Your Body Has Been Trying to Tell You Something
What This Work Is
Somatic Experiencing (SE) is a body-based approach to working with the physiological effects of trauma, stress, and chronic pain. It does not rely on retelling your story. It works with what is happening in your body right now, at the level where the pattern actually lives.
Sessions are available online internationally and in-person in Toronto and the GTA.
When Your Body Has It's Own Response
It Is Not in Your Head. It Is Physiological.
Maybe it is tension that does not let go, pain that does not have a clear cause, sleep that never quite restores you, or a gut that seems to have a mind of its own. Maybe your system runs hot, staying on alert even when nothing is wrong. Or maybe it goes the other direction, flat, disconnected, hard to reach.
You may have tried other approaches. Some of it helped. But the physical piece has not shifted.
That is not because you are doing something wrong. It is because what is happening is physiological, and it responds to work that meets it there.
Somatic Work Tends to Be a Good Fit If
- Your body carries tension, pain, or reactivity that does not have a clean medical explanation
- Sleep is disrupted, digestion is unpredictable, or your system does not settle even when things are objectively fine
- You go flat, shut down, or disconnect in situations that should feel safe
- You experienced something specific, an accident, a surgery, an assault, a loss, and your body has not come back to baseline
- Relationships are a source of activation, even the ones you trust
- You have done significant therapeutic or personal work, and your body still responds on its own schedule.
- You carry a low-level sense that something is off, even if you cannot point to a single event
- Chronic pain, fatigue, or physical symptoms have become part of daily life without a clear cause
- You are new to body-based work and want to start with something specific and well-trained, not vague
You May Recognize Yourself In
A Body That Will Not Settle
- Your system stays activated, braced, or on alert. Rest does not come easily, or it does not help when it does.
Freeze or Shutdown Patterns
- You go flat, numb, or disconnected, sometimes without warning. The world feels far away or hard to engage with.
Pain or Symptoms Without a Clear Cause
- You have been to doctors. Nothing explains it fully. The symptoms are real and they are physiological.
Progress That Does Not Stick
- You have done real work. You understand yourself well, and still your body responds the way it always has.
How Somatic Work is Different
Somatic Experiencing works with the physiological mechanics of threat responses, not just the cognitive understanding of them. When a stress response gets interrupted, the activation that was mobilized for survival can stay in the system, showing up as chronic tension, hyper vigilance, shutdown, pain, or dysregulation. SE works with those incomplete responses directly. That is what makes it different from approaches that focus primarily on narrative or insight.
Meet Alex Your Therapist in Somatic Experiencing
Alex Papaconstantinou is a Somatic Educator and Body worker who works with clients navigating trauma, chronic stress, and persistent physical symptoms by working with the body, not just the mind. Alex is trauma-trained and brings somatic education into every session so clients leave with the skills they can use and newfound resilience as they navigate life. Alex practices online internationally and in-person in Toronto and the GTA.
Individual Sessions Built Around Your Specific Presentation
Individual sessions are structured to meet you at your current level of capacity. Whether you are new to somatic work or coming after years of other approaches, sessions build practical skills and address the physiological patterns underlying your symptoms.
- 60-minute sessions for building foundational awareness and easing acute stress
- 90-minute sessions for complex and developmental trauma, and deeper attachment work
- Approaches may include body mapping, somatic touch work, and other trauma-trained techniques depending on your presentation and consent
Online internationally. In-person in Toronto and the GTA.
People I Work With
- Complex PTSD | Developmental Trauma
- Dissociative Disorders (DPDR) | Freeze/Shutdown States
- Relational & Attachment Wounding | Intimate Partner Violence
- Childhood Abuse Survivors
- Refugees | Systemic Oppression
- Therapy Harm Survivors
- First Responders | Medical Trauma
- Digestive Issues Linked to Nervous System Dysregulation
- Scar Tissue & Post-Accident Recovery (Motor Vehicle Accidents, Brain Injuries, Sports Accidents)
- Medical & Birth Trauma
- Chronic Pain/Fibromyalgia
- Medically Unexplained Illness
- Sleep Disruption/Insomnia | Digestive Issues
- Eating Disorders | Addiction
- Persistent Physical Tension without a Clear Cause
- Chronic Fatigue
- LGBTQIA+ | Gender Dysphoria
- BIPOC | Indigenous Populations
- Women’s Issues | Intimate Partner/Sexual Violence Survivors
- Anxiety | Depression
- Borderline Personality Tendencies
- Self-Esteem | Relational Wounds
- Emotional Reactivity and Overwhelm
What Becomes Possible
- Developing skills for noticing how your body responds to stress before it takes over.
- Building practical tools for processing difficult states with more steadiness.
- Addressing physiological patterns that persist even after other significant intervention.
- Improvements in sleep, energy, and chronic pain where those are linked to stress physiology.
- More capacity in relationships and daily life.
What Changes When Your Body Is Part of the Work
Steadiness in Your System
- When the physiological patterns underlying chronic activation start to shift, the body stops feeling like the source of the problem. Calm becomes something you can access, not just something that happens when nothing is wrong.
Skills you Can Use
- Instead of managing symptoms, you develop the ability to work with your own signals. Clients leave sessions with practical skills and somatic education they can use between sessions and long after the work ends.
More Capacity in Your Life
- When your baseline shifts, other things tend to follow Relationships, work, daily life. Not because you everything is resolved, but because you are no longer operating from the same level of activation.
A Good Place to Start
If your body has been responding in ways that do not match what you know to be true, that is worth paying attention to. It is not a sign that other work has failed. It is usually a sign there is a physiological layer that has not been addressed yet.
Through 1:1 somatic sessions, you’ll learn to notice your body’s signals, regulate emotions, and address what thinking alone has not been able to reach. This work can bring more clarity, better sleep, reduced pain, and a renewed sense of self-trust.
Get In Touch
I’d Love to Hear Your Story
Get Clarity Before You Begin
It’s natural to have questions before starting something new. Explore the FAQs to better understand how we can support you.
What is Somatic Experiencing?
Somatic Experiencing is a body-centered approach to working with the physiological effects of trauma and chronic stress. It works with the mechanics of how the mammalian nervous system responds to threat. When a stress response gets interrupted, the activation that was mobilized for survival can stay in the system. Somatic Experiencing works with those incomplete responses directly, without requiring you to retell or relive what happened.
How is this different from talk therapy?
Talk therapy works primarily with cognition and meaning-making. Somatic Experiencing works with what the body is doing in response to stress, including autonomic patterns and physiological states that persist even after significant cognitive work has been done. The two approaches often complement each other well. Many clients work with a therapist and with Alex at the same time.
What issues can Somatic Experiencing help with?
SE is used with PTSD, complex and developmental trauma, chronic stress or pain, anxiety, dissociative presentations, and physical symptoms without a clear medical cause. It is also used with medical trauma, post-surgical preparation, brain injury, motor vehicle accident recovery, and relational and attachment ruptures.
What happens in a session?
Sessions involve guided attention to physical sensations, movement, and physiological states at a pace suited to your current capacity. Alex brings somatic education into every session, so you develop understanding and skills alongside the clinical work. Somatic touch work may be incorporated in in-person sessions where appropriate and consented. Somatic education runs throughout all sessions.
Is Somatic Experiencing safe?
Somatic Experiencing is designed to work within your window of tolerance. The work moves at your pace, and nothing happens without your consent. Alex is trauma-trained and structures sessions to build capacity rather than push through difficulty.
How long does it take to see change?
This varies. Some people notice shifts within one or a couple of sessions. Complex and developmental trauma generally take longer. Alex will give you an honest read on what to expect based on your specific situation.
Can I do sessions online?
Yes. Somatic Experiencing works both in person and online. Somatic touch work is only available in person. Online sessions offer the same core work regardless of your location.
Can you work with clients internationally?
Yes. Online sessions make it possible to work with clients worldwide, ensuring access to support no matter your location. Reach out to discuss what working together would look like logistically.
Do you accept insurance?
For Ontario-based clients who want to use insurance, sessions can be arranged through Whole Heart Mental Heath and Wellness under the clinical supervision of Daisy Galeano (CRPO). A standard intake process applies through the clinic. For clients outside of Ontario or those not using insurance, sessions are available directly through Body Mind Reset as private pay.