Why I added EMDR to my Somatic Coaching Practice

Why I Added EMDR to My Somatic Coaching Practice

For many years, I did what so many people do when they begin their healing journey. I went to therapy.

And therapy absolutely helped me in important ways.

It helped me understand my past, recognize unhealthy patterns, build awareness, and begin making sense of experiences that had deeply impacted me. But even after all of that insight, I still noticed something important:

My mind understood the healing, but my body still did not feel safe.

I could logically explain my triggers. I could reason through my reactions. I could identify where certain wounds came from. Yet there were still moments where my nervous system responded as if the past was still happening.

That changed when I began exploring modalities beyond traditional talk therapy.

One of the first major shifts in my healing journey happened when I hired a coach in 2009. Experiencing support in a different way opened something up in me. It showed me that healing was not only about talking through the past.

Later, my son began experiencing severe panic and anxiety attacks around the age of 19. As a mother, watching your child suffer and not knowing how to help can feel heartbreaking. When he finally felt ready to receive support, I began researching different approaches and discovered EMDR.

The more I learned about it, the more it seemed like the perfect fit.

The transformation I witnessed in him was dramatic.

I watched his nervous system begin to settle. He became lighter, happier! And honestly, witnessing his healing made me realize something for myself too.

I remember thinking, “Wow, I think I need this too.”

So I began my own EMDR journey.

What I experienced personally was profound. EMDR helped me process trauma that still felt stuck in my body. Memories that once carried intense emotional charge no longer felt the same. The experiences still existed, but my nervous system no longer reacted as if I was reliving them.

That is one of the most powerful things about EMDR.

It helps the brain and body reprocess experiences so the past can finally feel like the past.

You still remember what happened. You can still talk about it if needed. But the emotional intensity, the activation, the survival response, often shifts dramatically.

For me, this was the missing piece.

After completing my somatic certification, I was offered the opportunity to become trained in EMDR, and I immediately knew I wanted to say yes. I was genuinely ecstatic! Because by that point, I had already experienced firsthand how beautifully EMDR works alongside somatic healing.

Somatics and EMDR complement one another in such a powerful way because both recognize something incredibly important:

Trauma is not only stored in thoughts and memories. It is also stored in the nervous system and the body.

Traditional talk therapy primarily engages the thinking mind. EMDR and somatic work help us access the deeper layers underneath the thoughts, the sensations, emotions, survival patterns, and nervous system responses that words alone often cannot fully reach.

This is why so many people say things like:

“I know I should feel safe, but I don’t.” “I understand my trauma intellectually, but my body still reacts.” “I’ve talked about this for years, but something still feels stuck.”

I understand that feeling deeply because I lived it too.

Adding EMDR to my practice felt like a natural extension of the work I already do. It aligns beautifully with the somatic modalities I use because both approaches honor the wisdom of the body and support healing at the root.

Today, I feel incredibly grateful to offer EMDR-informed support within my coaching work.

I know how life changing it can be when the body finally begins to feel what the mind already understands:

You are safe now.