SOMA Therapy & Wellness

We love making our clients feel uniquely cared for! AND we looooove supporting our fellow small local businesses! These delightful treats are from just two stores down from us on Colley Ave🎃💛 Truly the best French bakery! Check them out!
HAPPY HALLOWEEN Everyone!

It’s not just a silly kids game.
One of our therapists came into the office to be reminded that they hadn’t cleaned up from a session yesterday. They snagged this pic bc it represents SO Much! At SOMA we strive to help clients have new experiences! This helps people not just think differently but FEEL differently. Reparative experiences require ingenuity and creativity in the therapy world. Inviting a couple to, in real-time play a kids game together, to explore the sensations of attunment, connection, and practice internal tolerance for defenses - that’s experiential therapy!
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Dr Barbara Holmes’s really speaks to the heart of keeping a communal focus in the realm of healing. The wisdom of Indigenous and People of Color communities’ communal expressions and ceremonies have long served as conduits of healing. The western white medicalization of health and healing has truncated that expression over time. The individual work clients do to heal from trauma is refined through opportunities to practice skills and digest more deeply in communal experiences. When we leave community out of healing we leave out the hope for our future!

Introception doesn’t have to just look like the open ended question “Where do you feel that in your body?”
Instead, it can be the process of creating together practical tools and adaptations for exploring and navigating bodily ques. Neurodivergent clients often describe this approach as more grounding and less overwhelming.
Do you have any creative introception approaches? Share them in the comments 💛

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We have a few spots left for tomorrow’s Co-Lab! Come join us!

We once heard it said that cherishing is love with its sleeves rolled up. This resonates with us. In a world where mental health has been so pathologized, institutionalized, medicalized, and weaponized the love has been striped right out of the care. Three ways we are trying to do it different around here:

~ Provide top tier neuroscience body based modality therapy from a systems & holistic perspective without the requirement of diagnosis.

~ Offer community learning and experiencing wellness workshops (our Co-Labs) at equitable pricing/FREE to decrease isolation and prioritize communal healing

~ Intentionally growing the practice slow and steady to keep the focus the focus and the care chefs kiss!

Everyone is worthy of healing. And whether you’re on the couch across from us in session, on your mat at a co-lab or sipping a cup of tea in the waiting room - you are cherished and welcome here!

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1 week left until our Co-Labs start back up!! Taking a moment to communally exhale and internally build up distress tolerance skills. Join us! register at
www.somatherapyandwellness.com/wellness

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Did you know that we are neighbors with the Naro?! The Naro Theater opened in 1936 and has been a jewel of Colley Ave since!
All the staff there are truly amazing and have been so welcoming to us💛 We should note, the Naro has unmatched theater popcorn 🍿😋
Currently they are showing classic kid movies for $5!! The Goonies, ET, Labyrinth, Willie Wonka, etc. Come check them out!✨

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Come join us for these 3 FREE events✨SOMA’s SUMMER OF SWAPS✨just bc our co-labs are on pause for the summer our commitment to community is not. We want to get to know you! And be there for and share with you! This is a great way for us to join together resource-fully!
We hope to see you at our first one on June 27th @ 6pm
Clothing can be dropped off early at the office on Wednesday the 12&19th or bring with the day of.
Enjoy tea, snacks, fake “shopping”, and real connecting!

To learn more follow the link in the bio. Once there scroll down to the events calendar and you can even register if you would like. Or just show up.

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“Window of Tolerance” is a term used to describe the zone of arousal in which a person is able to function most effectively. When in the optimal zone, we are calm but alert and we can be engaged in what we are doing.
Trauma trained therapists work to help clients learn their unique window of tolerance and make gentle but safe efforts to expand it as they heal from past or present hurts.

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That is why SOMA uses bottom-up experiential therapies for treating trauma, relationships and overall mental health. Our approach is knowledgeable while offering grounded holistic and compassionate care. We help create opportunities for clarity, growth, and connection in trauma-informed and creative ways that consider the mind, body, and spirit.
To learn more about all of the services we offer visit our website somatherapyandwellness.com

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Have you heard? Melanie’s added a day! She’s now accepting clients on Mondays.
Melanie specializes in child therapy, couples counseling, and treating individuals with trauma and anxiety from a somatic perspective.
Please contact us if you’re interested in setting up a consult with her. [email protected]

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We believe we are designed to heal and that as humans we are constantly seeking that. It’s important people find the path that is most authentic to them and be supported in the journey. At Soma we offer support through a holistic and communal wellness approach, finding the right therapeutic approach, and in training the next generation of healers. Check out our Wellness, Therapy, and Supervision section on our website to learn more somatherapyandwellness.com

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At SOMA we offer bottom up- neuroscience based therapies. These modalities offer safer and faster trauma informed transformation that allow clients to stay within their window of tolerance while making life changes.
Call us today at 757-204-1683 or visit our website to schedule an appointment and have a free consultation.

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Somatic Therapy is a body-oriented modality that helps clients change patterns of behavior related to reactive states of survival - Fight, Flight, Freeze, Collapse, Fawn, and Attach Cry for help.
In Somatic work the therapist helps clients feel safe in their bodies while working through triggers related to experiences, relationship, and memories.

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We promise our therapy skills are better than our furniture moving skills! 🥴SWIPE to see what a trooper our Admin super star Jen is!! 💛 No Jens we’re hurt in the making of this content.

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Don't miss out on our upcoming Co-labs:
Mindfulness Training & Relaxation 3/17
Somatic Communal Release 3/29

All are welcome and you choose the fee. We offer scholarships because everyone is worthy of healing.
Email us at [email protected] to attend for free.

Melanie has her Master’s in Marriage and Family Therapy and is a Certified Clinical Trauma Professional. Her holistic vision for seeing people and families heal individually and communally truly fits right in at SOMA! She is now accepting new clients✨ To learn more about her services visit SOMA’s website at the “Our Team” section.

Mindfulness is focusing your attention on experiencing the present without judgment from the past or worries about the future.
You learn:
- To attend to sensations from the world around you and from within you.
- By focusing on breathing and bodily sensations one facilitates a mental state with decreased emotional charge due to repetitive thoughts.
-Decreases self criticism and increases self compassion

We are located in the heart of the Ghent neighborhood. The address will be sent to you via email after registration.
Register at somatherapyandwellness.com/wellness
Please note that our office is located on the second floor of a historic building. Therefore, unfortunately, there is no elevator access. We are in the process of creating a virtual option in the future.

In honor of Eating Disorder Awareness Week we wanted to share with you a book that encourages its readers to move towards radical self love of ALL bodies! Part of eating disorder recovery is coming into a practice of making peace with the body that is your own and cares for you.

We can’t recommend this book enough by The Body Is Not An Apology -The Power of Radical Self-Love. We know you may be thinking “But this book isn’t about eating disorders🤔” At SOMA we are constantly asking ourselves what oppressive systems are at play that impact our clients lived experiences and presenting symptoms. In this book the author truly calls us into examining and challenging the systems that reinforce body shame and to never apologies for our own bodies!
Healing doesn’t just happen individually. It happens communally!

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✨Our doormat isn’t lying!✨
Owner Adele Martelle knows what kind of emotional gymnastics it can take to reach out for help. When starting SOMA it was important to her to honor that process and not take for granted what clients go through just to get through the door (or log on virtually😉). Here are a few of the things we do just to let you know we see you and are journeying with you from the start:

🔅 A quick inquiry email response with a bulleted list of “What to Expect During Your Consultation”

🔅A Free 15minute phone consultation before your first appointment to make sure the therapist is the right fit for you

🔅A document outlining our office location, directions, and helpful parking info - because let’s be honest, not knowing the parking situation at a new place can be enough to make anyone turn around 😂

🔅Email and Text reminders of your upcoming appointments

🔅If placed on a waitlist you receive personal updates on length of wait from “Jen” - our SOMA admin super star!

🔅No additional rate for your first intake appointment compared to most private practices

🔅A HIPPA safe way to communicate with your therapist as needed through an app on your phone

🔅A friendly, warm, and welcoming wait room with fidgets and badass books to check out from our “SOMA Look While You Wait Library”

🔅A cup of tea, water, a chocolate or two while you cozy up for your session

Therapy can be hard work - getting here shouldn’t be made any harder! 💛

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The sensory and kinesthetic components of art naturally tap into the more primitive part of our brain where emotion is processed. It can be a safe and non intrusive way to explore emotion or even to intentionally chill out from overwhelming emotions.

Let’s be honest, sometimes we just don’t want to talk about it! And that’s okay! Not everything has to be said to be expressed.

Expressive art is a non-threatening and natural bottom-up reparative process. The kinesthetic and sensory experience allows for the easy exploration of personal narrative and emotions. It can be a way to connect with your deeper sense of self and an intentional avenue for releasing what is to difficult to put into words. Or just a fun way to playfully engage your more curious self and/or inner child!

Join us Sunday February 25th @ 4pm for our monthly Co-Lab. This month we are hosting the lovely Leilani Del Campo who will lead us in making a cool collage for self expression. Register at our website under the wellness section💛