Understanding Trauma in the Body: How Somatic Hypnotherapy Heals Deeply
Trauma leaves an indelible mark on both the mind and body. While we often think of trauma as purely emotional or psychological, the reality is that our bodies store trauma in profound ways. For many people, traumatic experiences can manifest physically as chronic tension, pain, or unexplained symptoms long after the emotional or psychological impact seems to have faded. This is why traditional talk therapy alone can sometimes feel incomplete when it comes to trauma recovery ~ healing needs to happen on a deeper, embodied level.
Somatic hypnotherapy offers a powerful way to access and release trauma that is stored in the body. By combining the mind’s subconscious processes with the body’s sensations, somatic hypnotherapy creates a holistic pathway for healing that goes beyond intellectual understanding and taps into the deep, often unspoken places where trauma lives.
Trauma Lives in the Body: The Science Behind Somatic Memory
Trauma, whether from a single event or accumulated over time, impacts both the brain and body. When we experience something traumatic, our body’s natural response is to enter survival mode, also known as the fight-or-flight response. This is controlled by the autonomic nervous system (ANS), which floods the body with stress hormones like cortisol and adrenaline to prepare us to either confront or escape danger.
In an ideal situation, once the threat has passed, the parasympathetic nervous system (PNS), the “rest-and-digest” system, would activate to calm the body and return it to equilibrium. However, when trauma is too overwhelming, unresolved, or prolonged, this natural reset doesn’t always occur. Instead, the body remains stuck in a heightened state of stress, with the traumatic memory imprinted not just in the mind but also in the body. This leads to the accumulation of physical tension, changes in posture, muscle pain, and other chronic symptoms.
Dr. Bessel van der Kolk, a leading expert in trauma therapy and author of The Body Keeps the Score, describes this phenomenon as the body’s way of "remembering" trauma. The body holds onto the physical sensations and emotions that accompanied the original trauma, sometimes long after the mind has repressed or forgotten the event itself.
For many people, this means that even after years of talk therapy, they still experience symptoms of trauma, whether it's chronic anxiety, physical discomfort, or a sense of disconnection from their body, because the trauma remains stored on a somatic level.
How Somatic Hypnotherapy Unlocks Stored Trauma
Somatic hypnotherapy is uniquely suited to heal trauma because it addresses both the subconscious mind and the body’s physical experience of trauma. By guiding clients into a deeply relaxed, hypnotic state, somatic hypnotherapy opens the doorway to the subconscious, where many of our automatic emotional and physical responses are stored. This creates an opportunity to access, explore, and release the trauma in a way that feels safe and supported.
Here’s how somatic hypnotherapy facilitates deep healing:
Accessing the Subconscious Mind In a hypnotic state, the conscious mind, which often serves as a barrier to deeper emotions, becomes quiet. This allows clients to bypass the mental defenses that may have kept them from processing trauma. In this state, we can access memories, emotions, and beliefs that are stored in the subconscious and are often beyond the reach of traditional therapy.
During this process, I guide clients through visualizations and gentle suggestions that help them explore the emotions or physical sensations linked to their trauma. The hypnotic state also makes it easier to reframe and transform these memories in ways that allow for healing rather than re-traumatization.
Connecting with the Body’s Sensations Somatic hypnotherapy integrates body awareness into the process of healing. While in the relaxed state of hypnosis, I invite clients to bring their attention to physical sensations in their body, such as tension, tightness, or numbness. These sensations often correspond to areas where trauma is stored. By staying with these sensations, we can gently begin to release the stored trauma, allowing the body to process what it couldn’t at the time of the original event.
For example, if a client feels tightness in their chest during the exploration of a past traumatic memory, I might guide them to breathe into that area, visualizing the release of tension with each breath. This somatic approach helps unlock the emotions and stress that have been held in the body, offering both emotional relief and physical healing.
Releasing Stored Emotions One of the key benefits of somatic hypnotherapy is that it provides a safe container for clients to express and release emotions that have been trapped in the body. These emotions may include fear, anger, sadness, or grief, emotions that were too overwhelming to process at the time of the trauma.
As clients connect with these emotions in a relaxed, supportive environment, they can fully experience and release them without the fear of being overwhelmed. This process of emotional release often leads to a sense of lightness, calm, and emotional clarity, allowing clients to feel more integrated in both mind and body.
Case Studies: How Somatic Hypnotherapy Has Helped My Clients Heal
Over the years, I’ve had the honor of guiding many clients through their healing journeys using somatic hypnotherapy. Here are two fictional examples that illustrate how this approach helps individuals heal deeply stored trauma through this modality:
Example 1: Alex’s Journey of Healing Childhood Trauma
Alex had been living with anxiety for as long as they could remember. At 32, they often found themselves on edge, unable to relax, and plagued by an overwhelming sense of fear. Despite trying various forms of therapy, they still felt haunted by memories of their childhood ~ a time marked by emotional neglect and unpredictable outbursts from a parent. The persistent tightness in their chest and the frequent panic attacks had become almost unbearable.
When Alex began somatic hypnotherapy, they weren’t sure what to expect. They had spent years talking about their past, but something about their body always felt out of reach ~ like it was holding onto something that words couldn’t touch. During our first sessions, I guided Alex into a deeply relaxed state, using breathwork and visualization to calm their nervous system and allow them to enter a space of safety.
As they relaxed, I asked Alex to gently bring their awareness to any sensations in their body. They noticed a tight, constricting feeling in their chest. This feeling had been a constant companion during moments of stress, and they realized that it had been present for as long as they could remember. We didn’t force anything—just allowed them to be curious about the sensation.
Through guided imagery, we explored what that tightness represented. In a moment of profound clarity, Alex saw a vivid memory of their six-year-old self standing in their childhood home, feeling small and powerless as their parent yelled at them. The tightness in their chest was the fear they had bottled up in those moments, their body’s way of protecting them from the overwhelming emotions of that time.
As the memory unfolded, I guided Alex to breathe into that tightness, visualizing it softening with each breath. With each exhale, they released a little more of the fear they had been holding for decades. Tears streamed down their face as they felt a wave of emotion move through them ~ grief for the little child they had once been and relief that they no longer needed to carry that burden alone.
Over the course of several sessions, Alex continued to explore and release the emotions stored in their body. They began to notice that the tightness in their chest no longer appeared as frequently, and when it did, they had the tools to soothe it. Their panic attacks became less frequent, and they found themselves feeling more grounded in their day-to-day life. The fear that once dominated their mind and body was beginning to lose its grip.
By connecting with their body through somatic hypnotherapy, Alex was able to release the trauma that had been silently shaping their experience for years. For the first time, they felt a deep sense of calm and safety within themselves—a feeling that continued to grow as they healed.
Example 1: Jordan’s Release of Grief and Physical Pain
Jordan had been carrying the weight of grief for almost five years. After the unexpected loss of a close family member, they found themselves stuck in a fog of sadness that they couldn’t seem to shake. But what troubled them most was the constant ache in their lower back ~ a pain that no amount of physical therapy or medical treatment could alleviate. Deep down, Jordan suspected that their body was holding onto the grief they hadn’t fully processed.
When Jordan came to somatic hypnotherapy, they shared that they didn’t just want to talk about their grief anymore, but they wanted to understand how their body was involved in their healing. During our first session, I invited Jordan to relax into a gentle, meditative state, guiding them into deep relaxation where their body could feel safe enough to communicate what it was holding onto.
As Jordan focused on their breath, they became aware of a dull ache in their lower back ~ the same pain that had been with them since their family member passed. I asked them to stay with that sensation, to allow it to be there without judgment or the need to make it go away. As they did, images and memories began to surface ~ moments from the weeks following their family member’s death when Jordan had been too busy caring for others to fully grieve themselves. The ache, it seemed, was a physical manifestation of the grief they had pushed down, the weight of everything they hadn’t allowed themselves to feel.
Through visualization, I guided Jordan to imagine that the ache in their back was a heavy stone, representing the unprocessed grief they had been carrying. With each breath, they imagined lifting that stone, slowly letting go of the burden. Tears came as the weight began to lift, and Jordan allowed themselves to fully feel the sadness they had suppressed for so long.
In the weeks that followed, Jordan continued to explore their grief through somatic hypnotherapy. Each session brought new layers of emotion to the surface, and with them, a gradual release of the physical pain in their back. They realized that their body had been holding onto the grief because it didn’t have another outlet. By giving themselves permission to feel, to connect with the sensations in their body, and to release the emotions stored there, Jordan found that both their emotional and physical pain began to heal.
By the time we completed our work together, Jordan’s back pain had diminished significantly, and they reported feeling lighter, freer, and more connected to themselves than they had in years. Their grief was no longer a weight they carried in their body but something they had learned to honor and release.
The Path to Deep Healing
Trauma, whether recent or long past, can live in the body in ways that affect every aspect of our lives. Somatic hypnotherapy offers a pathway to healing that goes beyond the intellectual understanding of trauma, allowing us to unlock and release the emotions and memories stored deep within our bodies. By integrating mind and body, this approach creates lasting change, offering a profound sense of relief and wholeness.
If you’ve been feeling stuck in patterns of emotional or physical pain that you suspect are linked to trauma, somatic hypnotherapy may offer the deep healing you’re seeking. I invite you to reach out and explore this powerful, holistic approach to trauma recovery. Together, we can help you reconnect with your body, release the past, and move forward into a life of greater peace and freedom.
