Somatic Therapy for Mothers: why talking alone isn’t enough.

Why Talking Often Isn’t Enough

Many of the women I work with have already tried therapy. They’ve talked through their experiences, unpacked their history, identified patterns… but still feel stuck.

Why?

Because trauma doesn’t just live in your story.
It lives in your tissues, your fascia, your nervous system.

In fact, many women describe feeling disassociated as they speak about difficult experiences — like they’re narrating someone else’s life. That’s not because they’re not trying hard enough. It’s because their body is still holding the memory, even if the mind has moved on.

The talking mind cannot release what the body is still bracing against.

Why Mothers Are at Their Most Vulnerable During Pregnancy and the First Year Postpartum

Pregnancy and the first year after birth — often referred to as the perinatal period — are recognised by health researchers and neuroscientists as one of the most emotionally and physiologically vulnerable windows in a woman’s life. This vulnerability isn’t weakness — it’s biology.

During pregnancy, a mother’s brain undergoes dramatic structural changes. Research shows reductions in grey matter in areas related to social cognition, designed to heighten sensitivity to the baby’s needs. At the same time, the stress response system (HPA axis) is naturally heightened, which can increase anxiety and emotional reactivity — especially in women with past trauma.

In the postpartum period, mothers experience:

• Hormonal crashes (e.g., estrogen, progesterone, and oxytocin drop significantly after birth)
• Sleep deprivation, which impairs emotional regulation and resilience
• Nutrient depletion (especially iron, B vitamins, DHA, and magnesium)
• Massive identity shifts, often without societal or relational acknowledgment
• An increase in social isolation, especially in Western cultures lacking community care
• A surge in emotional openness — old traumas, losses, or unresolved memories may resurface

All of this means that even if a mother has “coped” before, this period can reactivate latent trauma, bring new overwhelm, or lead to emotional collapse — not because she’s weak, but because her system is undergoing radical change on every level: hormonal, neurological, psychological, relational, and somatic.

This is why many mothers experience what’s now referred to as postnatal depletion — a term coined by Dr. Oscar Serrallach to describe the long-term impacts of nutrient loss, emotional overwhelm, and lack of rest in the postpartum period.

Risk Factors That Increase Vulnerability

Whilst postnatal depletion can affect any Women, there are known factors that increase her vulnerability. These are some of the factors your care team, and health visitor will screen you for at certain times during pregnancy and post-natal, but it is absolutely worth knowing them for yourself- as prevention, awareness and education are key in my opinion.

A history of trauma, abuse, or neglect (including childhood adversity)

Medicalised or traumatic birth experience

Perinatal complications or NICU stays

Lack of partner or social support

Financial instability

Chronic stress or previous mental health conditions

Signs You May Need Support

• Feeling detached, numb, or like you’re watching your life from the outside
• Uncontrollable crying, panic, or emotional shutdown
• Intense rage, irritability, or resentment (especially toward partner or baby)
• Hypervigilance or persistent anxiety about the baby’s wellbeing
• Difficulty bonding or feeling joy
• Intrusive thoughts or flashbacks (even if they feel “out of nowhere”)
• Ongoing pain, fatigue, or physical symptoms without a clear medical cause

It’s important to note: these symptoms don’t always arrive like a tidal wave.
They can build slowly, gradually, over weeks or months. I know for myself, it felt like the volume dial had slowly been increased over a period of weeks before I realized I was not myself.

Something I wished I had remembered at the time is that you don’t need to wait until you’re in crisis to seek help.
If something feels “off,” that’s enough reason to reach out.

I spent my 4th pregnancy with a full package of care in place to support me post natally. Yes, it really did take me 3 pregnancies to work out the support I needed- and to allow it! I want to tell you it made all the difference, and is one of the reasons I am so passionate about supporting women in receiving the right care and support throughout this precious threshold- not because they are falling apart- but because it’s their birth rite!

Trauma Is a Whole-Body Experience

When something overwhelming happens — whether it’s a traumatic birth, a past abuse history, a high-risk pregnancy, or chronic stress — our system goes into survival mode: fight, flight, freeze, or fawn. These responses don’t just switch off when the moment passes. As humans we are also pretty poor at knowing how to metabolize stress. I.E having a period of time after the event to process the stress from our body. Have you ever seen an animal shake after escaping harm or injury? They are metabolizing the stress from their system. Just like them we have an inbuilt intelligence which helps bring our system back into hemostat-sis, but because it isn’t something we are raised seeing, we haven’t integrated it as part of our processes.

So how do we know we have trauma stored in our body, or are stuck in a survival pattern?

• Muscles that stay tight and guarded
• Breath that becomes shallow
• Posture that reflects fear or collapse
• Fascia (the connective tissue that holds everything together) that remembers tension
• Nervous system that stays hyper-alert or numb

This is why so many mothers feel like they’re “coping” on the outside but falling apart on the inside.
The stress hasn’t gone anywhere — it’s just gone deeper.

How Somatic Therapy and Fascia Work Create Lasting Change

Somatic therapy brings the body back into the healing process. Through breath, touch, movement, body awareness, and fascia release, we can begin to gently unwind the places where stress, trauma, and emotion are still stored.

This work isn’t about force or fixing — it’s about creating space, regulation, and connection.

Fascia, often referred to as the body’s “organ of memory,” holds emotional and physical imprints. Through gentle, trauma-informed fascia release, we begin to support:

• Emotional release without overwhelm
• Restoration of safety in the body
• Shifts in posture, breath, and self-perception
• Neuroplasticity: rewiring how the brain relates to safety, threat, and attachment

When we regulate the nervous system, we shift our thought patterns, our behaviours, and even our beliefs.
Real healing happens when body and mind are working together.

This Isn’t Just About You — It’s About the Next Generation

Maternal wellbeing isn’t a luxury — it is foundational to a baby’s development. A dysregulated, depleted, or traumatised nervous system (through no fault of the mother) can have real impacts on:

• Infant bonding and attachment
• Baby’s stress response system
• Sleep, feeding, and digestion
• Long-term emotional and physiological health

This is not about guilt or blame.
This is about awareness — so we can offer new choices, deeper healing, and more connection.

When we tend to our own wounds, we create safer ground for our children to grow on.
And sometimes, healing ourselves is the most powerful form of parenting we can do.

---

Holding Without Shame

Let’s be clear: this is not about saying “if you’re struggling, it’s your fault.”
This is not about piling more pressure or fear onto mothers who are already carrying too much.

This is about saying:

✨ You deserve care, not coping.
✨ You deserve to feel at home in your body again.
✨ You deserve to be met in your wholeness — not just your thoughts, but your lived, cellular experience.

This is the work I do.
Not just listening to your story, but helping your body let go of what it’s still holding — gently, respectfully, with deep compassion.

If you are interested in working with me or finding out how I can support you, please check out my services page here.

---

Glossary: Understanding Somatic Therapy Terms

Somatic Therapy A body-based approach to healing that works with the nervous system, physical sensations, posture, breath, and movement — not just thoughts or emotions.

Fascia A strong, flexible web of connective tissue that surrounds every muscle, bone, and organ. It holds tension and is often called the “organ of memory.”

Trauma An experience that overwhelms the nervous system’s ability to cope. Trauma can show up as numbness, hyper-vigilance, pain, or disconnection.

Neuroplasticity The brain’s ability to change in response to experience. Somatic work supports neuroplasticity by creating safety for new patterns to emerge.

Co-regulation The process by which one nervous system helps regulate another. Essential in both infant development and adult healing.

Disassociation A protective response to trauma where the mind disconnects from the body. Often experienced as numbness or emotional detachment.

---

If you need immediate support, and are finding yourself in crisis, please reach out to the following services:

Pandas Foundation: Here

Mothers for Mothers: Here

Birth Trauma Association: Here

Mind: Here

---