Somatic Therapy in NC & VA
Somatic Therapy
For When You Understand All of It and Your Body Still Didn't Get the Memo
You've done the reading. Maybe you've done the therapy. You can explain exactly why you are the way you are, and you're still clenching your jaw at 2am, still bracing for a hit that isn't coming, still feeling like you live about six inches outside your own skin. That's not you failing at healing. That's a nervous system that never got the all-clear, and you can't think your way into the all-clear. Somatic therapy works with the body directly, because that's where the stuck part actually lives.
- AASECT CertifiedSex Therapist credential
- MS, LCMHC, LPCLicensed clinical mental health counselor
- Trauma-InformedBody-based, integrative, affirming
- Every IdentityLGBTQIA+, kink, neurodivergent, and differently-abled clients welcome
What Is Somatic Therapy?
Somatic therapy is therapy that works with your body and nervous system, not just your thoughts and your story. "Soma" means the body as you experience it from the inside: the racing heart, the knot in your stomach, the shoulders that live up by your ears. Instead of only talking about what happened, we notice how it shows up in you right now and help your system finish what it got stuck in the middle of. It's still evidence-based therapy. It just doesn't pretend you're a brain being driven around in a body.
What People Come to Somatic Therapy For
Most people don't walk in asking for somatic therapy by name. They come in because something keeps happening in their body that understanding alone hasn't touched.
It Might Look Like…
Anxiety that lives in your chest or your gut more than your head
Being on edge all the time, or shut down and numb, with no dial in between
Burnout that a vacation didn't touch
Trauma, the capital-T kind or twenty years of the little-t kind
A body that braces during sex or intimacy even when you want to be there
Something big that surfaced after a psychedelic or ketamine experience and hasn't settled
Feeling disconnected from your own body and not knowing how to get back in
None of that means you're broken. It means your system adapted to keep you safe, and it's still running the program long after it needed to.
What a Somatic Session Actually Looks Like
Less mysterious than the internet makes it sound. We talk, like regular therapy, and every so often I'll ask what you're noticing in your body. Maybe your breath changes, your hands get restless, your chest gets tight. We get curious about that instead of steamrolling past it. We work in small doses, a little bit of the hard stuff and then back to something steady, so your system learns it can feel something and come back out the other side without flooding. Over time, that's how the body learns the danger is over.
A Few Things It Is Not…
It's not touch. I never touch clients.
It's not woo-woo.
You don't have to do anything that feels weird.
You can keep your eyes open, stay seated, and say no to anything.
Fun fact: a lot of the work is just learning to notice, because most of us were taught to override our body's signals from a very young age.
The Tools I Use
I'm trained in Somatic Experiencing, Sensorimotor Psychotherapy, Brainspotting, EMDR, and the Flash technique, and I match the tool to you, not you to the tool. In plain English:
Somatic Experiencing
Somatic Experiencing helps your body finish a stress response it never got to complete.
Brainspotting
Brainspotting uses where you look to find where something is held.
Sensorimotor Psychotherapy
Sensorimotor Psychotherapy uses posture, movement, and sensation as doorways into old patterns.
EMDR and Flash
EMDR and Flash take the charge off a hard memory without making you relive it in detail.
Evidence-based, body-based, heart-centered, in that order and all at once.
Does Somatic Therapy Work Online?
Yes, and it surprises people how well. Somatic work is about you noticing your own body, and you can do that just as well on your couch as in my office, sometimes better, because you're already somewhere that feels safe. I see clients in person in Elizabeth City and by secure telehealth anywhere in North Carolina and Virginia.
The Pace Is Yours
Going slow is not a detour from the work; it is the work. We build enough safety and steadiness first that the hard parts are workable instead of overwhelming, and if something's too much, we back off. I won't drive the bus, but I will ride all day long with you and help with the map.
Who This Is For
Adults in North Carolina and Virginia. LGBTQIA+, neurodivergent, kink, and consensually non-monogamous folks are welcome here, not tolerated, welcome, and you won't have to teach me your own life before we can start. If you've got physical symptoms like pain, gut issues, or exhaustion, somatic work can help with how your nervous system carries them, and I'll also encourage you to keep your medical providers in the loop. This is therapy, not a substitute for medical care.
Quick Answers
The questions people usually ask before their first somatic session.
Is Somatic Therapy Evidence-Based?
Yes. The approaches I use, including Somatic Experiencing, Sensorimotor Psychotherapy, and EMDR, have research behind them, and the case for bringing the body into trauma treatment is well established. Body-based doesn't mean unscientific.
Is There Touch in Somatic Therapy?
Not from me. I never touch clients. It's talking, noticing, and things you choose to try, fully clothed and fully in charge. If you ask me for a hug or to hold your hand, I can most certainly provide that. I am about safety, not a sterile environment.
Do I Have to Talk About My Trauma in Detail?
Nope-aroonie. Some of the most effective somatic work barely touches the story at all. You decide what you share and when.
How Is This Different From Regular Talk Therapy?
Talk therapy works mostly with thoughts and the story. Somatic therapy works with those too, plus what's happening in your body while you think and talk, which is often where the stuck part is.
If you are in a crisis, I'm not the right first call. If you're in danger or thinking about harming yourself, call 911 or go to your nearest emergency room, call or text 988 (Suicide & Crisis Lifeline), call Mobile Crisis at 866-437-1821 (NC), or text TALK to 741741.
Somatic Therapy at SOMA
In person: Elizabeth City, North Carolina
Telehealth: Available throughout North Carolina and Virginia
Who I work with: Adults 18+
Approach: Evidence-based, body-based, heart-centered
May include: Somatic Experiencing, Sensorimotor Psychotherapy, Brainspotting, EMDR, and the Flash technique
Provider: Britney Dixon, MS, LCMHC, LPC, CST (AASECT Certified Sex Therapist)
Wondering If We'd Be a Good Fit?
The next step is scheduling an intake assessment session. Reach out and I will let you know where my availability stands, and if waiting wouldn't serve you, I'll help you find someone who can start sooner.
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Genuinely Welcome Here, Not Just Tolerated
LGBTQIA+, neurodivergent (ADHD, AuDHD, ASD), kink, and consensually non-monogamous folks: you won’t have to teach me your own life before we can start. You will not have to explain yourself here.
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Wherever You Are in NC or VA
I see clients in person in Elizabeth City and by secure telehealth anywhere in North Carolina and Virginia. Same work, same presence, from wherever you actually are.
Related Services
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Somatic Therapy
For when you understand all of it and your body still didn't get the memo. Body-based therapy that works with your nervous system, not just your story.
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Sex Therapy
For the parts of your sexual life that feel confusing, frustrating, painful, disconnected, complicated, or simply not the way you want them to be.
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Trauma Therapy
For the stuff that doesn’t always have words. Body-based work (EMDR, Brainspotting, Internal Family Systems, Somatic Experiencing) for the trauma that's still running the show.
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Couples & Relationships
For the relationship you actually have- monogamous, open, or poly- all genuinely welcome.
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Neurodivergence
ADHD, autism, and the experience of living in a world that wasn't exactly designed with your brain in mind. Adult ADHD/ASD assessment and neurodivergence-affirming therapy that starts with understanding how your brain works, not trying to make it look more neurotypical.
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Psychedelic Integration
Making meaning out of an experience you already had, or preparing for an experience you are moving toward. Integration only.
How It Starts
Three Steps, At Your Pace
- Step 1
Request An Appointment
Getting connected is easy. Let’s get you on the schedule and have a chat.
- Step 2
Start With a First Session
Talk-based care in Elizabeth City or by telehealth across NC and VA. You decide what to share. Tell me what you're noticing. I'll tell you honestly whether SOMA might be the right place for it.
- Step 3
Set Goals Together
Sessions can include body awareness, nervous system work, EMDR, or Brainspotting. We choose them together.
Not Sure If I'm the Right Fit?
Good, that's exactly what an assessment session is for. Let’s figure out whether I can actually help you or whether you'd be better off with someone else. I'll tell you either way.