The body in depth psychotherapy: Somatic experience, trauma, and transformation Barbara Holifield, M.S.W., SEP, training and supervising analyst at the C.G. Jung Institute of San Francisco, explains the significance of somatic approaches in depth psychotherapy, emphasizing how bodily felt experiences are vital for understanding trauma and promoting healing. While somatic approaches are gaining prominence in present-day psychotherapy, many traditions of depth psychotherapy continue to prioritize language and symbolization as the pathway to psychological transformation. However, recent neuroscience and trauma research position bodily felt experience as a direct source of knowledge, affect, and relational memory, all of which are essential to working through trauma (Payne et al., 2015). This embodied approach has significant implications for trauma-informed care, clinical training, and mental health policy.
Barbara Holifield (2026) studied this question.