Beyond the Story: Body-Based Approaches in Trauma Treatment
Healing does not occur through words alone. Veterans, service members, and first responders carry trauma in the nervous system as well as in memory — and talk therapy alone does not always reach it.
By Mariana Coria, FMHC Candidate
5 min read
For clinicians
The short version
Trauma changes the nervous system, not only the memory. Hypervigilance, muscle tension, disrupted sleep and difficulty relaxing are signs of a body that adapted to survive. Body-based interventions help clients regulate before, during and after they process what happened, without asking them to relive it in detail. They do not replace CPT, PE or CBT — they keep the client inside the window of tolerance so those protocols can do their work.
August is National Wellness Month, making it an ideal time to reflect on an important reminder in trauma treatment: healing does not occur through words alone.
While traditional talk therapy remains an essential part of treatment, many veterans, active-duty service members, and first responders carry the effects of trauma not only in their memories, but throughout their bodies. As clinicians, recognizing the role of the nervous system allows us to expand treatment beyond cognitive processing and create opportunities for regulation, safety, and recovery.
Trauma lives in the body
One of the most significant shifts in trauma research has been the understanding that traumatic experiences affect the body as much as the mind. Individuals exposed to repeated danger often develop nervous systems that remain on high alert long after the threat has ended. Hypervigilance, muscle tension, disrupted sleep, rapid heart rate, gastrointestinal discomfort, and difficulty relaxing are not simply symptoms to eliminate — they are signs of a nervous system that has adapted to survive.
For many first responders and veterans, asking someone to “just talk about it” may not be enough. In fact, discussing traumatic experiences while the nervous system is highly activated can sometimes leave clients feeling overwhelmed rather than relieved. Helping clients notice what is happening in their bodies before, during, and after discussing trauma can create a stronger foundation for processing difficult experiences.
The body is not the enemy. It is communicating information about safety, threat, and regulation.
Point of View #61
Awareness first, then regulation
Body-based interventions, often incorporated into somatic therapies, focus on increasing awareness of physical sensations and helping clients regulate their nervous systems. These approaches do not require clients to relive traumatic events in detail. Instead, they encourage clients to observe their internal experiences with curiosity while developing tools that restore a sense of safety.
The interventions themselves are simple. That is the point. They are small enough to run inside a session that is already underway, and they reinforce a message that many of these clients have never been offered: the body is not the enemy. It is communicating information about safety, threat, and regulation.
Simple things that make a meaningful difference
None of these require a somatic certification to try. Each one gives the client information about their own nervous system.
Breathe before you begin
Practicing slow diaphragmatic breathing before discussing difficult topics.
Orient to the room
Orienting clients to the present environment by noticing sights, sounds, and physical points of contact.
Ground through the senses
Using grounding techniques that engage the senses.
Find the tension, then release it
Encouraging clients to notice areas of tension and intentionally release them.
Name the early cues
Helping clients identify physical cues that signal increasing stress before they become overwhelmed.
Not a replacement. An expansion.
Integrating body-based interventions does not require abandoning evidence-based therapies such as Cognitive Processing Therapy (CPT), Prolonged Exposure (PE), or Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT). Instead, somatic techniques can complement these approaches by helping clients remain within their window of tolerance throughout treatment.
The protocol does not change. What changes is whether the client can stay in the room while you run it.
From my own clinical work
I recently worked with a client experiencing chronic PTSD following a traumatic loss. Rather than immediately focusing on retelling the traumatic event, we explored a memory of a time when she felt completely safe and regulated — swimming in the ocean before the trauma occurred.
Together, we practiced reconnecting with the physical sensations associated with that experience: the feeling of floating, the rhythm of her breathing, the cool water, and the sounds surrounding her. The goal was not avoidance of the trauma, but helping her body remember that it can experience safety again. This reinforced the idea that trauma may shape the nervous system, but it does not have to define every future experience.
Wellness is physical and psychological
National Wellness Month reminds us that wellness involves both physical and psychological health. As trauma clinicians, we often focus on helping clients understand what happened to them. Equally important is helping them reconnect with how safety feels in their own bodies.
When we integrate body-based approaches into trauma treatment, we are not replacing traditional psychotherapy — we are expanding it. By teaching clients to recognize, regulate, and trust their nervous systems again, we help create a pathway toward healing that includes both mind and body.
Mariana Coria
Mariana is a graduate-level clinician pursuing her Master's in Forensic Mental Health Counseling at John Jay College of Criminal Justice, with a Bachelor's in Psychology and a minor in Disaster Studies from SUNY New Paltz. A bilingual clinician fluent in English and Spanish, she supports clients through life transitions, stress, and trauma recovery, with a developing focus on military personnel and law enforcement professionals.
Point of View is a monthly column on the clinical realities of treating military, law enforcement, and first responder populations.
Read Mariana's full profile →Levine, P. A. (2010). In an unspoken voice: How the body releases trauma and restores goodness. North Atlantic Books. https://www.northatlanticbooks.com/shop/in-an-unspoken-voice
Ogden, P., Minton, K., & Pain, C. (2006). Trauma and the body: A sensorimotor approach to psychotherapy. W. W. Norton & Company. https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/nlmcatalog/101292348
U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs. (2024). PTSD: National Center for PTSD. https://www.ptsd.va.gov
Van der Kolk, B. A. (2014). The body keeps the score: Brain, mind, and body in the healing of trauma. Viking. https://www.penguinrandomhouse.com/books/313183/the-body-keeps-the-score-by-bessel-van-der-kolk-md
Adding somatic work to your practice takes supervision.
Calm Seas provides clinical supervision, agency consultation, and trauma-focused training for clinicians serving military, law enforcement, and first responder communities.
