The Body’s Unfinished Story: A Somatic Skill Every Trauma Therapist Should Know
The Body’s Unfinished Story: A Somatic Skill Every Trauma Therapist Should Know
Note: The following story is a fictionalized composite, created to illustrate clinical concepts. It does not reflect any one client. All identifying details have been changed or invented to protect privacy.—
“The body remembers what the mind forgets.” — Babette Rothschild
“Trauma is not the event itself but what remains in the body afterward.” — Peter Levine--------
Her name is Elena*.
She sat across from me, her hands resting tightly in her lap. Her words came slowly.
“I’ve done so much therapy. I understand why I am the way I am. But I still feel on edge. All the time.”
If you’ve sat with trauma, you’ve likely heard this too.
And if you’re a therapist, you may have felt that internal pause—the moment you realize that insight isn’t the missing piece. That the body is holding on in ways the mind can’t reason with.
That’s often the moment I reach for a practice I call Tether & Tend—a simple, somatic, and parts-informed method to help the nervous system feel safe enough to soften, connect, and metabolize what’s unfinished.
Why Tethering Matters: The Foundation of Somatic Safety
In Sensorimotor Psychotherapy, Pat Ogden emphasizes that "stabilization and the development of somatic resources must precede trauma processing." In essence: we can’t process what we aren’t resourced enough to stay with.
That’s where Tethering comes in.
To tether is to help the client’s adult self arrive fully into the here-and-now. Not simply “grounding” in a rote way, but forging a somatic relationship with safety and time orientation—a cornerstone of working with disorganized attachment or early developmental trauma.
For Elena, it looked like:
Pressing her feet firmly into the floor
Rocking slightly, sensing her pelvis supported in the chair
Placing one hand over her heart, the other on her solar plexus
Saying softly, “It’s 2025. I’m here. This is my office. I’m not alone.”
These are not just grounding cues—they are tools of time-stamping. They help the body distinguish between “then” and “now,” a critical shift Janina Fisher names as “dual awareness.”
“When we can help clients notice that their survival responses belong to the past, not the present, healing becomes possible.” — Janina Fisher
In moments like this, I might offer a reflection such as:
“Can you feel the ground that’s here now—and let that be different from the ground you didn’t have then?”
Tethering is not bypass. It’s not calming for the sake of symptom management.
It is regulatory scaffolding, the way a healthy adult might say to a frightened child: I’m right here. We can do this together.
The Power of Tending: Meeting the Younger Part with Compassion
Once tethered, we turn toward the part that’s still bracing.
That’s the Tend.
Once tethered, we listen for what’s asking to be tended.
Tending is about turning toward the implicit—not just memory, but somatic memory: bracing, constriction, micro-movements, or images held in the body’s felt language.
Elena placed her hand on her chest. “There’s this flutter here. Like a small bird caught.”
I asked, “Can we get curious about who or what that flutter belongs to?”
A pause. Then: “It feels like a little girl who doesn’t know she’s safe.”
We stayed there. No interpretation. No fixing.
Just tending.
“Trauma isn’t in the story—it’s in the nervous system.” — Peter Levine
In somatic work, especially in SE (Somatic Experiencing), we use this pause as a gateway to pendulation—oscillating between safety and discomfort, between the adult and the part, without flooding or collapse.
What Tending Might Look Like Clinically:
Here are a few examples therapists might explore during a Tending moment:
Imaginal Repair: Asking the adult self to gently place a warm blanket around the younger part
Contact Statements: “I see you,” “You don’t have to be alone with this,” or “We’re not there anymore”
Movement: Inviting a gentle rocking motion if the body wants it—offering co-regulation from the inside out
Protective Gestures: Letting the client place their body in a shape that offers a sense of safety—arms wrapped, hands over belly, or even imagining a boundary
Somatic Anchors: Having the client imagine a resource (a calm animal, a mentor figure, a safe place) and locate its imprint in the body
These moments aren’t about catharsis or narrative. As Pat Ogden reminds us:
“The goal isn’t to relive trauma—it’s to complete the response the body couldn’t finish.”
And so we track:
Is the breath softening?
Are the shoulders descending?
Is there a shift from rigidity to micro-movement?
When we see these signs, we know the nervous system is doing what it couldn’t do before: it’s integrating.
What Happens When We Combine Tethering and Tending?
When these two somatic skills are paired, clients often experience something quietly profound.
The body doesn’t just know the story.
It begins to believe a new truth:
“It’s over. I’m here. I survived.”
A Starting Point for Deeper Healing
Of course, this is just the beginning.
Often, what emerges during Tether & Tend reveals deeper material—parts that carry grief, fear, shame, or unmet longing. In my clinical work (and in my training program), we build on this foundation using further somatic processing, attachment repair, and relational resourcing.
But even learning this one tool—how to help a client move from cognitive awareness to somatic presence—can be a turning point.
Whether you're newer to somatic work or have years of trauma experience under your belt, anchoring in this kind of embodied presence often creates a profound shift.
Why I Teach This to Other Therapists
Inside my Integrative Trauma Training Certificate, I teach clinicians how to bring practices like Tether & Tend into their sessions with real clarity and confidence. Because knowing when to use a tool and how to track its impact in the room is just as important as the tool itself.
We integrate:
Sensorimotor Psychotherapy principles
The neuroscience behind The Body Keeps the Score
Somatic healing techniques grounded in the body’s wisdom
Attachment and parts-based theory
Real-time consultation, demos, and scripts you can use with clients
This is the work I love: helping therapists feel more equipped and less alone as they guide clients through the deep, often sacred territory of trauma healing.
If you’re a therapist who feels stuck when talk therapy isn’t enough…
If you’ve been longing for tools that offer real change (not just coping strategies)…
If you want a clinical home where trauma-informed is lived, not just labeled…
You’re welcome here.
PS: In the Integrative Trauma Training Certificate, we practice interventions like this—together. You’ll receive detailed scripts, demos, and consult space to make the work feel more natural, more intuitive, and more effective.
It’s a place to grow your clinical depth and your confidence.
You can learn more or join us right here.
Let’s deepen your skillset and restore your hope for what healing can look like—both for your clients, and for you.