance to navigate life’s challenges with renewed confidence and strength.
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Psychotherapy, especially Psychosynthesis, offers a profound approach to healing by addressing both the conscious and unconscious aspects of self. Unlike traditional methods, Psychosynthesis focuses on integrating fragmented parts of our personality and uncovering our deeper purpose. It’s particularly effective for those dealing with trauma, complex emotions, and identity shifts, as it doesn’t just aim to relieve symptoms but to transform and harmonise the whole self. By combining therapeutic techniques with exploration of personal growth and meaning, Psychosynthesis helps individuals reconnect with their true essence, fostering resilience, inner alignment, and a greater sense of purpose in their lives.
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Hypnotherapy is a powerful tool for accessing the subconscious mind, where many of our deepest patterns, beliefs, and emotional responses are held. Through guided relaxation and focused attention, hypnotherapy allows us to bypass the conscious mind’s defences, reaching the root of issues like anxiety, trauma, self-esteem, and unwanted habits. It’s particularly effective for reprogramming limiting beliefs and releasing stored emotions, helping to create new pathways for healing and change. By working directly with the subconscious, hypnotherapy fosters deeper self-understanding, empowering individuals to make lasting transformations and align with their true potential.
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Somatic trauma therapy, including Polyvagal Theory, is a deeply integrative approach that focuses on healing trauma stored within the body and nervous system. Unlike talk therapy alone, somatic trauma therapy works directly with the body’s responses, helping clients understand and release trauma held on a cellular level. Polyvagal Theory plays a key role in this process by exploring how our nervous system reacts to stress and threat, often keeping us in survival states of fight, flight, or freeze. By working with these nervous system patterns, somatic trauma therapy allows individuals to safely regulate their responses, reconnect with a sense of safety, and reintegrate fragmented parts of self. This approach is especially powerful for those seeking to move beyond survival mode, fostering resilience, calm, and a renewed sense of control over one’s life.
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Psychoeducation empowers individuals by providing a deeper understanding of how the mind, emotions, and body work together. It involves learning about mental health, trauma responses, coping mechanisms, and the impact of past experiences on present behaviour. By gaining this knowledge, clients can begin to see their challenges from a new perspective, reducing feelings of confusion or shame and empowering them to take proactive steps in their healing journey. Psychoeducation is a valuable foundation for therapy, offering insights that foster self-awareness, resilience, and the confidence to engage fully in the therapeutic process.
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Spiritual and energy psychology offer holistic approaches to healing by addressing the interconnectedness of mind, body, and spirit. These therapies work beyond traditional methods, tapping into the subtle energy systems and exploring a person’s deeper sense of self and purpose. Energy psychology techniques, such as EFT (Emotional Freedom Techniques) or chakra balancing, focus on releasing emotional blocks and rebalancing the body’s energy. Spiritual psychology, meanwhile, provides a framework for understanding life’s challenges as opportunities for growth, helping clients explore questions of meaning, soul purpose, and self-transcendence. Together, these approaches support profound healing and transformation, fostering a deep alignment with one’s authentic self and a greater sense of peace and connectedness.
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Online therapy provides accessible, flexible mental health support from the comfort of your own space. Through secure video sessions, clients can connect with therapists without the need for travel, making therapy easier to fit into busy lives. It’s especially beneficial for those who may find in-person sessions challenging due to distance, mobility issues, or privacy needs. Online therapy offers the same depth of support as traditional therapy, allowing clients to work on issues like anxiety, trauma, and personal growth with Emily, while enjoying the convenience and comfort of their chosen environment.
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Integrative therapy combines different therapeutic approaches, creating a personalised treatment plan tailored to each client’s unique needs. Rather than adhering to a single method, integrative therapy draws from a range of modalities—such as cognitive-behavioral, psychodynamic, somatic, and humanistic therapies—to address complex emotional, mental, and physical aspects of wellbeing. This approach is especially effective for clients dealing with multifaceted issues, as it allows therapists to adapt techniques to better support each individual’s healing process. Integrative therapy fosters a holistic path to growth, helping clients gain insight, build resilience, and connect more deeply with their authentic selves.
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At her Harley Street practice, Emily specialises in supporting high-achieving clients, including CEOs, high-net-worth individuals, and celebrities.
Emily offers a safe and confidential space for clients to explore and heal complex layers behind issues like anxiety, trauma, burnout, and self-esteem. Through compassionate guidance, she helps uncover deeply rooted patterns and defence mechanisms, empowering clients to process past wounds, release stored emotions, and reconnect with their authentic selves. By working with both mind and body, Emily supports lasting change, fostering resilience, self-awareness, and emotional balance to navigate life's challenges with renewed confidence and strength.