What Is Somatic Therapy?
Somatic Therapy & Holistic Counselling in Fremantle, Perth and Online Across Australia
Somatic psychotherapy is a holistic approach that pays attention to what your body is telling you, alongside your thoughts and feelings. Every session is different and shaped around what you need. We may talk, pause to notice what's happening in your body, or move between the two, always at your pace.
Many clients come to somatic work when talk therapy alone hasn’t brought lasting relief. This work helps you feel safe in your body, process unresolved experiences, and build real resilience from the inside out.
Whether you’re navigating trauma, stress, anxiety, fertility, pregnancy, birth, motherhood, menopause, or emotional overwhelm — this gentle approach offers a path toward feeling grounded, balanced, and emotionally whole.
I'm Jemma Doak, a somatic psychotherapist and PACFA Certified Practising Counsellor with 20+ years' experience. I'm trained in Somatic EMDR, and in Attachment-Focused EMDR with Dr Laurel Parnell. I also hold a Graduate Diploma of Trauma-Informed Processwork Psychotherapy, alongside further training in somatic psychology, nervous system regulation and trauma-sensitive mindfulness.
What Does Somatic Psychotherapy Actually Mean?
Your body holds memories. Even if you don’t “remember” a difficult experience, your nervous system does.
Somatic psychotherapy helps you explore the physical sensations, emotions, and unconscious patterns that live in your body.
With curiosity and compassion, we begin to release what's been stored, not by forcing, but by listening, supporting, and regulating gently.
Why Pay Attention to the Body?
When we experience trauma or prolonged stress, it can become hard to find words for what happened. This is why some experiences feel "unspeakable." Somatic psychotherapy helps you process without needing the perfect words.
By working with awareness and the nervous system, we create the internal conditions for healing to unfold naturally, in your body's time.
My Somatic Psychotherapy Approach
Here are some of the methods I use in session. You don’t need to choose — we’ll find what feels right for your system together.
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Somatic and Attachment-Focused EMDR (Eye Movement Desensitisation and Reprocessing) is a trauma therapy that works with both your body and your early attachment experiences. I'm trained in Somatic EMDR, and in Attachment-Focused EMDR with Dr Laurel Parnell. It helps your brain and body process trauma so you can feel more grounded, safe, and emotionally free.
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A depth-oriented, holistic approach that honours symptoms, dreams, and body signals as meaningful. Processwork helps you navigate emotional struggles, inner conflicts, and life transitions with more awareness and empowerment. I hold a Graduate Diploma of Trauma-Informed Processwork Psychotherapy.
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I've studied Somatic Experiencing and draw on its principles in my work. We work gently with sensations, not stories, to help your nervous system settle and recover from stress, building safety and resilience from within.
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A blend of modern psychotherapy and ancient wisdom. Mindfulness practices support you to observe emotions with kindness, build body awareness, and move through difficult experiences with more presence and compassion.
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Pre- and Perinatal Psychotherapy explores how our earliest experiences — even from in-utero life or birth — can shape our emotional patterns and nervous system responses. This gentle work helps heal deep imprints, often beneath conscious memory, that affect your sense of safety, connection, and identity.
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Grounded in Polyvagal Theory, this approach helps you understand your nervous system's natural rhythms of safety, connection, and protection. Through somatic awareness and co-regulation, we work with your body's signals, not against them, to support emotional safety and resilience.