The Body Knows: The Power or Somatic Awareness in Counselling

Counselling is often seen as a process of self-exploration through words. Unpacking thoughts, making sense of emotions and finding new perspectives.

But sometimes, words alone aren’t enough.

Some of our feelings live in the body before they reach the conscious mind…..for example, tension in the shoulders, a fluttering stomach or a sudden, inexplicable urge to take a deep breath.

This is where somatic awareness comes in. The word somatic comes from the Greek somatikos, which means ‘of the body’, derived from soma meaning ‘body’ and is the practice of tuning into bodily sensations as a way to understand, process, and regulate emotions. This doesn’t just happen in quiet moments of reflection, the body speaks in movement, in art and in the way we interact with our surroundings. It speaks when we run our hands over a textured surface, when we get lost in a landscape or when a piece of music sends shivers down our spine.

This is gold dust to therapists and clients alike and by bringing these bodily experience into counselling, we powerfully open up new pathways for insight and healing that goes way beyond cognitive understanding.

So how does the body hold and processes emotion?

Science has long supported the idea that emotions are deeply embodied and neuroscientist, Dr. Antonio Damasio, argues that feelings originate as bodily sensations before we even begin to interpret them as emotions. In his book ‘The Feeling of What Happens’, he describes how the brain and body are constantly in conversation, continuously shaping our experience of the world.

Similarly, Dr. Bessel van der Kolk, in the now infamous book; ‘The Body Keeps the Score’, explores how trauma isn’t just held in the mind, but stored in the nervous system as well. This explains why people who have experienced trauma may react physically, by flinching, freezing or feeling suddenly nauseous, before they even register an emotional response.

Importantly, understanding this mind-body connection can help clients move beyond intellectual analysis and into a more holistic, embodied way of processing their experiences.

Ways to Use Somatic Awareness in Counselling by engaging the senses

Bringing the body into counselling doesn’t have to mean structured exercises or formal techniques. Often, it’s simply about paying attention to how the body reacts to different experiences and then using those reactions as a guide.

Here are a few ways you can explore somatic awareness:

Engaging with Nature: The Body’s Response to Beauty

There’s a reason people instinctively head for the countryside when they need to clear their heads. Research shows that spending time in nature has measurable effects on the nervous system. A study from the University of Exeter, found that just two hours a week in nature significantly improves mental health, reducing stress and enhancing overall wellbeing.

Even small interactions with natural beauty such as a particularly striking tree or the way sunlight moves across a river can shift the body into a state of ease. Encouraging clients to notice their physical response in these moments can deepen their awareness.

Do they breathe more easily? Feel warmth in their chest? A lightness in their arms and legs? These subtle shifts can serve as anchors and reminders that the body is capable of experiencing safety and calm, when perhaps this hasn’t been the case for a long time for a client.

The Power of Touch: Feeling as a Way of Knowing

We often underestimate the power of physical contact with the world around us. Textures, temperatures and sensations have the ability to ground and regulate us in ways we may not even realise.

Encouraging clients to tune into their sense of touch; whether through pressing their feet into the earth, running their fingers over a wooden surface, or holding a warm cup of tea, can be an effective way to bring awareness back to the present moment.

This principle is at the heart of many grounding techniques. Psychologist Dr. Peter Levine, the founder of Somatic Experiencing, suggests that feeling physically supported (for example, by pressing one’s hands against a surface or holding onto something with weight) can signal safety to the nervous system, helping to shift the body out of stress responses.

Seeing Things Differently: How Art and Photography Evoke Emotion

Visual perception is another powerful way to access bodily awareness. A painting, a photograph or even the way light falls across a room can evoke a profound felt sense; a physical reaction before we even put words to it.

Photography, in particular, can be a useful tool in counselling. Asking clients to take photos of things that resonate with them; whether a particular landscape, a shadow pattern or an object that holds meaning - can provide insight into what their body is drawn to and why.

Art therapy research shows that creating or engaging with visual art also activates different areas of the brain than verbal processing. This can be particularly helpful for clients who struggle to articulate emotions but can feel them in their bodies when interacting with images or colours.

Movement and Gesture: Expressing What Words Can’t

Not all emotions are meant to be talked through….some are meant to be moved through. Studies in somatic psychology suggest that simple movements, like stretching, swaying or even clenching and releasing fists, can help the body process feelings that have become stuck.

Counsellors can explore this with clients in subtle ways. Asking, “If this feeling had a movement, what would it be?” or “How does your body want to move right now?” can open up new and profound ways of expressing emotions.

For some, this might look like drawing slow circles with their hands while they speak. For others, it might mean taking a deep breath and physically shaking off tension. The key is to let the body lead, rather than imposing a predetermined idea of what movement “should” look like.

The Role of Somatic Awareness in Emotional Resilience

By helping clients reconnect with their physical sensations, we offer them tools for self-regulation. When emotions feel overwhelming, the body can become an ally rather than an enemy and a source of grounding and wisdom rather than something to be ignored or fought against.

Research from the Mindfulness Centre at Brown University, shows that developing somatic awareness can improve emotional resilience, reducing the intensity of stress responses over time. This is because learning to notice and name bodily sensations, helps shift the brain from reactivity to awareness, creating space for more intentional responses.

Counselling is not just about unravelling thoughts, it is about reconnecting with oneself in a full-bodied way. Somatic awareness offers an opportunity to listen to what the body is communicating, whether through touch, movement, visual perception or a deep sense of ease in nature.

By integrating bodily experience into counselling, we move beyond intellectual understanding into something deeper; an intuitive, sensory-based wisdom that has been there all along, just waiting to be noticed.

If you would like to join an experiential half day course using somatics for visualisation and mediation, click here for our Awareness, Balance and Calm Course

White, M. P., Alcock, I., Grellier, J., Wheeler, B. W., Hartig, T., Warber, S. L., Bone, A., Depledge, M. H., & Fleming, L. E. (2019). Spending at least 120 minutes a week in nature is associated with good health and wellbeing. Scientific Reports, 9, 7730. University of Exeter. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-019-44097-3