Somatic Therapy in Tampa, FL
In person in Tampa · Virtual throughout Florida and vermont
Some things can't be thought through. They have to be felt through.
Does this resonate?
You've done the work. You've sat in therapy and talked about your patterns until you could recite them in your sleep. You understand exactly why you are the way you are — where it started, what it protected you from, how it makes sense.
And your body, still reacts, like it never got the memo.
I know. My body didn't get the memo either for a long time. I want to offer you something that works underneath the talking.
If this is your life right now
You're not here because insight hasn't helped at all. You're here because:
You can explain exactly what's wrong, in detail, with real insight - and yet it still hasn't changed anything
Talk therapy helped you understand your patterns without actually shifting them
You know you're safe. Your body just didn't quite get the memo.
You go numb, disconnect, or leave your body entirely the second things get too intense
Your body is carrying tension that doesn't respond to stretching, massage, or "just relaxing"
You feel like your responses are bigger than the moment call for
You deal with chronic fatigue or a sense of being checked out from your own life
Old feelings surface out of nowhere, with no trigger you can name
Your body feels like unsafe territory and you aren’t sure what to do with that
You are not overthinking this, and you're not doing something wrong. The approach might just be missing the layer where this is actually stored.
What Somatic Therapy Actually Is (and what it isn’t)
Somatic therapy means working with the body and nervous system directly, not just talking about what's going on. It's built on the idea that a lot of what you carry isn't stored in the thinking, language part of your brain. It's stored lower down, in the parts of your nervous system that don't speak in sentences. Those parts are the ones that decide, faster than thought, whether you're safe or not. That's why you can know something logically and still react like your body never got the update.
Somatic work is a specific therapeutic approach that works with what's already happening in your body while we talk, rather than trying to talk your way down to it.
Somatic Therapy Can Look Like
Noticing sensation, tension, or activation as it happens in the room (not just describing it after the fact)
Working with reactions that are bigger than the moment calls for, like startle, shutdown, freeze
Processing that doesn't require you to narrate every detail of what happened to you
A pace set by your nervous system, not a fixed script
Real, felt shifts - not just a better story about why you feel the way you do
Somatic vs Talk Therapy
This isn't either/or. Many people benefit from both. Talk therapy is where you build the understanding - the why, the pattern, the history. Somatic therapy is where that understanding gets a route into the part of you that's still reacting like the danger is current. You don't need to abandon insight to do this work. You just need a way to reach what insight alone hasn't touched.
what we actually do in sessions
What Somatic Therapy in Tampa, FL Looks Like
Utilizing Brainspotting
Brainspotting is the core of the body-based work I do. It uses eye position to access what's held beneath your thinking brain - the subcortical, body-based layer where trauma, stuck emotion, and old activation actually live. You don't have to narrate every detail for it to work, because it isn't a talking-driven process.
IFS layers in differently
Parts don't just live in your head - they show up in your body, too: the tightness in your chest when a protective part activates, the pit in your stomach right before a hard conversation. Part of how I use IFS is helping you notice where a part lives physically, not just what it's saying.
We get to know your system first
First sessions are about understanding what you're carrying and how it shows up in your body - not diving straight into processing before you're ready.
We follow what's already there
Once we know what we're working on, we notice where it lives in your body right now, in this session - the tightness, the pit in your stomach, the numbness, the pull to look away.
We work the modality that fits the moment
Some sessions that means finding a Brainspot and letting your system process without needing to talk it through. Other sessions it means slowing down to understand a part of you that's activated and what it's protecting you from. We adjust to what's actually in front of us, not a fixed script.
We always leave time to land
Grounding and integration matter - checking in on how you're feeling, making sense of what came up, and making sure you leave as grounded as possible.
Understanding the pattern was never going to be enough on its own.
You don't have to keep white-knuckling your way through a body that won't get on board.If you're in Tampa (or anywhere in Florida or Vermont) and you're ready to work with what's actually stored underneath the insight, I'd love to talk.
I offer a free 15-minute consultation to see if we would be a good fit.
Hey, I'm Keri — And I've Literally Been You
I didn't come to this work as an outside expert. I'm a highly sensitive person myself, which means I've spent plenty of my own life feeling things at a volume nobody warned me about - and I know exactly what it's like to intellectually understand a pattern and still feel completely stuck inside it.
Brainspotting is actually part of my own story before it was part of my practice. I experienced real, tangible shifts through my own training that talk therapy alone hadn't given me. That's a big part of why I trust it enough to offer it to you.
I'm a Licensed Clinical Social Worker with a private practice in Tampa, FL, and I work from an integrative, nervous-system-aware lens - blending Brainspotting, IFS, and ACT depending on what your system actually needs in the room. My approach is warm and direct, not clinical-office-blank-wall energy.
I see clients in person at my Carrollwood, Tampa office and virtually throughout Florida and Vermont.
- Keri Baker, LCSW · Somatic Therapist in Tampa, FL
This work could be a good fit if:
You've done talk therapy before and want to go deeper than insight
You're highly sensitive and other approaches have felt too fast, too clinical, or like too much
You're curious about Brainspotting or IFS but aren't sure which one fits - or want both
You want a therapist who follows your body's pace instead of running a fixed protocol
You're ready to feel different, not just understand why you feel the way you do
You're dealing with trauma, chronic stress, or anxiety that lives in your chest, jaw, stomach, or shoulders more than your thoughts
Also a great fit if: You're not sure this is a "trauma" thing at all - you just know your body holds onto things your mind has already let go of. You don't need a clear before-and-after event to belong here.
Questions?
FAQs
-
It means working with the body and nervous system directly, not just talking about what's going on. A lot of what we carry - tension, activation, old emotion - is stored physically, and needs a physical route to actually shift.
-
Talk therapy primarily works through insight - understanding your patterns, your history, your thoughts. Somatic therapy works through your body directly, which is often where the actual charge is stored. Most people benefit from both; this work adds the piece that talking alone can miss.
-
No. Brainspotting in particular is built so you don't have to narrate everything - your system can process a lot without you needing to put it all into words.
-
Yes. It works below the thinking brain, using eye position to access the body-based, subcortical layer where trauma and stuck emotion are held.
-
I'm not a certified Somatic Experiencing practitioner - my body-based work comes through Brainspotting, with IFS layered in for the parts of you holding what your body's been carrying. If you're specifically looking for classical Somatic Experiencing, I'm happy to point you toward a colleague who specializes in it.
-
No. This isn't movement-based or touch-based work - we're not doing yoga or bodywork. It's about noticing and working with what's already happening in your body while we talk, not adding physical techniques.
-
There's no set timeline. Some people feel real shifts within a handful of sessions, especially with Brainspotting. Others do longer-term work because what they're carrying is layered. We'll check in regularly so you always know where things stand.
-
Yes. Both Brainspotting and IFS translate well to telehealth, and I see virtual clients throughout Florida and Vermont.
Your body doesn't need a better explanation. It needs a different way in.
If you're ready to work with what's actually underneath the insight, I'm here.
Accepting new clients · Tampa in-person & virtual throughout Florida & Vermont
Somatic Therapy in Tampa, FL
Services also offered virtually throughout Florida and Vermont