Somatic & nervous system
Bottom-up work for trauma, chronic pain, and dysregulation.
In this guide
Polyvagal-informed practice, Somatic Experiencing, and condition-specific care for chronic pain, IBS, FND, and PNES — with worksheets and client explainers that meet the body where it is.
Modalities
The therapies most relevant to this topic.
Somatic Therapy — an umbrella guide
Body-led therapies that treat the nervous system, not just the narrative.
Nervous System Regulation — clinician guide
How to read autonomic state in the room and help a client return to ventral.
Somatic Experiencing
Trauma lives in the nervous system; healing happens by completing thwarted survival responses.
Chronic Pain Therapy & Pain Reprocessing
Chronic pain is often a learned brain prediction — therapy retrains the alarm.
IBS & Gut-Brain Axis Therapy
IBS lives on the gut-brain axis — gut-directed hypnotherapy and CBT change the conversation.
Psychogenic Non-Epileptic Seizures (Functional Seizures)
Functional seizures are a brain-network disorder, not faking — and they respond to specific therapy.
Functional Neurological Disorder Therapy
FND is a software problem in a working brain — treatable with the right multidisciplinary approach.
Disorders
First-line picks and clinical guidance for the presentations under this topic.
Chronic Pain
Pain persisting beyond expected healing time, often with depression, anxiety, and functional impairment.
Goal is improved functioning and quality of life rather than pain elimination. Psychotherapy is one component of multidisciplinary pain management.
Dissociative Disorders
Disruptions in identity, memory, consciousness, or perception — usually trauma-rooted.
Phase-based treatment (ISSTD guidelines): safety/stabilization → trauma processing → integration. Standard trauma protocols without preparation typically destabilize dissociative clients. Specialist supervision is essential.
Worksheets
Free, printable, Quick-Send to clients.
For clients
Plain-language explainers you can share or open together in session.
Worked cases
Anonymized vignettes with formulation across 2–3 modalities.
Populations
What changes when you sit with this population.