Trauma Somatic Therapy to Help You Feel Safe in Your Body

A safe, affirming space for BIPOC and LGBTQIA+ adults to heal trauma held in the body. I see clients in Albuquerque and online across New Mexico, in English or Spanish.

GET STARTED →
 

Has survival mode become your normal? 

You learned to survive by being the responsible one. You show up for everyone else and handle things on your own. From the outside, you look fine.

Inside, it’s a different story. You may feel tired, numb, or always on guard. Maybe you’re stuck in patterns you’ve tried hard to break.

You might notice:

  • Feeling on high alert, even when you’re safe

  • Waves of emotion that seem to come out of nowhere

  • Being hard on yourself, even over small things

  • Trouble resting, asking for help, or trusting others

  • Grief you haven’t had the time or space to fully feel

  • Physical symptoms like insomnia, migraines, or chronic pain

Your body has been protecting you for a long time. Trauma somatic therapy teaches it to finally rest.

You’re not too much; our capitalistic system is. I’m here to support you as you explore what your body needs, at a pace that feels right.

Somatic Touch Therapy for Trauma Held in the Body

I’m one of a handful practitioners in Albuquerque offering touch-based somatic therapy at this level. If other approaches haven’t brought relief, this work may offer a different way forward.

Trauma isn’t always easy to put into words. It often lives in sensations, tension, and nervous system responses. Somatic touch therapy uses intentional, attuned touch and body awareness to help you process these experiences.

I often pair touch work with other approaches, like Somatic Experiencing, IFS, and EMDR.

 
 
 
Person touching flower to represent somatic therapy

Other Approaches I Use

  • Somatic Experiencing (SEP) - As a certified Somatic Experiencing Practitioner, I guide you to notice body sensations. This helps your nervous system shift out of fight, flight, or freeze.

  • Touch Skills - With your consent, gentle touch offers your body steady, physical support. It can help you feel safe and connected in a way words alone can’t.

  • Internal Family Systems (IFS) - As an IFS-trained therapist, I help you meet each part of yourself with curiosity to better understand yourself.

  • EMDR - You focus briefly on a memory while following back-and-forth eye movements or tapping. This helps your brain reprocess the memory so it feels less intense.

  • Attachment-based therapy - We look at how early bonds with caregivers affect your relationships now so you can build healthy connections.

  • DARe (Dynamic Attachment Repatterning experience) - DARe blends attachment work with body awareness to help you build a deeper sense of safety and security in your relationships.

  • Ancestral and traditional medicine - We honor the wisdom of your lineage and the ways culture supports healing.

 
INQUIRE ABOUT SOMATIC THERAPY →
 
 

Trauma and Symptoms I Help With

As a complex PTSD therapist, I work with the many ways trauma can impact your life. This includes:

  • Developmental and childhood trauma

  • Sexual trauma

  • Intimate partner violence

  • Ecological grief

  • Immigration and intergenerational trauma

  • Eating disorders

  • Grief and loss

Trauma can also show up in your body. Complex PTSD therapy with a somatic focus may help ease autoimmune symptoms, inflammation, insomnia, migraines, and panic attacks. It can also support people living with chronic pain or digestive and skin issues.

Somatic therapy doesn’t replace medical care, but it can be a helpful part of your healing.

person touching water to represent somatic therapy
 
 
 
Jessica Pinera, Somatic Therapist and owner at Luz Anima, sitting on rock and smiling at camera

Meet Jessica, Your Somatic Therapist

Hi, I’m Jessica! I’m a Licensed Clinical Social Worker and certified Somatic Experiencing Practitioner. I’ve supported people processing through trauma since 2013. For the past seven years, my work has centered on the body.

I turned to somatic therapy after seeing how much talk therapy alone could miss. Many people came to me feeling stuck after years of trying to heal. Their bodies needed a different kind of support.

I’m a queer, first-generation Mexican-American and a proud border kid from El Paso. ¡De la frontera! I know how oppression and intergenerational trauma can live in the body. I bring that understanding into every session, in English or Spanish.

 
 
LEARN MORE ABOUT JESSICA →
 

Trauma Somatic Therapy FAQs

  • Trauma somatic therapy is a body-based approach to healing trauma. It focuses on how trauma lives in your nervous system, muscles, and sensations. It can help with complex PTSD, anxiety, chronic stress, and physical symptoms linked to trauma. 

    Talk therapy works mostly through thoughts and words. Somatic therapy includes the body, so you can process experiences that are hard to explain or remember.

  • We begin by talking about how you’re feeling and what you’d like to focus on. If touch feels right, you’ll rest on a massage table. I’ll check in with you before and during any touch therapy. Touch is never required, and I specialize in other modalities we can also use.

  • No. You don’t need to share every detail or even remember what happened. Somatic therapy works with what your body is holding right now. We go at your pace, and you choose what feels okay to explore.

  • Sessions are 60 minutes. I see clients in person in Albuquerque and online anywhere in New Mexico, however touch-based work only happens in person. All sessions are available in English or Spanish.

  • I accept Medicaid and Presbyterian. For direct pay, I offer a sliding scale of $100 to $200 per session. If you have other insurance, I can provide a superbill you can submit for possible reimbursement.

 

Ready to explore trauma somatic therapy?

You deserve to feel safe, hopeful, and ready to thrive. Reach out to explore somatic therapy and see if it’s right for you.

LET’S CONNECT →