Trauma lives in the body: why somatic approaches help
September 29, 2026 · 16 min read
Nicole LePera, Gabor Maté, Laura Berman and Mel Robbins's therapist describe unresolved trauma held as bodily tension and dread, and use body-based practices alongside talk to release it. It explains why insight alone sometimes isn't enough to feel better.
The rules, numbers and steps worth keeping in front of you.
- Core idea: trauma is held in the body, so insight alone often is not enough.
- Gabor Maté: trauma is what happened inside you, not the event itself.
- Maté: symptoms and dissociation are normal responses to abnormal circumstances.
- Maté's steps: recognize the suffering, get curious with compassion, ask for help.
- Anne Davin: join the symptom, turn toward it and amplify it.
- Davin's question: if this feeling could move, how would it move?
- Mel Robbins: on heavy mornings, let the weight move you to the floor and never get back in bed.
- Robbins: talking matters, but the feeling also has to be processed in the body.
- Nicole LePera: breathwork is the fastest tool for regulating the nervous system.
- LePera: affirmations bounce off a body in alarm; calm the body first.
- LePera's panic plan: notice cues, breathe into the belly, redirect attention; practice daily.
- Laura Berman: use body scans to notice where emotions live in the body.
- Do not stay alone with it; tell someone safe.
- With a history of abuse, panic, dissociation or addiction, work with a trauma-informed professional.
This is the short form. The full insight has every expert's reasoning, their own words and the sources.