Reconnect with the ground of being: your body, your world, the reality of the moment.
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Many of my clients have tried “standard” talk therapy, gained a lot of insight, but still find themselves struggling with the same challenges. They understand their issues but don’t feel any different. They’re frustrated.
Somatic therapy works with the whole person including the body and nervous system, the terrain of emotional responses and survival patterns. Somatic work helps us move beyond intellectual understanding to actually shift how we feel about ourselves, experience life, and interact with others.
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I offer an alternative approach to talk-centric therapy. In addition to processing with clients about what’s happening in their lives, I incorporate physical awareness, movement, and creative play into sessions. A few somatic interventions might look like:
Asking a client to pause and notice if any physical sensations are present.
Doing a walk-and-talk session at Bennington Lake.
Exploring self-soothing techniques such as holding a pillow, gentle rocking, or other grounding movements.
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Overthinking and anxiety.
Body image and disordered eating.
Relationships and communication.
College and challenges of young adulthood: comparison, social media toxicity, finding one’s path.
Challenges with self-trust and an overactive inner critic.
Career transitions.
Authenticity, rebellion, creativity.
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I’m Rachel Wyman, a somatic therapist, dance-based artist, and native of Walla Walla, WA!
I am licensed as a mental health counselor (LMHC) in Washington and Oregon and a Creative Arts Therapist (LCAT) in New York. I have been in the field of mental health for 11 years and also have 20+ years of dance/movement training and performance. I believe wholeheartedly in the physical, emotional, and spiritual benefits that therapy and movement can each give us when applied well. My aim is to offer a therapeutic practice that is more than “just” physical training and more than “just” talk.
I received my M.S. in Dance/Movement Therapy from Pratt Institute. I have worked with diverse populations in a range of settings from an inpatient psychiatric facility in Brooklyn, NY to a college counseling center in Walla Walla, WA.
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If you have gotten enough insight and are ready to feel and experience yourself and life differently, I would love to hear from you. Please reach out or scroll down to the short form below to let me know what brings you here—no diagnoses, jargon, or intake forms necessary.
60-minute personalized somatic therapy. During our first session, we will discuss your challenges, strengths, and instincts about what you’re needing, as well as any life and relational history that feels relevant to you. Sessions will provide space to talk as well as personalized movement and mindfulness focused on shifting out of thinking and into here-and-now experience. Sessions will include education about nervous system arousal as well as tools to nurture a sense of bodily-felt safety and greater emotional regulation.
Services
60 minute sessions for couples or family. Similar to individual work, our first session will focus on exploring what is happening in the couple or family—challenges, strengths, and the shared and individual needs and desires of the couple/family members. Future sessions will include space to talk as well as guided activities to explore relational patterns, improve communication and understanding, and cultivate connection.
Biweekly or monthly small group workshops capped at 6 participants. This is a hybrid method combines group therapy with the learning and skill development focus of a workshop. Groups are themed and provide a safe, supportive space to share thoughts and feelings with others while also learning new ways of doing and being. Group work can sometimes seem intimidating, but it is a beautiful way to connect and share with others: we benefit from and contribute to the combined genius and support of the group.