Somatic Solutions
@ The Village Integrative Health Center
930 Alhambra Blvd Suite 220 Sacramento, CA 95816
Frequently Asked Questions
Structural Integration, Somatic Experiencing®, therapeutic bodywork, and movement education overlap in ways that can be hard to understand from a list of credentials or techniques. These are some of the questions people commonly ask about working with me at Somatic Solutions in Sacramento and online.
What kind of work do you do?
I offer Structural Integration, Somatic Experiencing®, therapeutic massage, movement education, and integrative appointments that draw from more than one of these approaches.
Depending on your goals, an appointment may focus primarily on hands-on structural manual therapy. In Somatic Experiencing, I may direct your attention toward nervous-system responses, including sensations, images, behaviors, emotions, movement impulses, and changes in physiological state. We may also work primarily through movement, using rehabilitative exercise, practices informed by yoga, tai chi or qigong, or learning self-myofascial release with tools such as massage balls and foam rollers. A session may involve conversation, or it may simply be a relaxing therapeutic massage.
Sometimes we stay almost entirely within one approach. Other times, particularly in an Integrative Structural & Somatic Appointment, we move between approaches when useful.
What is important to me is that I work with my clients, not on them.
People most often come to me with chronic tension, persistent pain, posture concerns, movement restrictions, stress-related holding patterns, burnout, nervous-system overwhelm, or a history of trauma that continues to show up in the body or in patterns of physiological stress.
Do you combine massage or bodywork with trauma-informed somatic work?
Yes, when it is appropriate for the client and the appointment. Somatic Experiencing® can include consensual physical contact, and my Integrative Structural & Somatic Appointment allows me to draw from both hands-on bodywork and nervous-system-oriented somatic work.
Structural Integration approaches the body through physical structure, movement, biomechanics, and by addressing patterns of tension. SE approaches the body through the nervous system and physiological responses to stress and trauma. In an Integrative Appointment, we can work through either lens—or move between them—depending on what is happening and what seems useful.
Appointments can look very different from one person to another and from one session to the next. Somatic work may happen while seated and talking, lying on a treatment table, moving through the room, standing, or experimenting with resistance, boundaries, or movement. Hands-on contact is never required for Somatic Experiencing, and not every appointment combines modalities.
Where can I get trauma-informed bodywork in Sacramento?
Somatic Solutions in Sacramento offers trauma-informed bodywork with Nicholas Green. I provide Structural Integration, massage therapy, Somatic Experiencing®, movement education, and Integrative Structural & Somatic Appointments.
Some appointments focus exclusively on one approach, while integrative appointments may combine hands-on manual therapy with nervous-system-oriented somatic work. Sessions are individualized and may include touch, guided awareness, movement, exercise, conversation, or a combination of these depending on your goals and comfort.
What is Structural Integration and is it the same as Rolfing®?
Structural Integration is a form of manual therapy developed by Ida P. Rolf, PhD. It works with patterns of tension, movement, posture, and the way the body organizes itself in gravity.
Structural Integration is often informally referred to as Rolfing®, but Rolfing® is a trademark of the Dr. Ida Rolf Institute® and is used by practitioners certified through that organization.
You can think of it a bit like Sharpie and permanent marker: Rolfing® is a specific trademarked brand within the broader field of Structural Integration, although people sometimes use “Rolfing” informally as if it were the generic term.
My basic Structural Integration training was completed at the International Professional School of Bodywork (IPSB). Although I have also taken coursework through the Dr. Ida Rolf Institute, I use the broader term Structural Integration rather than describing my work as Rolfing®.
In my practice, Structural Integration is hands-on, participatory manual therapy. I work with clients to explore patterns of tension, movement, and posture with the aim of creating greater adaptability, support, and ease in movement and gravity.
What is Somatic Experiencing®?
Somatic Experiencing® is a body-oriented approach for working with stress, overwhelm, and trauma-related nervous system patterns.
Rather than focusing only on the story of what happened, the work pays attention to present-moment sensations, impulses, emotions, movement, orientation, sources of support, and changes in nervous system state. The process is generally gradual and collaborative.
Learn more about Somatic Experiencing® from Somatic Experiencing International.
Do I have to talk about traumatic experiences?
No. Somatic work does not require you to describe traumatic experiences in detail.
This is not a "rake you over the hot coals" approach. It's slow and gentle. Much of the work in Somatic Experiencing® involves noticing what you're feeling in the present moment: sensations, movement, tension, orientation, emotions, settling, boundaries and other aspects of your current experience.
Is Somatic Experiencing® psychotherapy?
Not in my practice. Somatic Experiencing® is used by professionals from a variety of backgrounds, including many psychotherapists, but I practice it within my scope as a somatic and manual therapy practitioner.
My work focuses on nervous-system regulation, embodiment, sensation, movement, physiological responses to stress and affect, and the ways these may interact with physical patterns in the body.
I do not provide psychotherapy, diagnose mental health conditions, or represent Somatic Experiencing as psychotherapy in my practice. Clients who need psychotherapy, psychiatric care, medical diagnosis, or other services outside my scope should work with an appropriately licensed professional.
Can this work help chronic pain or tension?
Many people seek this work because they have persistent pain, tension or stress that has not fully resolved with stretching, massage, exercise, physical therapy, talk therapy, chiropractic, acupuncture or pharmacological approaches.
Appointments may help people explore physical and nervous system patterns associated with pain, tension, movement, posture, stress, and protective armoring. Results vary and this work is not a substitute for appropriate medical evaluation or treatment.
What happens during an appointment?
A first appointment begins by reviewing your intake form together and talking about your history, goals, and what you are currently experiencing.
If we are doing structural work, I may ask to observe simple movements such as standing, walking, bending your knees, raising your arms, or moving through an area that feels restricted.
Hands-on work is usually done on a treatment table while you remain comfortably clothed, although the format varies. I may apply pressure to muscles, connective tissue, bones, or joints while asking about what you notice or inviting small movements. At other times, we may work seated or standing. I may also direct your awareness toward sensations, impulses, orientation, emotion, breath, or other aspects of nervous-system experience without using hands-on contact.
The process is collaborative. The amount of pressure, movement, conversation, and somatic attention varies both within an appointment and between appointments depending on what we are working with.
When appropriate, I may also teach an exercise, movement practice, self-myofascial release technique, or explain a physiological or biomechanical concept that can help you work with the issue outside the office.
Massage Therapy is the exception. During a massage appointment, you do not need to actively participate in the same way. You are welcome to relax, tune in, space out, or simply receive the work.
Do you offer appointments with only Somatic Experiencing or only with bodywork?
Yes. Appointments do not combine every approach.
Some clients come primarily for Structural Integration. Others want Somatic Experiencing and nervous-system-oriented work without manual therapy. Someone may also come specifically to learn movement, exercise, self-myofascial release techniques they can practice at home or Massage Therapy.
The Integrative Structural & Somatic Appointment is specifically designed to let us move between approaches when useful.
If you're unsure which format fits your goals, don't worry. Choose the appointment that seems most aligned with how you would like to work, and we'll review your intake together and determine the best path forward.
Can you help with posture?
I work with posture, but I don't believe there is one universally “correct” posture.
I'm a somatic therapist and movement educator, so I don't want you forcing yourself into a position that doesn't feel good simply because someone labeled it “good posture.”
Instead, I make biomechanical recommendations: movement, stretches, exercises, changes in habit or other experiments, based on my assessment of what may give you more support, adaptability and comfort.
I'm interested in how your body organizes itself in gravity and whether you have enough mobility, support, awareness and agency to move comfortably.
Structural Integration and movement education, including my Posture Lab appointment, can be used to explore posture-related discomfort and habitual patterns without trying to fit your body into a generic postural ideal.
Where are you located?
Somatic Solutions is located near McKinley Park across from Miwok Middle School and Limelight Bar, Cafe & Cardroom in Sacramento:
The Village Integrative Health Center
930 Alhambra Blvd., Suite 220
Sacramento, California 95816
Somatic Experiencing and Posture Lab appointments are available over secure HIPAA-compliant telehealth.
By appointment only.
Not sure what kind of appointment to book?
That's okay. You don't need to know exactly which modality you need before you arrive. That's my job.
Choose the appointment that seems most aligned with how you'd like to work with me. If you're dealing with chronic pain, tension, posture concerns, stress, nervous-system dysregulation, overwhelm, the effects of trauma, or simply want to feel more at home in your body, we'll review your intake together and determine an appropriate direction.
If what you are looking for falls outside my scope, I'll tell you that too.